A federal judge in Northern California has given preliminary approval to a $7,850,000 settlement in a class-action lawsuit accusing Sony of monopolizing the market for digital games sold on its PlayStation platform. The case was filed in 2023 and covers certain U.S. customers who bought eligible titles through the PlayStation Network between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2023.
The settlement includes purchases of games such as WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, No Man’s Sky, Super Mega Baseball, The Last of Us Remastered, Until Dawn, NBA 2K18, NBA 2K19, the Mass Effect Trilogy and Madden NFL 17. Sony is required to pay about $7.8 million under the agreement, which was officially approved on April 8 and later announced by the Saveri Law Firm in a press release on April 29.
The lawsuit centers on claims that Sony restricted third-party games on its platform, a practice the plaintiffs say let the company control the market for digital PlayStation titles. Preliminary approval does not end the case, but it does move the settlement into the next phase for the class members covered by the deal.
What happens next is the part buyers will be watching: whether the preliminary settlement survives the final steps needed before any money is distributed. For now, the agreement gives Sony a path toward closing a case that has been in court since 2023 while setting out who may qualify for compensation.