Judge Rejects Sony PlayStation’s $7.8M 'Coupon' Settlement in Digital Game Lawsuit

Legal implications for PlayStation Store in a digital monopoly challenge as the case unfolds in a US court.

A U.S. judge has tossed out Sony PlayStation’s proposed $7.8 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit, calling it a “coupon settlement” and saying it just doesn’t cut it.

The lawsuit goes all the way back to 2019, when Sony made a pretty controversial move—it stopped major retailers like GameStop and Best Buy from selling digital download codes for PlayStation games. That meant the only way to get digital titles was directly through the PlayStation Store. Unsurprisingly, this led to a lot of backlash from gamers who felt they were being boxed in with higher prices and fewer options. Over 4.4 million people are part of this class-action suit, accusing Sony of monopolizing digital game sales and setting unfair prices.

To try and settle things, Sony offered $7.8 million in electronic credits to affected users. But U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, from the Northern District of California, wasn’t having it. She called the proposal a “coupon settlement,” a type of resolution that courts tend to frown upon—mainly because they rarely offer real value to the people affected.

According to Reuters, the judge made it clear that Sony needs to go back to the drawing board. She wants the company to show how this offer actually helps consumers and asked for estimates on what each individual would receive, as well as examples from similar cases. As it stands, the math is pretty rough—if split evenly, users would get less than $2 each in store credit.

Sony, for its part, said the goal of the settlement was to avoid the expense and distraction of dragging out the legal fight. It also denied any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs’ lawyers—who said they’ve spent more than 13,000 hours on the case since it began in 2021—were planning to ask for around 33% of the settlement for legal fees, which works out to about $2.61 million.

The case, officially titled Agustin Caccuri et al v. Sony Interactive Entertainment, is far from over. The judge is giving the plaintiffs a chance to submit a revised proposal that actually benefits the users impacted. Until then, the legal battle continues.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only lawsuit Sony’s dealing with. Over in the Netherlands, another similar class action is brewing over PlayStation Store pricing—suggesting that questions about digital fairness aren’t going away anytime soon.