Sony’s $7.85 Million PlayStation Store Settlement Is Real and Here’s Exactly Who Gets Paid

Sony Interactive Entertainment has agreed to pay $7.85 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing the market of PlayStation digital games, and millions of US PlayStation users may be owed PSN credits later this year, without lifting a finger to claim them.

District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted preliminary approval of the settlement on April 8, 2026, after previously rejecting an earlier version of the deal in July 2025. The Saveri Law Firm, which represents the class, officially announced the approved terms on April 29.

For any US-based PlayStation owner who purchased qualifying digital titles during the nearly five-year window, the question is no longer whether this settlement is happening; it is whether your account is on the list. 

What Sony Was Actually Accused Of

The lawsuit, filed as Caccuri et al. v. Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, centers on a decision Sony made on April 1, 2019. 

As Kotaku confirmed, that was the date Sony stopped allowing major retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Walmart, from selling game-specific vouchers for PlayStation digital titles. 

Before that date, a buyer could purchase a download code at a physical store and redeem it in the PlayStation Store, creating price competition between Sony’s own storefront and third-party retailers. 

After April 2019, all digital game purchases had to flow exclusively through the PlayStation Store. 

Plaintiffs argued this violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Act by eliminating competition and allowing Sony to charge higher prices than a competitive market would permit. 

Sony denied any wrongdoing, just as Google did when Aptoide sued it for allegedly stifling competition on Android devices. 

Sony’s case settled rather than proceeding to a judicial ruling on the underlying claims.

Are You Eligible and What Games Count

The eligibility requires three conditions: you must be a US resident, you must have purchased a qualifying title through PSN, and that purchase must have occurred between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2023. 

The list of qualifying games is specific. As Insider Gaming confirmed, it includes: 

• The Last of Us Remastered 
• Until Dawn 
• No Man’s Sky 
• WWE 2K17 
• WWE 2K18 
• WWE 2K19 
• Super Mega Baseball
• NBA 2K18
• Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare
• Need for Speed Rivals 

The full confirmed list has been published on the PSN Digital Games Settlement official website. If you purchased any of those titles during the eligibility window on your PSN account, you are in the class. 

While this settlement addresses software, many users are also keeping an eye on hardware costs, especially as Sony raises PS5 Pro prices as AI memory squeeze hits consoles. 

How the Money Actually Gets to You

This is where the settlement works in eligible users’ favour. As IGN confirmed, PSN credits will be deposited directly into active accounts automatically, requiring no action from most users.

These credits carry cash value for any future digital purchase, perhaps even helping enthusiasts save toward the eventual PS6 release date. 

Users with deactivated PSN accounts can contact the settlement administrator to request an equivalent cash payment instead, but those requests must be submitted before the deadline. 

The exact credit per purchase is unconfirmed, but estimates suggest $1 to $1.50 per qualifying title, a modest figure as the $7.85 million fund is divided among about 4.4 million eligible accounts after legal fees are deducted.

The opt-out deadline for users who want to preserve their right to file individual claims is July 2026. 

The court’s final fairness hearing is scheduled for October 15, 2026. Credits will only be distributed once final approval is confirmed, but for the majority of eligible users, nothing needs to happen between now and then except waiting for the notification to arrive.

Source: Sony PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Antitrust Litigation