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Court approves preliminary settlement in 2011 PlayStation Network breach lawsuit

The settlement will cost Sony upwards of $17.75 million, with plaintiffs potentially getting a PS3/PSP game, a PS Plus membership, and more.

Ozzie Mejia

July 23, 2014 6:40 PM

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A U.S. District Court in Southern California has issued a preliminary settlement approval, stemming from a 2011 class-action lawsuit filed by anonymous witnesses. The cash value of the settlement could total as much as $17.75 million.

According to Game Informer, plaintiffs in this class-action suit are eligible to receive a free PS3 or PSP game, PS3 themes, or a three-month membership for PlayStation Plus. Compensation will vary depending on whether customers took advantage of the Welcome Back program that was originally offered as an olive branch to affected customers. Those that had their identities compromised during that 2011 period are also eligible to submit a claim for up to $2,500.

This 2011 lawsuit alleged that Sony laid off a "substantial percentage" of the Sony Online Entertainment division, shortly before the infamous data breach of that year. It also alleged that Sony had spent money on installing firewalls to protect corporate data, but neglected to protect user data.

The full terms of the settlement can be found here and here.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?