The class action lawsuit filed against Sony for its part in the PlayStation Network outage of April 2011 may soon reach a proposed settlement, netting class members a small payout.
In Maksimovic and Others vs. Sony of Canada and Others, the Plaintiff Settlement Class includes any Canadian resident "who had a PSN account or sub-account, a Qriocity account, or an SOE account at any time prior to May 15, 2011." The Ontario Superior Court of Justice will review the Plaintiff’s case against Sony during the Final Approval Hearing on June 10, 2013.
At that time, it will be decided if Canadian gamers who fall under the definition of the Settlement Class will receive compensation from Sony. In the proposed settlement, compensation for PSN accountholders includes reimbursement for any unused money in their PSN wallet, so long as the wallet amount exceeds $2.00. However, upon claiming these benefits, the user’s PSN account will be closed.
For PlayStation gamers in Canada with accounts for third-party media services (like Netflix), claims can be submitted for three of six available PS3 themes or a 50% discount on a three-month PlayStation Plus subscription.
For Qriocity accountholders, one free month of Music Unlimited is up for grabs.
Sony Online Entertainment accountholders can file a claim for the same monetary reimbursement as PSN accountholders.
Finally, there’s a condition–PSN claimants who participated in the "Welcome Back" program may only choose one of three benefit options: the Game Benefit, Theme Benefit, or PSN Plus New Subscription Benefit. The latter two are described above, while the Game Benefit selecting one free title from a list of eight PS3 titles and six PSP titles, including the following: Dead Nation, inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, Wipeout HD + Fury, LittleBigPlanet PSP, ModNationRacers PSP, Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation.
PSN users who didn’t participate in the "Welcome Back" program may select two of the Benefit options. If the retail price of any free game is less than $9.00 at the time of download, then only the correct amount will be removed from the allotted funds offered by Sony for this settlement.
With $400,000 allotted for "Welcome Back" participants and $600,000 allotted for non-participants, the Benefits will be dispensed on a first-come-first-serve basis.
For all of the important information regarding the settlement, including how you can file a claim or opt out, check out the Court’s information page. Sound off in the comments if you’re a Canadian gamer who falls into the Plaintiff class.