An Illinois woman sued Sony Corporation of America on behalf of herself and a class of individuals who purchased defective PlayStation 5 consoles (PS5) manufactured and sold by Sony, alleging that they suddenly shut down mid-game. The complaint says that Sony is liable to its customers who allege they would not have paid as much as they did for the video game console had they known about the defect.
According to the lawsuit, Sony’s PlayStation division touted the November 2020 release of its PS5 as the “biggest console launch of all time.” More than four million units sold by January 2021 and more than 19.2 million units have been sold to date worldwide. Despite its success, the complaint contends that the console harbors a defect that causes it to suddenly crash and power down.
Despite Sony’s representations about the PS5’s speed and performance, the plaintiff says the defect “materially interferes with the user’s gameplay and enjoyment of the PS5,” causing them to lose game progress due to its sudden nature.
In addition, once a user is able to turn their PS5 back on, they are warned that the manner in which the console was powered down can damage the overall system. Consequently, the filing says that users are often forced to downgrade versions of PS5 Games to the PlayStation 4 versions to avoid this issue and not risk further damaging their console and losing game progress.
Ultimately, the complaint accuses Sony of depriving gamers of the benefit of the bargain. It seeks to certify both a nationwide class of PS5 purchasers and an Illinois subclass. The suit states claims under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, “as well as other materially identical consumer fraud statutes,” and for breach of the implied warranty of merchantability and unjust enrichment.
The plaintiff is represented by McGuire Law P.C.
