Sony pays out to customers after deceptive PS Vita ads

Sony has started to make settlement payments to PlayStation Vita owners, six months after the Federal Trade Commission found that the company had run misleading ads about the handheld console. If you bought a PS Vita before June 1, 2012 -- and haven’t already returned it for a full refund -- you are in line to receive $25 cash back.

Alternatively, a voucher that can be exchanged for merchandise worth at least $50 is also available. Despite the FTC's findings Sony still "neither admits nor denies liability", the payouts offer some compensation for gamers who feel they were misled.

Anyone wishing to make a claim needs to do so by June 29, 2015 and the form you need to fill in can be found at a specially designed website. The claims stem from a series of ads which suggested players could start a game on a PS3 and pick up from where they left off on a PS Vita console, but this feature was only supported by a small number of games. They also suggested that 3G subscribers could engage in live online games when in fact this was not possible.

The company handling the refunds for Sony explains:

If you purchased a PlayStation Vita handheld game console before June 1, 2012, you may be eligible to receive cash back (or credit on your PSN account) or merchandise worth $50 or more. The Federal Trade Commission has alleged that some SCEA advertisements for the PlayStation Vita during this period were deceptive. Although SCEA neither admits nor denies liability in connection with this matter, SCEA has agreed to settle the dispute with the Federal Trade Commission by offering either cash back (or credit on your PSN account) or merchandise to customers who purchased a PlayStation Vita before June 1, 2012, and who have not returned the product for a full refund.

On the face of it, opting for the merchandise might seem the most appealing, but if you've decided to move on, cash is still available to help soften the blow. The offer is only available to PlayStation Vita owners in the US. Full details are available on https://vitaclaims.com.