Sony Faces Lawsuit Over Claims of Keeping Profits from ‘Illegal’ Tariffs

It seems like there’s a new lawsuit against Sony popping up every couple of weeks. The latest one is a class action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, targeting the makers of the PlayStation 5. The complaint claims that Sony is keeping a significant amount of money generated from unlawful tariffs imposed by the federal government under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The plaintiffs in the Walker et al v. Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC case argue that Sony stands to gain a “double recovery windfall” from tariff refunds established during the Trump administration. They contend that these refunds should be passed on to consumers, especially since the prices of PlayStation consoles were raised during the same period to offset those tariffs. If this sounds familiar, it’s because a similar class action was filed against Nintendo just last month.

Sony announced substantial price hikes for PlayStation consoles in the U.S. on August 20, 2025, with another increase on May 27, 2026. Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on April 20, 2026, declaring the IEEPA tariffs unlawful, U.S. Customs and Border Protection set up a website to help affected importers claim their tariff refunds.

In simpler terms, the plaintiffs argue that Sony passed the cost of the IEEPA tariffs onto consumers by raising console prices, and now, with the refunds coming in, the company is essentially double-dipping—profiting from higher sales prices while also receiving substantial refunds from the government.

The lawsuit insists that these refunds should be returned to consumers. For context, the suit notes that between August 21, 2025, and April 2, 2026, the PlayStation 5 “disc edition” saw a total price increase of $150, the “digital edition” also went up by $150, and the PlayStation 5 Pro increased by $200.

This is a “Nationwide Class” suit, meaning that if the plaintiffs win, it could include “all individuals” who bought a PlayStation console during the class period (from August 1, 2025, to the present). The case was filed on May 6, 2026, so it’s still too early to determine what kind of compensation might be awarded to consumers if the plaintiffs are successful.