Are you entitled to money back for your PS3?

Although most of us have moved onto the PlayStation 4, it might be worth taking a look at your old PlayStation 3. Some owners of Sony's Ps3 may be entitled to claim $65 form the company due to a settlement made by the company in a class action lawsuit. In early models of the console, there was a feature called Other Os which meant that users could install software such as Linux to run on the console.

Later models did not come with this feature, and it was disabled in older models with a firmware update in 2010. In 2016 Sony offered a settlement which was rejected in 2017, with one of the reasons being that there were hurdles faced by those who were eligible for the claim to collect what they were entitled to.

A second settlement was offered in September in 2017 which was accepted. This settlement allows certain owners of the PS3 to claim up to $65 from the company.

Who is eligible?

Let's be honest, what you really want to know is "Am I eligible?". To claim back the $65 the owner of the console must meet certain criteria. Firstly you must have purchased your PS3 within the period beginning on November 1, 2006 and ending on April 1, 2010. Check to see if yours is a "fat PS3", any model released after this was not released with the Other OS feature and so is not covered under the lawsuit. The console must also have been bought from an authorized retailer, which is any retailer who is appointed by Sony or the distributor of the PS3 to sell the console.

This means that anyone who bought a second-hand console from a friend or at a market is not entitled to make this claim. The console must have been purchased for family, personal and/or household use. For most people, this shouldn't be a problem. Finally, you will only be eligible to claim if you have used or knew about the Other OS functionality or if you can successfully argue that your PS3 experienced a loss of value or functionality, or that you were otherwise injured as a result of the firmware update which disabled Other OS.

How do I make a claim?

To make your claim you must be able to provide your PlayStation's serial number, the email address you used to create your PSN account or your PSN ID- whatever name you chose to identify yourself while gaming. Once you have at least one of these pieces of information and are eligible to receive your claim, simply log onto the settlement website and click on the link to fill in an online form or print out a paper form.

You will find all of the information you need there as well as contact information if you are unsure of your eligibility if you're interested you will even find detailed class notices. Any claim placed after April 15, 2018, will not be considered, however, so it's best to make your claim as soon as possible and remember that the amount of money you receive is dependent on the number of valid claims that have been submitted.