July 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge in California has

declined to approve a class action settlement with Sony ( SONY ) that

would have distributed $7.8 million in electronic credits to

millions of users of the company's PlayStation video game

consoles.

Sony ( SONY ) had agreed to the settlement to resolve claims that it

overcharged for digital games, but U.S. District Judge Araceli

Martínez-Olguín in San Francisco said in a ruling on Thursday

that the plaintiffs had not convinced her the accord was

adequate.

Martínez-Olguín described the agreement as a coupon

settlement, and said those types of deals are generally

disfavored.

The judge said the consumers who brought the case can file a

revised proposal.

Michael Buchman, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs,

declined to comment. Sony ( SONY ) did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

The plaintiffs, who estimated the class size at more than

4.4 million individuals, sued Sony ( SONY ) after its 2019 move to bar

retailers such as Best Buy ( BBY ) and GameStop ( GME ) from selling so-called

download codes for digital PlayStation games.

The lawsuit accused Sony ( SONY ) of illegally monopolizing the sale

of digital PlayStation games.

Martínez-Olguín in her ruling said any updated settlement

proposal should show how the "value and structure of this

settlement remain defensible," with an estimate of what

individual class members would receive. She asked for examples

of comparable cases and their outcomes.

In a court filing, Sony ( SONY ) said it was settling to avoid the

further expense and distraction of continued litigation. The

company denied any wrongdoing.

The settlement period covers eligible PlayStation game

purchases made between April 2019 and December 2023, according

to court filings.

The plaintiffs' lawyers in a filing in December said they

had invested about 13,700 hours in the litigation, which began

in 2021. They had planned to seek up to about 33% of the

settlement for legal fees, or about $2.61 million.

The case is Agustin Caccuri et al v. Sony Interactive

Entertainment, U.S. District Court, Northern District of

California, No. 3:21-cv-03361-AMO.

For plaintiffs: Michael Buchman of Motley Rice

For defendant: Shawn Estrada of Paul Weiss