As a result of upcoming changes to the PlayStation Plus subscription model, PlayStation has ceased to allow customers to apply prepaid PlayStation Plus memberships (such as those sold on gift cards at stores) to their accounts which currently have active memberships, informing customers that they will no longer be able to “stack” memberships, and their cards will be useless until they will need to resubscribe to a specific tier once their membership ends or the new system is rolled out in June.

However, Sony continues to market and sell the PlayStation Plus membership cards with subscription periods of up to a year with no indication of this substantial change in the membership cards’ functionality. 

The new, tiered subscription system is set to take effect on June 13, and Sony has announced that the conversion rate from the prepaid cards to the highest tier of subscriptions is effectively a 2-1 rate from the prepaid PS Plus membership (so a prepaid 1-year membership card would net one 6 months at the highest subscription tier, and 7 months at the intermediate subscription tier). 

The PlayStation Network’s Terms of Service contain a binding arbitration provision, which can be opted out of within 30 days (of subscription) and a class action waiver. 

While not extremely similar, Dollar General settled a somewhat-analogous lawsuit in 2021 over accusations that they sold obsolete motor oil. The analogy in this situation would be that Sony is continuing to sell somewhat-obsolete subscription cards despite knowing that they have substantially reduced functionality and value.