Sony Group Corporation

A Brasília federal district court ruled on June 17, 2026 (case 0701554-83.2021.8.07.0013) that Sony violated Brazil's Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) by offering paid randomized loot boxes to minors without adequate warnings, odds disclosure, or age verification. Sony was ordered to pay R$40 million (~$7.8 million) in collective damages, part of a combined R$298 million judgment against Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tencent, EA, Riot Games, Garena, Ubisoft, Valve, Konami, and Nintendo in the same ruling. Companies must implement probability disclosures, reliable age verification, and refund systems for minors' purchases within 90 days of final judgment or face daily fines of R$100,000. The ruling is subject to appeal and also allows individual children to pursue separate compensation claims.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against Sony Corporation of America and Sony Electronics on December 15, 2025 in Nueces County district court, alleging Sony's Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, deployed on Sony Smart TVs since around 2013, secretly tracked viewing habits on up to 50 million devices without informed consent and sold the resulting household-level data, including inferences about political views, sexual orientation, religion, and health interests, to third parties including Samba TV. The suit was part of a coordinated action against five smart-TV makers; unlike Samsung and LG, which settled in February and May 2026 respectively, Sony's case remained active as of August 2026, with the state seeking a permanent injunction, civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation ($250,000 for violations involving seniors), and a jury trial.

In 2025, Sony Interactive Entertainment received a 100/100 score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Corporate Equality Index, being named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ equality. Sony maintained its employee resource networks including Pride@PlayStation and expanded DEI specialist hiring, while many other tech companies rolled back DEI initiatives.

In December 2024, Sony disclosed that its audit of Kawaguchi Manufacturing, a Malaysian supplier of plastic components, found violations of Sony's supply chain code of conduct. The violations involved 251 Bangladeshi workers who were denied pay for seven months. Sony stated it implemented remedial measures in collaboration with the Responsible Business Alliance.

On February 27, 2024, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced layoffs of approximately 900 employees, representing 8% of PlayStation's global workforce. Employees across Americas, EMEA, Japan and APAC regions were affected. PlayStation's London Studio was closed entirely. CEO Jim Ryan cited industry changes and need to 'future ready ourselves.'