Sony to Refund to Early PS Vita Adopters After FTC Settlement

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that advertisements for the PlayStation Vita were misleading and Sony will be offering a $25 refund or a $50 voucher to early adopters of the handheld.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to settle the allegations made that it wrongfully misled the public about the capabilities of the PS Vita, CVG reports. The FTC claims that the handheld was advertised with features that it never came with or greatly varied from the final version of the PS Vita. In particular, the Vita was originally billed to feature Remote Play functionality with the PlayStation 3 -- only a very select few PS3 games had this feature. Also, the handheld's early ads claimed that Cross Platform play would allow them to pause a PlayStation 3 title and continue it right away on the Vita, which certainly was not the case.

"Sony failed to inform consumers that to use this feature, purchasers had to buy two versions of the same game - one for their PS3 and one for the PS Vita," the FTC's report read. "The complaint further alleges that Sony also falsely claimed that with the 'remote play' feature, PS Vita users could easily access their PS3 games on their handheld consoles. In reality, most PS3 games were not remote playable on the PS Vita."

Sony advertised that the Vita would have online multiplayer due to its 3G functionality, but it only allowed for turn-based games to be played online in this manner. One of Sony's early video ads for the system showcased Remote Play with Killzone 3, which didn't even end up supporting the feature.

Sony will offering a $50 voucher for select games or a $25 cash refund for early adopters of the handheld.