Sony to cough up $8.5m settlement, devs finally get paid

The law offices of Shapiro, Haber & Urmy have publicized the settlement terms of a class action lawsuit filed against SCEA in February 2005, which alleged that the company failed to compensate a number of game developers for overtime work. The settlement will see $8.5 million paid out to current and former employees involved in the suit, and, along with the overdue checks, Sony will "reclassify" Associate Artists and Artist 1s as nonexempt (from overtime pay) job positions. Under the terms, Sony will uphold its denial of the allegations, admitting to no wrongdoing. Ah, formalities...

The settlement is still pending court approval. Regardless, the deal would be called off if for some unimaginable reason (it's "free" money, people!) enough class members opted out.