Aldana v. GameStop, Inc.

A Court authorized a Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the Settlement. This Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

The Honorable Caroline Piela Cohen, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Kings, is overseeing this case. The case is called Aldana v. GameStop, Inc., Index No. 500772/2025. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs. Defendant is GameStop, Inc.

In a class action, one or more people called the class representatives (in this case, Alejandro Aldana and Scott Gallie) sue on behalf of a group or a “class” of people who have similar claims. In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

This lawsuit claims that Defendant violated the Video Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2710, et seq. (“VPPA”) by disclosing its online video game customers’ personally identifiable information (“PII”) to Facebook via the Facebook Tracking Pixel without consent in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (the “VPPA”). The VPPA defines PII to include information which identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from a video tape service provider. Defendant denies that it violated any law but has agreed to the settlement to avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with continuing the case.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or the Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to a Settlement. That way, they avoid the uncertainties and expenses associated with ongoing litigation, and Class Members will get compensation sooner rather than, if at all, after the completion of a trial.

The Settlement Class is defined as:

All individuals who purchased a video game from the GameStop website during the Class Period and who, at the time of that purchase, (i) were a member of Facebook and (ii) maintained a public Facebook profile using their actual name.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are counsel to the Settling Parties, Hon. Freda Wolfson, and their employees, legal representatives, heirs, successors, assigns, or any members of their immediate family; any government entity; GameStop, any entity in which GameStop has a controlling interest, any of GameStop’s subsidiaries, parents, affiliates, and officers, directors, employees, legal representatives, heirs, successors, or assigns, or any members of their immediate family; any persons who, as of the date of this Agreement, have provided notice to GameStop of claims relating to the Action; any persons who have released claims relating to the Action; and any persons who timely opt-out of the Settlement Class.

Monetary Relief: Defendant has created a Gross Settlement Amount totaling $4,500,000.00. All payments to Settlement Class Members, the cost to administer the Settlement, the cost to inform people about the Settlement, attorneys’ fees, and an award to the Class Representative will also come out of this amount (see FAQ 13).

Prospective Changes: In addition to this monetary relief, the Settlement also requires Defendant to suspend operation of the Facebook Tracking Pixel on any pages on its website where it would capture the title of a videogame purchased that contains cut scenes that are like the type of content generally covered by the VPPA, unless and until the VPPA is amended, repealed, or otherwise invalidated by judicial decision as applied to the use of web site pixel technology or such video games generally, or until Defendant obtains VPPA-compliant consent for the disclosure of such video game titles to Facebook.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement.

If you are member of the Settlement Class, you may submit a Claim Form to receive either a Cash Payment of up to $5 or a Voucher of up to $10 for use on GameStop’s website. You may choose either the Cash Payment or Voucher, but not both.

You must submit a Claim Form in order to receive any compensation under the Settlement.

The hearing to consider the fairness of the settlement is scheduled for October 16, 2025. If the Court approves the settlement, eligible Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator and selected the Cash Payment option will receive their Cash Payment 45 days after the Settlement has been finally approved and/or any appeals process is complete. The Cash Payments will be made in the form of a Zelle, PayPal, or Venmo, at your election.

Eligible Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator and selected the Voucher option will receive their Voucher in the GameStop account associated with their email address 45 days after the Settlement has been finally approved and/or any appeals process is complete. You can create a free GameStop account if you don’t already have one. The Voucher will expire a year after it is issued.

If you are a Class Member and you want to get a Cash Payment or Voucher, you must complete and submit a Claim Form by August 15, 2025. Claim Forms can be found and submitted by clicking here, or by printing and mailing a paper Claim Form, copies of which are available for download here.

We also encourage you to submit your claim online. Not only is it easier and more secure, but it is completely free and takes only minutes!

If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue Defendant for the claims this Settlement resolve. The Settlement Agreement describes the specific claims you are giving up against the Defendant. You will be “releasing” the Defendant and certain of its affiliates described in Section 1.26 of the Settlement Agreement. Unless you exclude yourself (see FAQ 14), you are “releasing” the claims, regardless of whether you submit a claim or not. The Settlement Agreement is available here.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions (see Section 1.25 and 3.1-3.2 of the Settlement Agreement), so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the lawyers listed in FAQ 12 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about what this means.

If you do nothing, you won’t get any benefits from this Settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

The Court has appointed Philip L. Fraietta and Alec M. Leslie of Bursor & Fisher, P.A. to be the attorneys representing the Settlement Class. They are called “Class Counsel.” They believe, after conducting an extensive investigation, that the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer in this case, you may hire one at your expense.

Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses will be paid from the Gross Settlement Amount in an amount determined and awarded by the Court. Class Counsel will seek no more than one-third of the $4.5 million Gross Settlement Amount, but the Court may award less than this amount.

As approved by the Court, the Class Representatives will be paid incentive awards from the Gross Settlement Amount for helping to bring and settle the case. The Class Representatives will seek no more than $5,000.00 each as incentive awards, but the Court may award less than this amount.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must mail or otherwise deliver a letter (or request for exclusion) stating that you want to be excluded from the Aldana v. GameStop, Inc., Index No. 500772/2025 settlement. Your letter or request for exclusion must also include your name, your address, your signature, the name and number of this case, and a statement that you wish to be excluded. You must file your letter or request for exclusion with the Court no later than August 15, 2025, and mail or deliver your exclusion request no later than August 15, 2025, to:

GameStop VPPA Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 4129
Portland, OR 97208-4129

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue the Defendant for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for benefits.

If you’re a Class Member, you can object to the Settlement if you don’t like any part of it. You can give reasons why you think the Court should not approve it. The Court will consider your views. To object, you must file with the Court a letter or brief stating that you object to the Settlement in Aldana v. GameStop, Inc., Index No. 500772/2025 and identify all your reasons for your objections (including citations and supporting evidence) and attach any materials you rely on for your objections. Your letter or brief must also include your name, an explanation of the basis upon which you claim to be a Settlement Class Member, including information sufficient to identify your current Facebook page or a screenshot showing that you were a Facebook member during the class period, the name and contact information of any and all attorneys representing, advising, or in any way assisting you in connection with your objection, and your signature. If you, or an attorney assisting you with your objection, have ever objected to any class action settlement where you or the objecting attorney has asked for or received payment in exchange for dismissal of the objection (or any related appeal) without modification to the settlement, you must include a statement in your objection identifying each such case by full case caption. You must also mail or deliver a copy of your letter or brief to Class Counsel and Defendant’s Counsel listed below.

Class Counsel will file with the Court and post on this website its request for attorneys’ fees by August 1, 2025.

If you want to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing to object to the Settlement, with or without a lawyer (explained in FAQ 21), you must say so in your letter or brief. You must file the objection with the Court no later than August 15, 2025. The Court’s address is:

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself from the Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on October 16, 2025, at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Kings, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The purpose of the hearing will be for the Court to determine whether to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class; to consider the Class Counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees and expenses; and to consider the request for an incentive award to the Class Representative. At that hearing, the Court will be available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement.

The hearing may be postponed to a different date or time without notice, so it is a good idea to check this website or call Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150. If, however, you timely objected to the Settlement and advised the Court that you intend to appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing, you will receive notice of any change in the date of such Final Approval Hearing.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. But, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection or comment, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you filed and mailed your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay another lawyer to attend, but it’s not required.

Yes. You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must include in your letter or brief objecting to the settlement a statement saying that it is your “Notice of Intent to Appear in Aldana v. GameStop, Inc., Index No. 500772/2025.” It must include your name, address, telephone number, and signature, as well as the name and address of your lawyer if one is appearing for you. Your objection and notice of intent to appear must be filed with the Court and postmarked no later than August 15, 2025.

This website summarizes the Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You may also write with questions to GameStop VPPA Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 4129 Portland, OR 97208-4129. You can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-888-861-4077 or Class Counsel at 1-646-837-7150, if you have any questions. Before doing so, however, please read the full FAQs section of this website carefully.