If you’re one of the lucky ones to have been able to buy a PS5 already, you’ll know that with a PlayStation Plus subscription you also get access to the PS Plus Collection, 20 well-loved, properly good PS4 games. But if you’re still on PS4, that bundle isn’t available to you. Well, it didn’t take people long to figure out if they logged into a PS5 with their PS4 details, it’d trigger the lot into their account, unlocked to play back on the older machine. And as VGC reports, that quickly led to naughty PS5 owners selling the opportunity on auction sites. Now it seems that Sony may have swooped in, banning in their wake.
It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that Sony would look down on this practice. It’s one thing to ask your buddy to log in as you on their new machine, to gain access to the likes of God Of War, Arkham Knight, Fallout 4, Last Of Us Remastered, Ratchet & Clank… It’s another to start selling the service on eBay. And if the claims are accurate, Sony’s response appears to be harsh: According to those on the receiving end, PS5’s caught up to no good are possibly seeing permanent bans from network services, while the purchasers’ PS4 accounts are looking at a two-month ban.
As VGC points out, it seems this is mainly concentrated in Hong Kong at the moment.
There’s some question as to whether the perma-bans on PS5s are as a result of direct retribution by Sony, or as part of an automatic ban on any console recognised as logging in to multiple accounts in a single day. Because that’s never not dubious. And of course there must be a bunch of people now shitting themselves because they had a friend unlock the games on their PS4, and now don’t know if they’re about to be in trouble. We’ve asked Sony to see if they can clarify on this.
G/O Media may get a commission
In the meantime, if you hadn’t thought of it before, you must be equally tempted and terrified to try.