Sony Blocks PS5 for Selling Access to PS Plus Collection
Thousands of players have been banned and a few PlayStation 5s have lost access to online features in recent days. The reason? Selling access to games from PlayStation Plus Collection by some „resourceful” gamers.
- Sony has banned thousands of PlayStation Network accounts as a result of users selling access to PlayStation Plus Collection;
- Sellers were taking advantage of a loophole to acquire the games included in this PlayStation 4 collection once they signed in on PS5 to unlock the games from the set for people who don't have Sony's new console - for a fee;
- Users were banned for 2 months, but sellers were also given a permanent ban on network features of the PlayStation 5 units they used.
There are many reasons why gamers are buying (or at least trying to buy) PlayStation 5. The reason may be the new exclusive titles like Demon's Souls or even Bugsnax or ray-tracing support, and the desire to boast of having a new (and barely accessible) console. Or someone may have been tempted by the PlayStation Plus Collection offer, enabling PS Plus subscribers to check out 20 games at no extra charge, including Uncharted 4, God of War and Persona 5. Apparently some have decided to share this wealth with others for a 'small' fee, resulting in a huge wave of bans not only for accounts but also for individual PlayStation 5 units.
It all started with the discovery of an intriguing loophole. If we gain access PlayStation Plus Collection on PS5, we'll be able to run games from the set on PlayStation 4 as well. In theory, this enables us to share the collection with friends, but there's another usage. All you have to do is sign in with any PlayStation Network account on PlayStation 5 with unlocked PS Plus Collection, and you can share it on a PlayStation 4 as well. The loophole was quickly exploited by some "resourceful" gamers as an opportunity to make money. The result: auction services have seen a flood of offers advertising the option of unlocking PlayStation Plus Collection for a small fee. Video Games Chronicles reports that one 'seller' managed to earn 100 pounds using this method.
However, the joy of such persons and their customers did not last long. Two days ago there was information (via Twitter) that thousands of Hong Kong gamer accounts had been banned, and although the reason for this was not clear, all the affected users had games unlocked from PlayStation Plus Collection. Over time, similar information from outside China has emerged (via Reddit). Most of these are bans for two months, but there are also reports of permanent blocking of online features on specific PlayStation 5 units. Given the punishment and its scope, it is hardly surprising that players have baptised this event as the "SIE Thanksgiving Day Massacre".
Some Internet users think Sony has gone too far. A ban on the account - especially temporary - is understandable (though probably painful during the holiday season), but completely blocking a console seems a drastic move. The problem is, we are not sure if this is a direct intervention of Sony. If we believe the latest reports, it may be an automatic operation of the console due to too many users logging on to it in a short period of time. This theory is supported by the fact that so far no accounts of people who have shared PS Plus Collection with individual friends were reported to have been banned. Sony has not commented on this so far.
Apart from the issue of punishment, most Internet users agree that banned users can only blame themselves. It is not even about breaking the user's agreement, which in itself can be considered a sufficient reason. In order to take advantage of this "opportunity", the gamers had to send their PSN account details to the seller so that he could log on to the console. It is not a very wise decision, unless we want to be a lure for all sorts of fraudsters.
