UPDATED: Upcoming Change to PlayStation 3 and PSP Game Content on PlayStation Network

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UPDATED: Upcoming Change to PlayStation 3 and PSP Game Content on PlayStation Network

UPDATE: On November 17th (Pacific Time), the PlayStation network will undergo maintenance. Once this maintenance window has completed, the new policy will apply. If you want to purchase content under the current rules, please do so before this maintenance begins on November 17th.

We’d like to inform you of some upcoming changes to the usage policies for PlayStation Network game content. As of November 18, 2011, the number of devices that can be activated on one PlayStation Network account for game content purchased from the PlayStation Store will be updated as follows:

For game content purchased after November 18, 2011, a new policy will apply and the number of devices that can be activated will be as follows:

  • PS3: Users will be able to play the game on up to 2 activated PS3 systems.
  • PSP: Users will be able to play the game on up to 2 activated PSP systems.

Please note that this update will not affect game content purchased before November 18. The PSP rights include PSP-1000/2000/3000 series as well as the PSPgo system.

PlayStation Network users are able to change the activation setting through each device, and Sony Computer Entertainment plans to provide a new PlayStation Network account management website where users will be able to deactivate particular devices attached to their PlayStation Network account via their PC.

For more details on how to activate/deactivate the devices, please visit here or contact consumer services.

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977 Comments

  • I understand why you made that, ok, but i think 2 downloads is too little. If you wanna decrease the number of downloads of the same product fine, 5 might be too much, but, again, 2 is too little!

    What if the download had an error? You download it once more (that means you’ve reached the maximum and cant download anymore). Fine. BUT you’ll have to change your PS3 system later on for some reason, so do we lose the product? it isnt fair

    maybe 3 or 4 is enough and its good. Actually 5 wasnt bad, it was a positive point of PlayStation Network

  • @FE_RR
    how is that Sony’s fault. Is it Western Digitals’ fault if your hard drive dies in your computer and you lose everything?

    Also you could never do anything from the website for your hardware. If you call Sony they would deactivate your system. (I know I got YLOD)

  • Boo. I loved being able to share games with friends. It was a great way to play games that I normally wouldn’t buy. But sharing between 2 ps3’s is still better than the NO Sharing that Xbox has! I guess this means I should buy the multiplayer games i want to share before the 18th.

  • man seriously im really mad please i want the # for getting REFUND FOR ALL MY GAMES
    I DONT ACCEPT THAT!
    i DONT ACCEPT BEING STEALED RIGHT IN MY FACE AND ACTUALLY I CANT DO NOTHING JUST WATCHING YOU GUY RUBBING MY MONEY
    AND REMOVED WHAT IS WAS MINE!

  • @Camaargo

    I think you are missing the point. It is how many systems you ccan download your content to that are active. If you change systems you just have to deactivate the original system and then you can download on the new system. Same thing I did when I had YLOD and got a slim PS3.

    You can redownload the items as many times as you like, you just can’t download them to more than 2 ps3s.

  • @144 Camaargo

    It’s not a limit on downloads. A limit on how many ps3’s you can download the game on. 2 is way too little, if you purchase something on PSN, You can download it as many times as you want.

  • re’s an idea sony, sue the makers of jailbreak dongles, like the new true blue. they are selling a device that hacks your system. why not punish them instead.

  • @camaargo

    This has nothing to do with the number of times you can download the content you purchased. I can download, install, and then delete a game I purchased 400 times in a row if I want. This announcement deals with the number of consoles on which you can activate content at any given time. Content purchased prior to Nov 18 of this year will allow activation on 5 consoles. Content purchased after Nov 18 of this year will only be available for activation on 2 consoles simultaneously.

  • so way isn’t SCE banning users like “davoo21”? instead of doing this

  • wow this is a disappointment i happent to love having 5 people i can share with 2 is way to small i love how they just do this without seeing what the people who use there systems whould want sony whats up with you lately???

  • This makes me sad. i normally put my info on my friends PS3’s if i ever wanna play a game i downloaded on their system but then delete it right after before i leave their home. that way i don’t have to carry my PS3 everywhere with me when i do…… I am terribly disappointed in this announcement. What i do is not really game sharing it’s like i brought a game disc to my friend we played and now i am leaving with it we both played it when i was their but now i am leaving with it it’s not stayed their so i am sharing it with him .. if i gave the game away for free with account info then yea that to me is game sharing. but let me ask you this Sony what about the people who have 3 PS3’s at their Home ? they get robbed too you know.

    maybe i shouldn’t buy PSN games anymore to show my feelings for this announcement. i’m sure getting alot of things being taken away from me since the day i bought my PS3. i may not even support PS4 cause i’m not liking the path i am being forced to take.

  • To quote Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, “I… am… VERY… DISAPPOINTED!”

  • I WANT MY MONEY BACK

  • In three month their going to remove the play game function. lol

  • I’m really disappointed by this decision. I have three PS3s in my household and now I’m getting burned for being a faithful customer. I’m not sure why Sony continues to choke off useful features. First they give us the cloud but I can’t really use it more than once a day. So i’m back to my flash drive for transferring save data to each system. Thanks Sony. Now when I want to play games (that I purchased legally) for each of MY systems… now i have to deactivate and reactivate systems? Are you trying to keep people from actually buying units? Seriously Sony this is a bad decision. 3 systems should be the limit at a minimum. Please stop driving customers away by being control freaks. You get plenty of money from us. It would be nice if you actually showed appreciation and gave us a sense that we are actually valued. Thanks again *sarcasm* from your faithful three playstation owning, playstation plus subscribing, PSN game purchasing customer.

  • theres going to be a radical drop down sale on the PSN in 2 weeks, I ASSURE YOU!

  • So, does this mean we can still have 5 activated accounts, but only 2 will let us play our downloadable games? I hope so, because I had a PS3 that broke. I bought that one when it was over $500 with the MGS4 bundle. How am I supposed to remove the profile from that one when I can’t get on the system to remove it? Will this new website allow me to do so? Feedback would be highly appreciated. :(

  • @ Airwalkinman17 this function is used for family and friends why would u give ur info to share games with random people DUH!!! @NekoNiv ur right bann people who abuse it dont ruin it for everyone else ps i love how sony has no comments yet i love sony but over the pasy few months im getting upset with all there changes n such

  • Some people aren’t going to be to happy about this. Doesn’t really affect me either way. Looking forward to seeing who much some people overreact though.

  • People are always singing the praises of downloadable games but now we’re gonna start seeing the ugly/restrictive side of it right here.

  • Some people are just plain stupid, it says after November 18th this will be in effect, of course you can’t do it yet….
    Sucks that you are doing this SCEA because its one of the perks of having a PS3 over a 360. Unless you finally decide to add X-Game-Chat, you need to keep this available for users, or you will lose plenty. I realize you lose a lot of money through GameShare, but you still make billions…lets not get greedy here.

  • 2 systems at home, 1 at the office. Now I can’t play any PSN games on all my systems? Smells like BS to me. Thanks Sony. Guarantee I purchase less games because of this.

  • @154 the way I see it you’ll be able to deactivate and activate the PS3 at will, so you deactivate on yours prior to go to your friend and activate then on your friend via web site. Then again deactivate at your friend when you leave and so forth. That is the way i understand the feature, I may be wrong.

    Time consuming? maybe, but at least nobody will be able to play without paying.

    Has to those who says that disc game you can share, why not Digitals ones? wake up! when you give your game to a friend to play you can’t play with it at the same time eh? or can you? if so Wow i’m stunned and want your trick to do it ;-p

  • blakseed go troll somewhere else if this doesnt affect you then why r u here???

  • Hey sony can you ban Cyb3rfr34k-iso from posting on the blog? it is incredibly hard to read what they are writing and the fact that his psn id has been spotted by ME on various ps3 hacking sites.(im the HackerHunter) He’s so angry he cant pirate games anymore. see his name, at the end is “ISO” which is the extension for when you make an image file out of a disc based game. he’s stealing games sony. he hangs out on all the custom firmware makers sites. Hes so outraged that he cant pirate anymore. plus Cyb3rfr34k-iso, YOUR GRAMMAR SUCKS BIG TIME. here’s some advice Cyb3rfr34k-iso, get off the ps3 and goto school to learn how to enunciate yourself properly. you are hurting all of our brains making us read your crap.

  • Once again Sony is taking the functionality of their systems! I have a friend who has 2 brothers, 3 or PS3 in one house, I see what they do now. I have 2 PS3 at home (one for my daughters and my other) and what worries me is whether in the near future to resolve switch back to just one system.
    Frankly, I’m not in favor of shared accounts to sales as they happen. But I found this attitude of desperation from Sony. Only two systems I think little. The ideal would be 3.
    I do not believe that they can manage systems up 5 before 18 and after that only 2. How will it work? The five will appear on the site deactivation enabled?
    To me it just said not to create more controversy, I do not believe that after 18 days we managed to keep three or more activated systems.
    What next?
    Translated by Google

  • Having a Netflix moment, are we Sony? Who needs consumers anyway.

    I think you could achive the same results and tick off fewer by capping it at 3 PS3’s and 4 PSPs.

    I haven’t used this feature, but I’ve thought about getting more PSP’s so I can play coop games with my kids. Not having to buy multiple game copies was one benefit PSP’s had over DS’s. I’m not buying two copies of a game, so you’re not selling more software. And, now I have no reason to buy more than one more PSP.

  • WTF SONY??!! now I have to choose between my systems? I have 2 PS3’s, a PSP and soon a PS VITA that I already pre-ordered FROM YOU GUY so I can get it a week before your stuped release date, and NOW ur tell me that I can only play my games on 2 F***** SYSTEMS?????????????? This is an outrage SONY…. I want my damn money back for everything that i had purchased from u and for u stupid stuff. I am not ganna let this one go.

  • Way to screw over legit multiple console owning households. What a bunch of douche bags. First you let all our personal and credit card info get hacked. Now you decide to reduce the number of activated systems by 60%. Anyone think these two events are related? You can bet your @$$ they are.

    Thanks for the memories Sony but this “love” affair we had is over. At least Microsoft knows that people own more than one Xbox 360, in my case I own 3, so I can play my content on any device at anytime, even a friends device WITHOUT HAVING TO JUMP THROUGH HOOPS OR AN ACTIVATION PROCESS.

    The lack of brain trust inside SCEA is SAD. Douche bag move Sony.

  • I was always kind of surprised they allowed 5 systems anyway. Bummer for cheap skate trophy whores but it’s all good.

  • I have two PS3’s in my house but I was going to surprise my son with his own for Christmas. Guess I won’t be doing that now considering the stuff he would want to play was purchased on my Master Account and I’m so not deactivating it on the others.
    I have NEVER shared my games with anyone other than the members of my own household. It’s me, the boyfriend and our two kids. And on top of that we each own a PSP! Personally, I don’t see how this is going to help me, in any way.
    Also, there was always a page to deactivate via PC but will you be able to deactivate stolen or broken systems? Because you can’t at this moment.
    I’ll tell you this though, if someone messaged me asking for my personal info to “game share” I would report it.

    • Once we launch the new feature on our website, you will be able to deactivate all systems that are tied to your account.

  • 153 comments and no replies/clarifications?

    Unanswered questions I’m interested in:
    1) How does the PSV fit into this?
    2) Does this mean that if I get a mini or PS1 game via PSN, I can have it on two PSPs *and* two PS3s?

    I’m planning on a PSV purchase next year, but if I still have uncertainty about being able to D/L PSN games to it, I will stop purchasing PSN games that are portable-playable until there is clarity here.

  • @+ voyte4 on November 4th, 2011 at 6:41 am said:

    “I guess sony forgot what happened to them last time they took out a feature from their users.”

    LMAO…I guess more and more we will realize that no matter what we buy from Sony none of it will TRULY BE OURS…Just like the government slowly taking away our rights…

  • want to have control over what features stay on y ps3’s? there is only ONE solution, a massive buyout of sony by the Gamers. Everyone go buy ONE SHARE of sony stock. when we get controlling stake int he shares 51% or more, then and only then will we have a real say. just do it, I have my share already and when I have an issue now, i dont call tech support I call Sony Headquarters in Foster City and they legally have to listen to me and have an obligation because I am now an investor. Want a say, buy a share today. I do not work for sony but would sure love to have controlling say in what they can and cant do. it’s a feasible idea. the stock is VERY cheap at the moment as compared to this time last year…….

  • Just as a note… If you want to make sure Sony hears you as clear as possible you can send them an email… http://us.playstation.com/support/ask/

    Please note that Chrome on Mac OSX (maybe windows too) does not work. You’ll need to use Firefox to get through the support request process.

  • @radix023 You can bet the official response will be: “The PS Vita licensing terms are yet to be determined” which really means, “Yup, 2 devices.” GG

  • Also echoing the “2 is too little” statements, no reason it can’t be 3.

    Now please, start adding features and stop taking stuff away. Free or not PSN is still a joke compared to XBL.

  • will this make the games like when you buy a movie and delete the movie and you have to rebuy the movie

  • Well i was seriously considering having 2 more PS3 in my house for Christmas. I already have one in the basement living room and i was thinking about getting one for upstairs with the 3D HDTV and another in my bedroom :S i guess i’ll have to forget about the bedroom one…

    About people wondering about the Vita… sony repeated it like million times, Vita is NOT a PsP, so you will be able to have 2 PS3, 2PsP and 2 Vita activated at home no problem and i am 99.9% sure of it (unless sony make another announcement about vita restriction before its release)

  • This policy stinks. I own 3 ps3s, so I am obviously a very loyal Sony customer. While I realize they are trying to crack down on game sharing, they are totally screwing over their best customers. Not cool at all. This will not get me to purchase more items digitally, but rather much less than before. Not happy here…not happy at all.

  • I think that this is good but its should be 3 activated PS3 systems and being able to deactivate a device remotely is a good move b/c Playstation 3 die all the time.

  • This is ridiculous. I have 3 ps3 in 3 different rooms in my house and now your punishing me for being a loyal customer. After all the drama with the ps3 this year, psn down, tos altering, and now this, you’ve lost my confidence as a customer. Ultimately I’ll be buying less on the PSN now as trust and loyalty are a two way street and you refuse to repay the same respect to your customers that they’ve shown you. I understand your want to curtail game sharing and I agree with that but do not punish legit customers for something they do not take part in. Tie a game to a PSN account and not a ps3. It’s as simple as that.

  • @RADIX023… Yes u can have a ps1 game on 2 PSP’s and 2 PS3’s at the same time. Ps1 games are playable on both systems so thats 2 and 2 = 4 systems. and PS VITA is a hand held so it would be under the same rule as a psp. Hope that clarifies it up for u.

  • Please change it to three. I have three gamers in my family who play on the PSP. We each got are own PSP & play the same games. Because the PSP allows for up to five games to be put on different systems. We have bought many PSP games because we know we can share them. With now only two people in my family going to be able to play the games. We will not be buying as many games as we did in the past.

    I can’t stress this point any clearer then I am right now. Me & my family have bought many great games which we know have co-op & now that we can’t play with all three people we are going to stop buying games. So this is going to hurt companies not help them. So please change this to three.

  • That’s fine…. Anyway, please have an option to deactivate the video services. I need to deactivate the video services on my previous PS3 60G (YLOD).

    Thank you

  • I have two children, each with a ps3,and there’s my own. Since you continue to grow increasingly ignorant, i’ll do the math for ya…That’s 3. While I have plenty titles that are strictly “Daddy’s Games”, more often than not, my kids and I shop together. EyePet, The Shoot, LBP(s), etc. Then there’s the tons of PSN games,and of course DLC. Are you telling me that one of us gets the shaft ? That I can’t share my games with my kids ? That I have to tell them only one can have the “new levels’ or that I myself can’t use what I paid for without taking up space on both their hard drives as another user…? You people baffle me. Just come out and say don’t buy our stuff. Clearly that is what you’re getting at. Unless of course, you really believe that people are gonna buy overpriced add-ons 2 or 3 times over, after they’ve bought another console for their home.

  • Your continued disrespect for you longest, dedicated costumers is going to be the death of your greedy, lazy company. People will see the disgusting hypocrisies of your “future” and more and more of your LIFEBLOOD will run down the drain. Taking features we HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR AWAY, AGAIN to battle the abuse of game sharing is nothing more than keeping your wallets fat, in as quick a way as possible. There are people who don’t abuse your system and you abuse them. Deal with individuals, individually. Stop being lazy. Stop being greedy. Or start writing checks to compensate the removal of features you previously sold. I’m still waiting for some of that $600 I gave you after standing in the rain all night for a machine with backwards compatibility, another os, 4 usb’s, etc….

  • @OCxViRuXz
    I’d like to see that in writing from Eric Lempel or another Sony spokesperson. What you posted is what you think should happen, not necessarily what will happen.

  • Noooooooooo! I’ve got 4 PS3s and 2 PSPs. I guess this means I’ll hold off on getting any more DLC. This was one of my favorite remaining features of the system. Some good news relevant to me would be great since all I ever hear is bad news about the PS3 now (I don’t have 3D TVs and I actually had linux installed).

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