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.
@ CynicalNerd
why are you still talking about gameshare we all know you have a NO FRIENDS & a HATER
but Jack said;
If a player logs into his PlayStation 3 account on a friend’s system, he can download any game he has already purchased. “You can send that content to four other friends for that initial investment. We want to get the game in as many hands as possible.”
seriously man, are you sad at that point? seriously?
i’ll give you my account man, so u can get all my games and love
maybe that’s what u need, u forget about goodness and friendship over the time alone in your bedroom
btw @JClink81
i like your comments and im behind you!
@ CynicalNerd I have a main room ps3,a basement ps3 and a bedroom ps3 and haven’t shared anything outside of the systems i own-people do have ps3’s as bd players and a game system really,i’m suprised you don’t as well. As long as i needed my master id as the system master id i see nothing wrong with 5 systems and yes i think ps3 is a great system with great content….and am now being punished for doing nothing wrong.
PS + is a great program : free games,discounts on games and the best feature to date cloud game saving but i wouldn’t put it past sony to add in “join ps + and get 5 systems to put stuff on” .
I’d rather see real features on ps + like DEDICATED SERVERS ,CROSS GAME CHAT and @ least 10 GB of cloud storage.
Do better sony or witness how baren psn becomes.
BTW online pass IS SONY as of RESISTANCE and UNCHARTED 3 sony has stepped up to online pass,others might’ve started the idea but sony hopped on the bandwagon.
Come back when you can talk without belittling others and sounding like an a/v forums HD-DVD ranter making it up as you go.
With deactivating 2 of my 4 ps3s means i cant play or even chat online with friends or i have to deactivate 1 and activate another.
That means it even effect my old games or even online ability or am i wrong?
@ CynicalNerd
u need to understand that u dont know everything
my 2 kids have their OWN PS3 and different PSN account. my older just turn 7 and my younger is 3yrs old
i have a PS3 for myself too
so when i go to the PS store to buy game in my KIDS account i try to buy game BUT I CANT BUY GAMES! BECAUSE U KNOW WHY?! BECAUSE I CANT USE MY CREDIT CARD IN AN ACCOUNT THAT IS NOT REGISTER TO MY NAME.
SO that mean i have to buy my kids games in MY account that has MY NAME AND MY ADRESS
so what’s next, i’ll not be able to buy game for my kids every weeks like i was doing this last 2 years
@Cyb3rfr34k-iso Lol he seems to have way too much time on hinds hands but seems to put everyone down like we’re broke and criminals…
Also @CynicalNerd to answer this.
“I have two PS3′s, one older one and a new 320 gig slim. When I bought the new one, the old one got boxed up. Still can’t fathom why anyone would need to own more than 1 with the same content on it.”
Like I said before, some people like me have family and friends/roomates/girlfriends. Sometimes we split the cost of things we purchase. According to Jack Tretton, that’s not illegal. Just get the point, everyone doesn’t sit in a bedroom alone with allowance money and purchase everything for just one ps3. You don’t seem to get that point. Anyways, i’m missing the Rams game so I finished here so if you reply, I most likely won’t see it.
@chevano
if you deactivate any PS3 the only thing you CANT do is play “activated” games
yes you’ll be able to chat and sign online
no, this will not affect your old gaming style
what u need to understand is, after this 18 november there is still “5 slot” activated
but for NEW contnent brought after this 18 november ONLY 2 PS3 of your 5 activated PS3
will be able to PLAY new PS store contnent.
@Cyb3rfr34k-iso
Just use a psn card to purchase your kids games to get around credit card issue.
Is that true ?
Cause i thought deactivating means put your ps3 account offline.
If i buy dlc and put it on a and b and deactivate them and then put it on c and d then on e also.
But if i play on a and b with my new dlc on subaccounts, that means i cant activate my master account to chat on my own name.
At least i guess this problem would happen in that situation.
So if you buy for your 2 kids dlc and they play it on their ps3 and account, that would mean you cant use your own account.
@T5144891169
i know u try to find a solution,
but here’s an other problem, my older son really like violent games like the same i play.
so when he want 10yrs old + games ITS impossible to purchase the game even with a PSN 20$ card on his account because he is only 7yrs old.
what do you want me to do, deceive him and make him cry every weeks because is not enough older
to buy a game.
AND BY THE WAY my kids DONT have MONEY i PAY for every games
my kids dont make me money, only thing they do is make me spend it.
but all problem is over now, i explained to my son that now i’ll not be able to continue buying game on the PSN store because peoples at SONY dont want my $
and btw @T5144891169
do you really think im into some “hacking” group or website or something like this..
or u just find about i was into fansubs teams 8 years ago?
If i was “hacking”, i will not be here right now trying to save all my investment on the PS store
i brought over 2000$ on my account to please my family and myself
i have over 130 retail PS3 game disc all in 100% perfect condition.
i have a Huge PS3 collection. im a real supporter of SONY since im 15 (im 32 now)
game sharing was in any case a right violation.
it was 120% legal and approved by SONY PLAYSTATION PR.
@Cyb3rfr34k-iso
So you admit to buying your 7 year old kid Mature rated content? Wow, you are an incredible role model. And how would you be decieving him? He’s 7, he shouldn’t be playing anything higher than his ESRB rating range.
They never said it wasn’t illegal but people took advantage of game sharing and abused it. More than likely, this is due to the Call of Duty DLC and people game sharing it.
I know it sucks for the PS3 owners who use this rule honestly, but I’m all for only 2 consoles per account and I think its long overdue. Sony has to clamp down sooner or later. Nice that I can deactivate via PC soon. My dead 40 GB is being used in the trunk for winter weight and needs deactivation.
@dilbig5
YES i ADMIT TO BUY MATURE GAMES to my 7yrs old son!
he was born with a PS2 controller in his hands
he play GTA4 since he’s 4yrs old! join his game, and he’ll kill you! lolol!
add my son account “SAMUEL-SKY”
im sure he have more trophies than you!
hahah!
online pass is sneaky greedy way to make you pay to play online, while quote and quote ‘psn is free to play online’. Let’s put it this way, even you buy the game new, you have already paid to play online. When there’s fee associated with online play, it is NOT free anymore, no matter what their excuses are. Publisher can’t do it if Sony would NOT allow it.
DLC Add-on is another greedy way to get you pay more when it should be included in the game or free/cheap DLC. I finished Castlevania Lords of Shadow and thought why not buying add-on. It’s $20 for 2 Add-on to complete the experience? No, thanks. To complete your experience, you need to pay $80 – $100. Why? I can’t complete my experience even I bought your game?
They give you all grand reasons just to have you pay more and more, but get less and less.
This 2 activation limit is no difference. But I’m sure it’s a BIG miscalculation.
@Cyb3rfr34k-iso
Your allowed your opinion so am i.
Like said before 2 as limit is not good 3 would have being best.
I think Sony should allow people to keep 5 ps3 systems as long psn connection is made from same isp connection on all ps3 system.
This way at least people with 3-5 units would not be affected and it’s very simple to enforce.
fail
@Cyb3rfr34k-iso
Seriously? Poor influencial figure.
And again, seriously? His trophy level is average at best, maybe even a little less. Your trophy level is just slightly higher than average. If you combined your trophies with his, I would I have just a little less than that. FAIL
As this change will be a big one for not just me but for all of the Playstation Network it will stop the account sharing for game content and Playstation will make more money , however they might also lose money because many might switch to Xbox 360 because they will get mad of this change. But if you ask me “Do I like this change?” I certainly don’t however I’m not going to go rage about it because it’s not under my control. This change will definetely effect us all, but not so much for me because I only give me content to me and my step dad, however my friends that are geting content from other people will be raging I can promise you that. As 5 activations was a little to much I do think 2 it too little however like I said this is Playstation’s decision not mine. But I do speak for all of us as we say 2 activations is too little. I do know some people who have 3 systems and I come to think this is to far by bringing it down so much. We ask you now Playstation to make it 3 for the sake of some of us that have more than 2 systems. Think about your fans and your console users. Please take this into consideration.
The B0Ss Iz Out!
yeah average at best and he is only 7yrs old LOL
what were you expecting XDD
wait i know your childhood story; once upon a time there was a mother. she never wanted to buy mature to his dilbig5 kid, so when the kid growed up he turned into a hater.
but hey seriously you have a great trophies list.
i hate, hating.
What are you talking about? You really do not sound that smart when every comment you have has the word “hater” or “hating” in it. Especially since you are the one doing it.
im talking about what you are! …wait in my comment #751, nope, i dont use hate or hating word, in comment 754, 755,again, nope, i dont use theses word eighter, on comment 768 not eighter…
so if you feel like one right one, thats because that what you are & im sorry for you
Happy to hear this I have not been able to buy movies and shows off the playsation store in along time,because about a year ago I had a Ps3 fat YLOD on me so I went to the store got a new ps3 slim, but after I got my slim home I forgot I had the video side activated on my old Ps3 fat I could not activate the video side to my new ps3 slim.
Sony getting stricter on PS3 and PSP game sharing
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6344077/sony-getting-stricter-on-ps3-and-psp-game-sharing?tag=updates%3Beditor%3Ball%3Btitle%3B5
I love how so many of you are for this. Yeah, lets see how happy you are when they take something away that’s important to you. Remember Linux? How’s about PS2 BC? Your rights to a class action lawsuit?
I DO have 3 PS3s in my household. So now, every time I want to use content purchased after the 18th, I’ll have to deactivate a console, and that includes ALL content purchased before the 18th, rendering a large chunk of it unusable unless I activate it again.
The fact of the matter is that Sony should not have allowed this in the first place, only to take away the 5 console limit later. They keep screwing us over left & right, and you fanboys sit back and approve of it! Try standing up for yourself as a consumer, not a prisoner to an EULA that won’t even hold up in court.
cool, finally a website for account activation and deactivation manegment
Why 2 and not 3?
What a screwjob to all of your loyal customers! When will Sony learn that one of the things customers hate the most is when you take entitlements away from them? They have a long list of doing this the last few years.
Most people will be confused by this sudden and completely unnecessary change that was made purely out of greed. So let’s bottom line it, shall we?
Put simply, if you buy a PSN game (such as a PS1 or Mini) and happen to own a PS3, PSP, and Vita, you will only be able to play that game on two of those devices without ridiculous deactivation hassles or re-purchasing the game entirely. If you own multiple Sony consoles, you are totally screwed.
Thanks Sony! Hey, can you do us all a favor and let us know what feature you are planning to remove next? I want to be ready next time.
Ok. Now I realize that it’s two ps3s and two portables. Still a total screwjob though. It will really confuse those who don’t follow this stuff daily.
The honest company should grandfauther psn id’s created before 18 nov while simultaneously making a simple rule that your id on the system is no longer enough because if it’s not the MASTER PROFILE which earns trophies etc it can not be used to put games on systems where your id isn’t the master.
Oh well roku 2 has digital games and so will apple tv but NEITHER limit your boxes that purchased content can be on so if i have 4,5,6 or more roku 2’s i can game on them all-MEANWHILE SONY STRIPS US FROM 5 TO TWO and the world will move on digitally where my iphone and ipad can control all the games over apple tv on ANY
apple tv i own-APPLE WILL NOT LIMIT ME TO TWO BOXES AS THEY VALUE MY BUSINESS MEANWHILE SONY STICKS IT’S HEAD IN THE SAND AND WILL BE PASSED BY DUE TO COMPLACENCY…IT’S INEVITABLE WHEN A COMPANY LIMITS DIGITAL-THE FUTURE-CONTENT TO TWO SYSTEMS PEOPLE WILL GO ELSEWHERE………BE WARNED SONY,APPLE,MS,AMAZON KINDLE FIRE AND EVERYONE ELSE THANK YOU FOR BEING SOO SHORT SIGHTED AND STUPID.
I can’t speak for the ps3 number since I don’t understand owning three or more of these in a house hold. I am sure there are reasons.
Its the handheld number that has me concerned since we were planning to buy two. Right now we have two PSPs that we planned on keeping as backups, UMD games and travel (rather lose a psp versus a Vita). Since our rather large UMD library is useless on Vita we have been trying to buy more on the digital side. We bought those rather pricey memory sticks just for this reason.
I kind of feel cheated that I had been going in the direction you laid out and now Sony is changing the game. Guess we will have to de-activate and the re-activate when we need too. I hope it does not require downloading again, cause that takes hours. But it probably will.
Guess they could have killed it all together. Just I was kind of banking on it.
Congratulations with the digital future coming you’re going the exact opposite of the rest of the world. Netflix started as a by mail limited streaming to all streaming and also had a 6 devices limit to simply unlimited.
Meanwhile you start with 5 devices and cut it to 2. Oh well with :iphone,ipad,kindle fire,apple tv and roku 2 all playing games on more than 2 boxes i’m sure apple,roku,amazon and even ms who will use this for unlimited xbla cloud all thank you as you continue to stick your head in the sand the rest of the world will pass you by in nanoseconds.
i understand what you’re saying cynica i didn’t mean to make it sound like that.I know PS3 is a HD system and i was told by someone i used to work with to get one and when i did it’s a great purchase.I have every right to my opinion just like everyone else.
fyi cynica i don’t work at a gas station and i have no desire in doing so.I was a customer specialist at best buy and i did stocking there.Working at best buy is awesome I can go to game nights and movie nights and i did get paid good.I don’t know why you think i work at a gas station
Sony, I hope you think things through a bit more when the PS4 comes out. You guys have a history of taking away features/freedoms from people. You stripped down the PS3 from the time it was first announced to when it was first released. You have taken out USB ports, Backwards Compatibility, optional OS installation, and the card readers over the console’s lifespan. You had to be hounded in the press and the blogosphere to add vibration back to our controllers. Now you are taking away freedoms that you gave us when the console first came out. I understand that developers want their money but you guys should have seen this coming from day 1. Did you really think people wouldn’t abuse this? Did you think developers would be happy with 1 person sharing their game with 5 people? I don’t like it at all when a company goes back on their word, which is what you are doing, and I think you guys would do well to think things through a bit more in the future so you don’t piss off your fans. You threw away your huge lead over the xbox and it’s stuff like this, not thinking ahead, that has put you guys last in the console race.
Disappointing.
I just read where GTA V may ship like pattapon 2 with NO DISC and a voucher for DOWNLOADING it. Which means i can only play it on 2 systems and now even with copy protected save to cloud i can only play it on a maximum of 2 systems. The digital future will have sony regretting biting the hand that feeds it.
Meanwhile both xbox and apple are offering tv services and most reassuringly on more than a paltry 2 devices.
Here’s what i expect happened @ sony h.g -How can we make more money (after all sony’s been in the red these last 7-8 years) with online as free being a cornerstone of playstation….I KNOW WE CAN DROP PSN CONTENT FROM 5 SYSTEMS DOWN TO 2 and OFFER them the 5 with PS+,GENIUS,WE DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING AND THE MONEY WILL COME ROLLING IN.
IMHO that’s the plan.
I don’t understand why you decide to make these kind of changes in the middle of a console’s life cycle. I understand you are changing the portable side in order to coincide with the Vita launch, but why change the PS3 side now? I currently have a 3 PS3 household, and while I know that my existing content is safe, any time I get new content I’m going to have to make a decision as to who is left out.
To me the 5 PS3 household was a major selling point. I have been trying to get another one of my brothers (I have six) and my father to get a PS3. Now that drops that incentive. Now you are ripping this feature away from me, just like you did with Linux (which I am still upset about). I understand discontinuing services that require certain hardware to reduce the cost of new units (like PS2 support). But don’t stop features and services that your player-base are already used to having and have planned around. It is insulting and only hurts the morale of your fan-base, and let’s face it, you could use some more of that after this year.
Also, what Sony doesn’t tell you, is that when you deactivate a system, you lose acess to majority of your downloaded content. Go ahead, try it. This appllies to ALL purchases made BEFORE the 18th. I deactivated my system only to find out that I had lost access to 90% of my themes alone. The one I had enabled was taken down and replaced with the default theme. And only a couple of my dozens of PSN games worked. DLC is disabled as well, which means you’ll get errors for normal disk based games, redering them unplayable. So this effects much more than what they’re letting on.
Hey me just say one word — NETFLIX!!!!!!
@ CynicalNerd: I admire your style, duking it out with so many on here. I have 2 PS3’s & my only reasons for that are a helluva good sale on Amazon a few months ago so I could solve my panic over decreasing HDD space on my 120 slim & that I only enjoy gaming on Playstation & I’m so lazy I don’t want to swap discs every time I want to play different games (U3 or Skyrim? Hmm, both!). In my case, you’re right: no legitimate reason.
However, I still feel the 5 for 1 IP allowance should stand. Families relied on this feature & Sony could finally reap some good PR by stating they wish to respect the particular needs of families in these increasingly tough times. Will it also benefit game sharing room mates and lazy people without families? Yes, but we’d be a small part of the equation, compared to real families.
As for those who proudly proclaim they practice game sharing (i.e., any post with the word “friend”) & muse aloud on how to continue to cheat the system, why hasn’t Sony banned them from network use altogether? Apparently Sony is more tolerant than most seem to believe.
everyone shut up about complaining about sony
when you buy content on a nintendo console it doesnt even save to a account it only saves to the system, and xbox you can only have it up on 1 console at a time.
when you buy a game retail, lets use black ops for example since its on the ps store.
if you go and buy Black Ops at a retail store and you bring it home, when you put it in your console, THATS IT, you cant put it into more then one console at a time, but if you buy black ops today of the psstore, you technically own 5 copies and can give 4 others a free copy of the game, so cutting it down to 2 isnt a problem really, think of activation as disc swaping and be happy sony isnt as bad as microsoft or nintendo.
but honestly the portable should be to psp`s and 2 ps vitas cuz this just worries my to think you guys will do the same with ps4 and ps3
My family has 3 PS3s, the memory is all full on 2 of them (We buy A LOT of games) and now you’re limiting us to only 2 systems?
If we delete games for memory will we be able to redownload them whenever we’d like (how it is now) or is the deleted game gone forever?
Microsoft Xbox LIVE has a family option where they can share DLC with up to 4 systems, is Sony going to do something like that? With a fee of course or Playstion+ only?
if you deactvate a system i guess you have to redownload the most games again, and with example dc universe that is hell of a job.
Wow Sony. I never comment on the blog. I actually used linux, forgave you for losing my information, and as a 3 ps3 household you pull this? I don’t see how limiting us further is going to help you make more money if the public does not agree with your policies. Please think about using the ip method or here is another one.
Let us name our ps3s on the site and decide which content can be played on which ps3. I do not feel I should have to deactivate one account on my living room ps3 so my kids can each play on theirs. Plus I am still confused how I would keep 3 ps3s active if I would have to disable one to play something.
Netflix pulled something similar and I only still have their service till my wife finishes her show. I understand cutting costs as well. But in all fairness you are again removing features of your online policy that are unfair to some of your supporters. While this will save you money it will also cut your revenue stream down as well. But whatever, I am just a consumer after all but I will be voting with my dollar.
In my immediate family we have 4 PS3’s and 3 PSP’s. We buy a lot of digital games BECAUSE we can share them with each other. I end end up buying many more games because I know if I don’t play them, my brother or father will. I’m sure in Sony Corp’s ideal world my family will buy the same game 4 times, but this won’t happen; we will simply cut back on digital games.
Currently, my family gets excited about new games, discussing what we should get next and what new digital multiplayer game we should play together. The upcoming change will stifle this mini-community we have (and many others across the world). We won’t be talking about new games as much and thus won’t be buying them.
To summarize, not only do I think this is a bad customer-relations decision for Sony, but it’s a poor business move as well.
@AfrosRockMan #779, when you deactivate your PS3, ALL games/dlc that need activation will be disabled.
The couple of your psn games that work only work as DEMO.
The achieve what Sony wants, I guess there will be 2 separate Activation/Deactivation for contents before & after Nov 18.
Damn, me and 2 other friends were going to put $20 each to make $60 to get Infamous 2, looks like that’s not going to happen. This sux… First the “Other OS” feature goes, now this. I’m very disappointed. November 18 marks the last day I purchase any new PSN games.
The only good that came out of this was the deactivation website that allows us to deactive our account from any system.
I read the original post as if you could activate 2 PS3 *AND* 2 PSP. But in the article it links to it is stated:
For Game Content – Two (2) PS3 and/or PSP systems
Written that way it seems that you can have only 2 activated systems total. That can’t be right? With the upcoming release of PS Vita, they will have 3 different systems, but you’re only allowed to activate 2 of them!?
you see people, this is what happens when you abuse the system. those in charge make a new rule that screws more people over than was the cause of the change in the first place. you can totally thank those game sharers for this. (fyi: i dont have a problem with gamesharing within the same household, but when someone in CA shares with some other person in NY)
as a side note, 2 systems are too few, it really should be 3 systems each
@547 – Please ignore my comment here. Wasn’t thinking it through. Seems I was thinking that each item could be used on two systems each, but the limit is on the devices themselves, allowing PSone Classics and minis to be played on a total of four systems as of Nov. 18.
I still would rather each be three.
@ Faria1st – Steam DOES restrict you. I’d have to sign on to each of five computers to download any given game, STAY on any of those computers until the download is complete, and still only be able to play at all on one of those computers at a time. Sony’s setup is just the same, except maybe that you can deactivate and sign off of a PS3 while it is downloading/installing.
I love Steam, especially for its crazy amount and value of deals, but c’mon. It’s even more restrictive about active users.