PSN Terms of Service changed, only 3 activations allowed

Bad news for all traders and users with multiple PS3s, SCE have changed their Terms of Service to allow only up to 3 PS3s on one account, they also added a restriction for trading of PSN games after 24 hours of initial purchase.

[Godmars290]

Considering the fun horror stories I hear about PSN game trading, people who do have it coming.

Though if Sony is going to do crap like this, they need to give a return option. Let backups install on the same machine with the same accounts.

[Sunny_D]

Wait, what if your current account has more than 3 activated? Do those get a freebie? That means only new accounts would get affected? Right?

[PirateThom]

You're allowed to download and install to the same 3 PS3s as many times as you want.

[Johnny Rotten]

as far as I understand is that when you use up all of "keys/activated systems" all need to do to get your content onto another system is deactivate one of the "keys/systems already activated".

and as for the activated systems, your allowed to download your content unlimited numbers of times. People sending in their system for repairs should always make sure your profile is deactivated.

[Godmars290]

There's at least two games I bought that I can't DL again because of YLoD incident and a HDD switch.

@Johnny Rotten:
Kind of a contradictory no-go when your system dies which doesn't allow you to deactivate it.

[PirateThom]

Hard drive switch shouldn't matter, it's activated "systems".

Sony also have the ability to reset download limits in case of YLOD (see Singstar downloads for one time downloads that they have to reset after hardware issues).

[Aquarius]

WTF? That is out of order if SONY doesn't deactivate the PS3 for you when it dies/ send it in for repairs or compensate you for it.

[Saaking]

Too many people take advantage of this feature which is why they're limiting it. It's good that they're doing this mainly becuase it will ensure the further success of PSN games.

[trancefreak]

If your ps3 dies and you cant deactivate unfortunatly if its out of warranty you must send it to sony. But if you got a ton of software invested why not have them fix or deactivate it.

Also u can re download your content anytime as long as you deactivate gaming/video before using another ps3 system with your account.

if you dont deactivate then the limitations apply.

I know this because i just went threw a cluster f@k with sony trying to reestablish my video activation after trading my ps3 40 gb piece of junk in for a ps3 slim which was totally worth it.

Off topic: I cant believe what a monster my ps3 60gb launch console is compared to my slim in all regards to size noise heat. Ill never get rid of my 60gb ill take it to my grave lol.

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

WTF Sony?!

[Megaton]

That's ridiculously lame. I've already lost one because Sony apparently doesn't deactivate accounts on units they receive for repair unless you specifically ask them to do it. Fortunately my account wasn't activated when my 2nd PS3 died, otherwise I'd be down to 1. I've got hundreds of dollars worth of games and DLC on my main PSN account. This makes me not wanna spend another dime in the PSN store.

[InfectedDK]

They need to make an activation option on playstation.com, so that you can login and edit which consoles your PSN, should be activated on!!!

So fx if I have like 5 PS3's activated with my PSN, I now can deactivate my account, from those I want to from a list!

They REALLY should do this!

This would fix everything! (Gamesharing, broken PS3's and so on.. Even less calls for the support would take place)..

Can somebody please suggest this for Sony? I would like to know, if this could take place somehow, without it being too drastic to make.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

As far as I know, you can de-activate and re-activate onto another console. Allowing this on 5 consoles was very generous, and with 3 it is still super generous!

The only thing though, I heard is that the only way you can de-activate is through the console itself. So if, it is defective and you get an exchanged refurb, you might be sh!t out of luck! There have been numerous reports of this, so keep at least 1 extra activation for yourself if you care.

[starcb26]

my friend deleted my account from his ps3 do I need to go deactivate it?

[Genesis5]

Well it's still better than the zero MS gives you.

[Dark General]

Me and 4 of my close buddies have had a sharing account for the last year and some change. Seems like things will have to change now unfortunately.

[bunbun777]

This makes me sad and unhappy-- I am a responsible trader that never did anything wrong by allowing for my roommates or close friends according to Sony's own terms. I do not know which is worse the limiting to 3 or the 24 hours-- this was great for say Killzone DLC for me and my roomies who play together.

I fully understand that Sony can do this-- in fact that they are allowing this is still better than the possible alternatives, but to try and spin this is lame.

Honestly, first lame Sony news I've heard in a while... it was cool while it lasted though~

--it seems that 2nd category 'local content' is unaffected-- no 24 hour rule--that helps

[ThanatosDMC]

I all ready gave my account to 5 PS3s. I hope that doesnt mean my PS3 wont be taken away or any of those that i've given my account to.

[STONEY4]

I had WipEout HD, and I let my friend download it. Both of us got the YLOD. Once we got new PS3s back, we both downloaded it again, I uninstalled mine due to low hard drive space. Basically that would be 4 systems it was installed to, and 2 of them can't be deactivated. So now does this mean I can't reinstall it again?

Edit: I think this might only be for Europe right now. The US terms of use haven't changed. At least not yet.

http://www.us.playstation.c...

[starcb26]

can anybody answer my question above please

[Megaton]

^ Deleting the account doesn't deactivate it, as far as I know. You've gotta log back into it on the PS3 and deactivate it from the account management area.

[vickers500]

"Too many people take advantage of this feature which is why they're limiting it. It's good that they're doing this mainly becuase it will ensure the further success of PSN games."

Wow, so Sony actually DOES pay attention to the internet. They even post here on n4g under the alias saaking. Either that, or somebody really just likes kissing ass unnecessarily and sucking up when it's not going to get them anything special.

[amirpro]

@InfectedDK

it's impossible.
when you deactivate they need to delete your activation key from the console itself - that's why it must be triggered from the console.

if they will let you deactivate from your PC, your console will still have the activation key (at least until you go online from that console).

i think the 3 activations at the same time is VERY fair.

[InfectedDK]

@amirpro, let me say thx first of all.. I can fully understand, what you are saying.. It's just a shame when it first HAS been 5 activations, as it now causes a lot of problems, as you can see.. For the 3 activations "only", I must say that I agree on it, and I actually discussed with a friend a long while ago, why it wasn't 3 instead of 5.. 5 seems a bit too many.. So yes.. But the problem here is, that you give people something, and take it back again.. I agree on, that Sony can change this, as they want.. But there is no denying, that it causes problems for a lot of people now, and for many more to come, as it takes place.. But ofc. Sony has discussed these things when going trough it, so I guess there is nothing to do, other than make sure, you don't have too many activated accounts.. The question is still though, if us who have had 4 (one remaining for a safety), now will go down to 3 also, and how this will take place.. I'm watching with a minor speculation here.. But all in all the 3 activated accounts is fair, but it should have been that way from the very beginning!

[Knightofelemia]

See I don't like being able to have one ID for up to 3 machines. If I have 2000 trophies and over that lifespan my 3 machines die from the amount of playing I do. And I buy my fourth PS3 well my 2000 trophies are gone and all those late nights, and hard work gone because I have to change my name for this fourth PS3 I don't like it.

[Johnny Rotten]

their talking about content you buy from the store. Your ID and trophies will always follow you.

[trancefreak]

not true magnus read above

[shlinka]

Four PS3's! I thought PS was suppose to be more reliable than Xbox. Paid subscriptions and limited ID's - Sounds more and more like the xbox all the fanboys complain about.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Ouch!

My ID is on 3 machines already... 1 on my friends for game sharing... One on my cousins for when im down at his house... And one on mine... So if I ever need to replace my PS3 I wont be able to use my ID again? :<

[callahan09]

Sure you can, you just need to tell Sony that your ID is already on 3 machines and that your activation count needs to be reset, or at least the broken system needs to be removed from your activation list. Phone calls like that are always like pulling teeth, but they'll do it for you if you tell them the situation. No worries.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Thanks for clearing that up bro... Its certantly made the situation seem less harsh :)

bubble!

[CR7JUVE1897]

Oh boy. I decided to share the love when the Home beta came out. Actually to a couple of prominent posters here. Uh oh

[multipayer]

They really just need to make this an option off playstation.com, maybe a simple email would work though...

[keabrown79]

Actually this is incorrect after talking with Sony about 12 times about getting my activations reset.. They will not reset your activations.. The only way they can is if you send your broken system into them for them to deactivate it... Kind of at wits end with sony

[Redempteur]

lol 12 times is pushing it ...

[SixTwoTwo]

Does anybody know if you can call sony to have systems deactivated?

[trancefreak]

you can if your weary but all u need to do is go to account management and deactivate game/video. But if u call sony to do it they will keep a record and u will get a service # backing u up.

[Why o why]

but i tried and the only way they'd do it for me was for me to tell them that the ps3's id sold on to other people were sent in for repairs. I literally had to phone friends who had their ps3's sent back for their serial numbers. Once i did that they reset each seperate account. What i want to know now is what happens to the 4th and 5th activated accounts...after the change. My 4th account is my upstairs ps3...

[Jerk120]

Typical Sony.

Always screwing their PS fans.

[-x.Red.x-]

this coming from a bot?

oh LuLz

[Saaking]

hahahahahah, The irony is huge in your post.

[Ahmad-]

and this is serious bullshit. I got 2 yloded ps3's in the past, and they already screwed over my first account because i game shared(they did allow it at first to anyone about to give me a disagree), and now, if my current ps3 gets yloded, i'm screwed for all my recent games because my current account now is on all 3. wtf am i supposed to do?

[PlayStation X]

@ahmed phone sony they'll deactivate it.

mehhh
shame i wont be getting any more free games =/

[4point7BillionLoss]

poor droids ... deluded to the end

Play behind !!!!

[ChrisW]

People! Sony is doing this because people are taking advantage of Sony's goodwill! I hope to god that all of those who take advantage of Sony feels bad for what they've done! Unfortunately the rest of us suffer because of such...

Wait... I don't game share and only have 1 PS3... HUH?!?

[TheDudeAbides]

it doeasn't matter how many systems they allow, the 24 lock thing will kill game sharing for sure

[Chubear]

Please, explain this to me. I'm not quite up on the whole sharing thing. Do we still have up to five DLs for the games we purchased?

[TheDudeAbides]

yes, we have unlimited downloads to only 3 consoles

[-Alpha]

But at least it still EXISTS. Maybe they will make limitless trades/accounts for the PREMIUM service. God knows they need to start including some great packages/incentives seeing as they need to start creating reasons for people wanting to pay for their Premium service

[Knightofelemia]

well then lmfao i got mixed up then my mistake.

[mandf]

I don't believe this story. First of all I have never seen this website before. I can speed read and I read this site everyday for 3 years and I have never seen this site. For those that are asking about broken Ps3's and deactivations, Sony will deactivate a broken system. It's your responsibility to call and rectify the situation. They will do it don't listen to the haters. I'm on my 3rd system and both times they fixed the situation. When I hear on the Sony blog about this then I will believe it.

[The Hunter]

So you dont believe this? http://uk.playstation.com/l...

EDIT @ mandf (11): Link work perfect to me, no problem!

[Digitaldude]

That sucks, ah well at least we still get 3.

[mandf]

[mandf]

Your link doesn't work. I have no reason to believe no name websites. This is n4g home of the fud. Made up BS is on here all the time. When I hear it from Sony, I will believe it.

[Nitrowolf2]

hunter your link doesn't work for me either i get error 404 page not found it goes to the website but gets that error. Also i don't think sony would post this on their blog, just wait for an email comfirmation like they did last time. I think its true

[AliTheBrit19]

haha I got like £100 worth of PSN games I downloaded off some other guys account on my PS3

[Aquarius]

Yh but if you delete the games/game data or remove your HDD for a bigger one, thats one BIG loss ;) because you need his download list.

That's why I always buy content from the store myself, I can re-download it anytime and I feel like I own it.

[AliTheBrit19]

^^ True, I have a fair few I bought myself

The only one I would truly miss that I got off that guy is Flower

But, I have a 320GB HDD, so I don't see myself ever upgrading :)

[GamingManiac]

when is this new policy starting??

pls answer its kinda important

[Nitrowolf2]

I'm not sure but i think it already taken affect becaue i notice that wen i logged in today on my and my other accounts it had to re-activate again before i downloaded

[GamingManiac]

WTF!!!!! nooooooo that would f*cking suck!!!

[JonnyBigBoss]

Wow, that just completely screwed me over.

[PotNoodle]

Great, so i have one left.. i've not shared my account with anyone, but my first PS3 broke and SCEE don't fix your console, they replace it (very quickly, i may add) and that console is still against my account..

[facelike]

Call SCEA and they will de-activate the broken PS3's account and get you back up to two activations available.

[rob6021]

This really sucks.. oh well, i was kind of mooched off, didn't get much in return; that's too bad for 2 of my friends. I'm wondering if it's only for people haven't shared to 5 consoles already? The people i shared games with really had no intention of buying the games, and it's not like Sony lost a customer. I'm betting it was the publishers complaining about not maxing their DLC profits on PSN, complaining to Sony that forced this. (probably Activi$ion) They'll see; they won't make another dime with these new restrictions. The sharing ability caused me to buy much more than I normally would, because I knew my friends would enjoy the content too.

They should let you deactivate any of the systems whenever you want from the main account holder's console, it's definitely possible, how it is now you have to ask nicely for the person you shared with to deactivate their console from your content. (that's an awkward phone call)

[keysy420]

wtf

[GamerSciz]

I did some research of my own and noticed that this information is coming from the UK.playstation website. I looked on the US.playstation and couldn't even find a Software Usage ToS so I wonder if this is UK only? Just speculation but still it's an interesting thought.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

I am also wondering the same thing.

Either way, it's lame and Sony is starting to tighten their grip like the old days.. Bummer to have something and then have it taken away.

[BlindBandit]

I deactivate my PS3 a few days ago before this happen because i'm getting a PS3 Slim because the PS3 Slim has less percent of getting YLOD then the Fat PS3.

So right now i think i can't activated my Fat PS3 because
"however if one system is deactivated, it can no longer be activated again" but again i was planning of getting the Slim anyways.

Quick question if my PS3 account is deactivate, the person who has my account like my brother in law, can't play any games he download from me?

[Redempteur]

if your ps3 is disactivated ,the game he got from you won't be playable ...

[gareno]

this sucks big time!

[McErono]

we have multiple sharing accounts - who of the 5 ppl is now kicked on which account if this is true!?

I cant imagine that sony is doing this... why UK only!? when is it starting if?

[Pl4ybwoi]

Well if this is how things are going to be, i'll think twice before buying a game or anything on PSN.

Sony is forgetting that we are the ones spending the money, once we bought it is our stuff and not theirs they can not do whatever they want with our stuff.

I'm a playstation fan but not sony's and this is exactly why, they can never trust them when they say something cuz they do not keep their words and they always think that they can do whatever they want.

What if you have to buy 3 different PS3's because they go bad, then the stuff you bought with your money not sony's is not available for you anymore, so who's the loser here, we the players and consumers. they are the only winners.

[tda-danny]

Don't get me wrong, I have shared a few games with my mates, and a lot of Rockband songs, but your statement is retarded.

Yea, we are the ones spending our money on their product, but when we share, we are only spending a fraction of what we would if we bought all the content ourselves. If you don't like the policy change, don't buy digitally distributed content.

[thehitman]

Um I'm. Pretty sure most of you are misinterpreting how the limitations work. They only limit you by eachdownload on multleple systems not by psn accounts. Also pretty sure it's been like this for a long time because me and my friends share dlc and after 3rd person it restricts you.

[DaTruth]

All this fear mongering and now we finally get the truth. That makes perfect sense and is the only logical thing that could be occurring here!

[Cajun Chicken]

f*******kkk...

Better stop gamesharing or I'll have no backup.

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Me and my friends share some games since we're not always able to buy them ourselves, now it's gonna be a pain the arse to share.

Sigh..

[Wolf873]

If I have the same system but I want to upgrade my HDD, I can still download all of my games right without any penalties or such? These downloads are unlimited though right, for PSN games? I heard you can only download your purchases up to five times.

[truegame]

@Wolff873

You can download you games Unlimited times for your PSN Games/Demos. You can upgrade your Hard drive on the same machine and download them back again etc. However, now you can only share you downloads on Three machines ( with unlimited times of downloading the game over again). However you can use your account more than 3 times but cannot share the games on more than 3 machines. If you reach that limit ( YLOD or more than 3 machines, you can call SONY. They will reset it for you, but they only do it one time..

Hope I did not confuse you to much ... lol

[thehitman]

What he said. This should not affect anyone really unless u share your dls with others

[Wolf873]

thanks for all that info and reassurances, both of you :).

[Allowen]

Why the PS3 can t use the same method that we see on PC with STEAM ?
I forgot the numerous times where I had to upgrade my PC or just ended buying t a new one on the past 10 years +.
And I could aways reinstal th Steam program and redownload all games I bought on that store.

PSN should be working like Steam does . I mean , imagine if I had to deactivate some thing on our PC AFTER it broke ! LOL

Sony should automaticaly deactivate from their data bank all PS3 s in the world and then all users would activate their console once again in the XMB.

It is kind stupid to have to bring a broken equipament back to Sony when normaly you would trown your faillure console on the garbage since the warranty expired.

[jarhead906]

It sucks that I already have two systems that my account(s) are still activated on even though I couldn't deactivate them due to the YLoD error and a broken video output on the other.

Why can't Sony just allow me to go online, enter my account info, and deactivate from there?

[Shrinkwrap]

About time Sony took this step.
I, for one am glad all of you have to buy your software.
Sony tried to keep everything reasonable, just using core and home.
but, because of all the DLC (Sharing) pirates, they lost revenue.

Now maybe we can see some good games, update's and whatever else is coming to the future of the PSN.

[SiteNblog Defender]

Damn it.

[TABSF]

I believe the PSN users that are pissed are the ones that game share.

The hypocrisy of some people who say Pirating games is bad but openly Game share on PS3, hahaha WOW

[Rocco Siffredi]

PSN game trading.. of course the kids have no money.

PSN = kids

[redsquad]

Rocco Siffredi = bleating oaf

[CernaML]

Of course they don't. That's why you have to keep asking your parents for a new Xbox Live subscription.

[sprinterboy]

Dont worry I used up all mine and when I bought a new ps3 (last one YLOD) came up with a message about reached limit, I just rang sony and mentioned that I had spent over £300 on Psn and was not too happy, they simply reset all my stuff back to zero. I may add my parents foster kids and thay had alot of psp`s and ps3 so I used my account on theres. Thankfully Sony were understanding on this matter.

[Bren86]

I'm on my third account then. I've had 2 ps3s ylod on me and didn't get chance to deactivate thoughs systems.

I really want to change my psn name to, I want sony to allow this. I would just go make another name but I have trophies I want to keep now, maybe in the future they will allow name changes with the 'premium account'

[Anti-Fanboyer]

They've stated it was a typo.

[Sumadyan]

3 is still good, they are doing this because of pressure they get from content creators.

Look at it from publishers perspective, its like hey, we sold 1 mil games on 1 platform and then we sold 200k dlc on that platform. We also sold 1 mil games on your platform but only 50k dlc..wth?

[Razasharpz]

This only applies to the United Kingdom. It does not apply to any other region. The North America terms of service have NOT changed.

[m1ndz]

keep your pants on guys, its just a typo its still 5

[McErono]

first of the US terms are not affected http://www.us.playstation.c...

second, it was a typo as someone stated in the PS forums ;)

http://community.eu.playsta...

[Nixy]

After reading the original article I contacted the PlayStation careline. I've had two systems yellow light on me so I was already on my third activation and was concerned I’d loose everything should my current system fail.

After speaking to the (very helpful) lady that answered the phone I queried the conditions. First off it was news to her and she checked with her line manager. After several minutes on hold she finally came back and informed me that the current limit of five activations is still in place for the Games... the limit of three actually applies to the recent addition of the Movie service.

On top of that she has arranged for the previous two activations to be reset so I'm back with just one activation against my account.

Hope this helps!