Sony has a major policy issue when it comes to PlayStation accounts that’s rightfully causing concern about an all-digital future. While many are unhappy about Sony’s decision to end disc production because it takes away player choice, those with PSN accounts in regions they don’t reside in have a bigger worry.
Inability to change PlayStation account regions leaves many in limbo
This is something I’m personally affected by, so I was glad to see Reddit user gekeli bring it up. Sony is currently the only platform holder that doesn’t allow users to change account regions. It’s against PlayStation’s terms of service to make an account in a region one doesn’t live in, although Sony has refrained from enforcing this policy thus far.
With an all-digital future, there is a chance Sony will enforce its ToS to prevent players from buying games from cheaper regions, and therein lies the problem. Millions of us have long-running accounts in regions we don’t live in, but for good reason.
I lived in England when I created my PSN account back when they were first introduced. Many years later, I moved to Asia, but my account remains stuck in the UK. Although I’ve always bought my games on disc where possible, my library is chock-full of PS Plus games, digital games, add-ons, and DLC. To top it off, PSN does not support my current country of residence, so even if I were given the option to change regions now, I don’t have a region to change to.
I’m not the only one. There are millions of PlayStation users outside the limited number of countries that Sony supports. What happens when the company decides to enforce its ToS in the future, and all we have are digital games?
Sony has already proven it will offer no recourse should it decide to pull your digital purchases from your library, so forgive me for being a little pessimistic here.
I encourage everyone to read the following thread and the comments underneath. An all-digital future threatens everyone, but it particularly threatens those of us who have moved regions and/or live in countries Sony doesn’t support.
Sony has chosen not to communicate further after announcing an end to disc production, but unless these concerns are addressed, I’m on the fence about buying a PS6, and I know I’m not the only one.
It’s truly a shame. I’ve bought every PlayStation console; I’ve grown up with them. Being forced out of the ecosystem in this way wasn’t something I envisioned, but here we are.
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