PlayStation games only available digitally? A user shows how this can end badly: no access to purchased games anymore.
The English magazine Techradar.com reports that a user on Reddit had no access to the digital copy of “Ghost of Yotei” on the PS5 for half an hour. Not even after updating the license.
When trying to open the game, the following message appeared: “This content cannot be used. Your licenses are currently being verified. Please try again later.”
The post on Reddit has since been deleted by a moderator, but it still shows what it means if all games should soon be available only digitally. The discussion under the post also reveals what many people currently think about the situation.
What was the issue in the end? It’s not really clear. Some speculate that it could be due to the fact that he has two PS5 consoles at home and he did not set up offline play correctly. The user’s solution in the end was to switch to his children’s PS5, where he was able to bypass the license problem and still play.
If licenses cannot be verified, you cannot play
The whole discussion gains additional urgency, because Sony has announced that it will discontinue physical media.
Some weeks ago, there was a rumor that one would have to log in every 30 days on their PlayStation to validate the licenses of purchased games and that one would not be able to play at all. Later, Sony clarified that this only needed to happen directly after the digital purchase and that there would not be an online requirement for purchased games. Nevertheless, this unsettled some users.
Can you even play offline? Yes, PlayStation also offers an explicit guide on how to play your digitally purchased games offline. However, it’s important that some PS5 features will be limited and not usable. Exceptions are games that require an online connection.
It’s important that you must activate offline mode beforehand. If you suddenly go offline for any reason, your console may refuse to start the game even though you have a valid license. For instance, if the PlayStation servers are overwhelmed by the surge of GTA players in November and your license cannot be verified.
Can this happen to me with a disc? No, a disc can generally be used without offline mode, as the license is on the disc and the game can then start without issues. However, some games now require a download to be able to start from the disc. This is to prevent developers from allowing discs delivered too early to be playable before the release. This was the case with Crimson Desert, where you received an error message before the release.
Sony is discontinuing disc production. The decision is heavily criticized, but it is unlikely to change. This is shown by the most important plant for disc production in Austria. Here, they already want to retrain all employees for new products: Many hope that Sony will reconsider the end of the disc, but it is probably too late for that.
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