Is PlayStation really banning players from reselling their physical games?

Amid social media mayhem and player confusion, users now demand a definitive answer to whether PlayStation has instituted a policy prohibiting the resale of physical games. If you’re one of the worried ones of Sony’s gaming console, here’s the answer.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift towards digital distribution, particularly for consoles like the PlayStation, which has caused a dramatic change in the gaming industry. Still, many players prefer physical copies because they provide a sense of ownership and allow them to buy, sell, and trade games with others.

With the 2013 release of PlayStation 4, Sony joined other big gaming platforms in instituting a policy controlling the resale of physical game copies. In the past, when a player bought a physical game, they could use it however they wanted or sell it.

PlayStation’s reselling policy has been a hit among users.

Presently, in the year 2023, rumors have been circulating on social media regarding a potential change to PlayStation’s terms of service regarding the resale of games, leading to widespread confusion among players. Some think the platform is effective immediately “banning the resale” of physical game discs.

Here is the full backstory of the online fiasco in case you are one of the concerned users.

Is PlayStation banning players from reselling physical games?

No, the gaming platform PlayStation is not banning players from reselling physical games. On December 18, 2023 random posts on X went viral that pointed out the term 7.1 from PlayStation’s terms of service that states: “You must not resell either disc-based games or digital games, unless expressly authorized by us and, if the publisher is another company, additionally by the publisher.”

If you are concerned about our new European TOS, we confirm that you are able to sell or share your disc PS4 products, including in EU.

— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) November 12, 2013

After extensive investigation, it was discovered that this was the actual term issued by PlayStation in 2013, with the introduction of PlayStation 4, since players and users were unable to read the original date of the TOS on the X post.

At the time, there was a similar misunderstanding, so PlayStation developer Shuhei Yoshida had to clarify things for players. He said, “If you are concerned about our new European TOS, we confirm that you are able to sell or share your disc PS4 products, including in EU.”

This means that you will still be able to sell and share your physical PlayStation discs with friends or trade in for another game as assured by Sony during the PS4 launch at E3 in 2013. Although there is no official announcement by Sony on the matter, we’ll keep you updated with any future changes in the PlayStation terms of service.

So there you have it – all you need to know about PlayStation’s reselling policy on physical games. For more gaming news, stay tuned with us at Dexerto.

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