Gamers the world over can breathe a sight of relief, as it has now been confirmed by Sony that the PlayStation 4, will not block used games – despite a patent filing seen earlier this year that suggested otherwise.
The confirmation was made by Eurogamer while speaking with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, after the PS4 unveiling event last night. Initially it seemed as the answers being given were deliberately vague, as when asked if Sony was happy for consumers to sell on games, Yoshida said: “Yes. That's the general expectation by consumers. They purchase physical form, they want to use it everywhere, right? So that's my expectation.”
When a PR person attempted and failed to clarify, Yoshida again leaned in and suggested that “So, used games can play on PS4. How is that?”
That's fine by us Mr Yoshida.
This is despite the fact that a month ago we heard about a Sony patent that would potentially have allowed for the blocking of used games.
Sony isn't the only one that was rumoured to be blocking used games on its new console though, Microsoft was too. Considering at this point neither the PS4 or Wii U are set to block used games, it'd be very surprising if Microsoft does something like that with its next Xbox, as it would sell far fewer systems if that was the case.
KitGuru Says: I'm glad to hear this, as the blocking of used games seemed like an idea that was horrifically anti-competitive, as it attempts to completely shut out the used games market.