PlayStation Network accounts are getting banned over PS5 shortage
posted Saturday Nov 28, 2020 by Scott Ertz
Before the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, we all knew that pre-orders were going to be rough. Between limited stock and pre-order bots taking a large percentage of what is available, availability was going to be a problem. While on the Microsoft side, it's only been an inconvenience, but on the Sony side, it's caused a different issue around PlayStation Plus.
The service offers subscribers free games every month, claimable on your console. As part of the hardware upgrade, part of the claiming process has moved to the new consoles. Because of that, people have needed to figure out how to get their hands on a PS5 in order to claim all of the games that are made available to them, even if the games are playable on the PS4. To do this, many gamers have borrowed access to consoles from their friends, or other owners, in order to claim their games to be played on their PS4.
While this sounds reasonable to most gamers, it annoyed Sony. The result has been PlayStation Network accounts getting banned for the practice. Yes, you read that correctly - Sony is banning PlayStation Network accounts because those gamers couldn't get one of the limited quantity of PlayStation 5 consoles but still wanted the games for which they were paying.
In fact, all participants in the process are being punished. The owners of the consoles themselves are being banned permanently, while the PS4 owners are getting a 2-month ban. There is currently no indication that Sony has changed the policy, either on claiming games or on banning PSN accounts. However, Sony has said that users who believe that their bans are incorrect are welcome to file a counter claim in an attempt to reclaim their accounts. However, for those whose PSN accounts have been permanently banned, it could be a massive blow, considering the cost and limited stock availability.
