Sony Denies Used PS3 Game Crackdown

Frightening rumours expand and explode within the space of a day.

The story spread quickly. Sony had been telling retailers in the UK that it would put an end to sales of used PlayStation 3 games before they even started, thereby plugging a hole the business people in video games talk about in hushed nervousness. But the stories were false, or so it seems.

Earlier this week, UK site Games Radar cited unnamed retail sources who had reportedly been told by Sony that it would be introduced a licensing system, meaning that when you hand over your £50 (or whatever it will cost) for a PlayStation 3 game you're not actually buying the game but rather just the right to use the software. This would effectively tie the game to your machine and prevent you from selling it on.

When contacted about the story, Sony told Games Radar: "We have made all of the official announcements at E3 and cannot make any further comments at this time. We will be announcing more news running up to PlayStation 3's launch."

The lack of firm denial sent the Internet spiralling as gamers vented their fury and anxiety on message boards.

But it was all for nought.

It seems that Sony has no plan of the sort in place - at least not yet. While the company does hold patents that cover such technology, there are other obstacles that preclude their use right now.

Seeing that things could get ugly quickly unless they were killed quickly, Sony did at last stoop to respond to the building outrage, telling the Guardian, "This is false speculation.. PlayStation 3 software will not be copy protected to a single machine but will be playable on any PlayStation 3 console."

Catastrophe averted? It seems so right now, but the threat is still there. The people concerned about the bottom line in the video game industry see the used games market as a threat because they don't see any of the money coming from those sales.

Sony may have submitted this time, but it's a good bet that it and all the other business heads are thinking about ways of plugging that pesky hole for good.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games