A number of PlayStation 4 and 5 users have reported that their accounts have been banned by Sony for exploiting a loophole involving the PlayStation Plus Collection.
The PS Plus Collection, which contains “genre-defining” PS4 games, was announced as an exclusive offer for PS5 players with a valid subscription. The offer can be exploited in such a way that the games can be unlocked on the PS4 once you claim them using the same PSN account on the PS5. Creative minds came up with a business idea: log into various accounts on the next-gen console, unlock the collection for a fee, and hand the accounts back to their owners so that they can enjoy the games on their PS4s.
Apparently, Sony caught on quickly and has now banned thousands of PSN accounts belonging to those who paid for the loophole and those who offered the service. Folks over at Video Games Chronicle found eBay listings advertising the service and found that at least one user made over £100 from offering to unlock the collection for £5 per account. Multiple users on a Chinese forum also reported receiving the bans and most of the banned accounts seem to be based in Hong Kong.
As a reminder, PS Plus Collection includes the following titles:
- Bloodborne
- Days Gone
- Detroit: Become Human
- God of War
- Infamous Second Son
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Last Guardian
- The Last of Us Remastered
- Until Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Fallout 4
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Monster Hunter: World
- Mortal Kombat X
- Persona 5
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
It remains to be seen if Sony will plug the loophole.
[Source: Video Games Chronicle]
