In a not-so-subtle attack on the Xbox One, Sony has announced that they will not impose any restrictions on used games and will not require online authentication every 24 hours in order to play games on the PlayStation 4.
“PS4 won’t impose any new restrictions on your use of PS4 game discs,” Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, told a cheering audience. This pretty much means that you can buy a game, then sell it second-hand or lend it to a friend. In contrast, Microsoft is putting limits to how many times you can lend that game to a friend, and giving developers the option to outright ban the option to let people sell or lend used games.
“If you enjoy single-player games offline, PS4 won’t require you to “check in” online periodically,” Tretton added. “PS4 games won’t stop working if you haven’t authenticated in 24 hours.”
Still unclear? Here’s the official guide.
Remember, this is Sony – the guys who attempted to put rootkit DRM protections on their music way back when. It’s a big change (especially with the public demand). And they are the people who are letting you play used games?
Well, now expect that to be a major selling point over the Xbox One. It has already become the main selling point over the Xbox One.
How long til Microsoft goes back to the drawing board on that one?