It seemed settled just a week ago. Sony’s reveal of the PlayStation 4 and the hints that the company dropped seemed to indicate that they would be trying to keep the console as “consumer friendly” as possible. Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida explained that taking a stance on used games would be in opposition to what consumers want from the PS4, and that he didn’t expect for Sony to implement any features that would eliminate used games from the new platform.
However, it looks like Sony wants to make it clear that they’ve yet to officially announce any stance on used games. In a recent interview with Now Gamer, Sony’s Fergal Gara explains that this hasn’t been clarified just yet.
“We haven’t made a statement on the second-hand games question,” says Gara. “There was a lot of reaction to a patent that was filed, which is a matter of course for a technology business like us, to file various patents at various times, many of which may never see any application but they are good to have depending on ideas that might be building… The answer to the pre-owned question isn’t clarified just yet and we’re working through that and we’ll announce our position in more detail as and when we can.”
The patent that Gara is referring to is one that was recently uncovered that uses a new system that would deter used games from playing on the new platform. The patent used a near field technology that would bind it to a console which would prevent it from being sold and used on other devices.
Right now it sounds like depending on who you ask within Sony, the answers will be different. Will they block used games or not? We’ll wait for an official announcement before pitchforks are sharpened and torches are primed.
