During a recent interview with Gamespot, the boss of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida discussed more details regarding the subject of used games and the PS4.
While in past interviews he stated the PS4 will not block used games, he teased the tech to do so does exist in the console itself. The feature would be entirely optional and left up to individual publishers to decide if they want to use it for their games. He also teased Sony would not be using this feature for any game they develop on the PS4.
The feature would work similar to the Online Pass system which uses activation codes as a way to "lock" a disc to an individual user or account but in a larger scale. Instead of just locking out the game's multiplayer, the entire game itself would be locked out if the game is detected as a used copy. His answer:
“It's a publisher decision. We are not talking about it. Sorry.”GameSpot says -
"Now, this could mean two things. One, that publishers are obviously free to step up their existing online pass strategies to block more – or possibly all – game content from those who buy a pre-owned game without a code. The second option is that Sony HAS incorporated tech into the PS4 that allows publishers to distinguish between new and pre-owned games. It’s then up to them if they choose to utilize it."Is this good or bad? Let us know in the comments.
Oh wow, yikes.