I really want to jump into a pages-long, old-man tirade about what video gaming was like when I was a kid. When the “bits” of a console were single digit. When playing a game meant punching in a cartridge and pressing the power button. Where instead of waiting for updates to download, the worst “tech support” we’d need to perform was blowing out some dust from the tray. But I digress…
Redditor Kadjar posted yesterday about an infuriating aspect of modern day gaming, the fact that we don’t own our games in quite the same way we used to with cartridges and discs. Instead we have an account, and our games are attached to that account. Kadjar’s Playstation Network account was compromised, and he woke up to $600 in fraudulent charges and the discovery that his PS4 was no longer attached to his account. Someone else had all his stuff and racked up some huge bills.
Worse, upon discovering the hijack, and contacting Sony, he got some bad news. Sony would only reverse $150 of the charges. If he used his credit card company’s ability to dispute the charges, Sony would ban his account and wipe out any and all record of any game attached to his account, even those not in dispute and purchased legally.
Of course this stands as cautionary tale for people to make sure they’re using strong passwords, but it’s a situation that never should have devolved this far. We’re not dealing with physical products, the classic days of PC gaming where you could copy a game disc. There’s a clear record of exactly when ownership of the account was transferred from one PS4 to another. There’s a clear record of what was purchased and exactly when it was purchased, and all of these products are digital and can be disabled with the flip of a switch.
Instead, we have a Reddit post with 5700 upvotes and 2100 comments, and while the gaming community there has offered to replace his games for him, Kadjar has requested that people donate to charity instead. A classy response to a frustrating situation.
He is updating the post as this story gains more exposure and becomes more of a PR black eye for Sony. You can keep up with his mis-adventures by hitting the link below.