Yahoo Finance PS5: Sony changes PlayStation and PSN terms ahead of release date of new console
Sony has changed its policies to include the PlayStation 5, ahead of the console’s release date next month.
The company has informed customers that they will now be bound by a number of small changes that will prepare them for the release of the PS5.
Primarily, the changes simply add the name of the PlayStation 5 to the long list of hardware that is included in the terms of service.
But they also add some changes to the way subscriptions work, which could actually be far more significant than the inclusion of the PS5, the company said.
The new changes govern the PSN terms of service, the “software usage terms” and the privacy policy. Users must agree to all three when they start using a PlayStation, and so anyone who does so online will have done so even if they did not necessarily read those terms.
Likewise, all users will be taken to assent to the changes from 7 October, and continuing to play games or go online with the console will be taken as acceptance. If users wish to refuse, they will have to close the account, Sony makes clear in the message to customers.
All three of the different term documents now include references to the PlayStation 5, ahead of its “upcoming release”, Sony said. For the most part, that just means that the name has been added to the long list of consoles covered by the rules, which stretches back so far that it still includes the original PlayStation.
It also makes clear that there are some major changes to the PlayStation 5’s menus, the user interface of which is yet to be revealed. Where the terms for the PS4 make reference to the “primary console” option – which allows users to designate a particular PS4 as their main one, and so allow other accounts to use the games and services on there – the PS5’s terms instead discuss an “Offline & Homeshare” setting, but do not make clear what that is.
But probably the most meaningful changes are not references to the PlayStation 5 but alterations to the way that subscriptions work.
One removes reference to “Auto Funding”, apparently signalling a change in the way that Sony will automatically take funds out of an account to pay for purchases.
Another makes clear that players will be given at least 60 days notice of any price changes with respect to subscription fees. The company has increased the cost of its PlayStation Plus online service a number of times in the past, but will now be required to give players advance notice when it does so.
The full terms can be found on Sony’s website. It encouraged players to “review the revised documents in their entirety”, though did not make the old versions easily available for comparison.
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