Sony Confirms DC Universe PS3 Discs Locked to Single Account

[PS3 News]

Update: Dutch site http://ps3clan.nl/2011/02/dcuo-disc-en-account-niet-een-het-laatste-woord/ has now confirmed that it is indeed possible to share your DC Universe Online PS3 disc with a friend and play the game for free, noting simply that both users will need to pay the subscription fee.

While not as bad as previous rumors, today LazyGamer.net (linked above) reports that Sony has confirmed DC Universe Online PS3 discs are locked to a single PSN account connected to their first player.

Essentially what this means is when you buy and play DC Universe Online, your PSN account will be automatically tied with that specific PlayStation 3 game disc.

If other PSN accounts try to play the game using that disc, they will be denied. Only you, the first player, will be able to play it.

To quote: "We discovered that DC Universe becomes linked to your account when you activate it, destroying your ability to sell it, trade it or rent it.

The folks at SOE were very quick to respond to our enquiry, and they had the following to say:

"Once the PSN key has been consumed with a disk it cannot be resold/replayed with the second user adding a sub - only the original consumer can use that acct."

We weren't too sure if that meant that a new code could be obtained by a second hand buyer, or if the disc and account were seen as one, so we wrote back and got the simple and straightforward answer that: "Disk and account are one"

So there you have it, confirmed from SOE themselves. Once you have bought DC Universe Online, it will not be usable by anyone other than the original user of the activation key.

So once again, be warned: If you see the game for sale second hand without its original activation key (highly unlikely) or want to sell it off, it doesn't work that way."


More PlayStation 3 News...

[Jes03]

Another reason NOT to buy this expensive game.

[jokr2k10]

Beginning of the end of PS3..

[pepperor]

"Once the PSN key has been consumed with a disk it cannot be resold/replayed with the second user adding a sub - only the original consumer can use that acct."

Uh!? I think they got it wrong. The account with the free month cannot be used by secondhand user, obviously. You would need to buy a subscription (its a Pay2Play MMO, duh) to use the secondhand disc.

[lunchyboxy]

Boycott!! Must happen to teach a lesson not to make this mistake again. Not even for pirates, but second hand users really have the voice here. The wallet is the only way to hurt these kind of actions & I'm sure that a really pretty penny was spent, what a shame.

[Bishoff]

Another reason NOT to buy this expensive game.

agree 100% Don't buy their stuff and lets see how they react.

[clementz]

Never buy a trashy game. I hate trash, if you want the trash, just buy it

[snoekie]

It's an MMORPG. All MMORPGs with a subscription have this system. Nothing new here.

[nixxjsteve]

Have hardly any of you guys ever played a mmorpg? This is standard, you need an account to play and pay. The disc itself is not "locked"... the key that comes with it to register an account is one use only and as such you can only have one account.

I don't see what the fuss is about, this is how mmorpgs work.

[morrisz]

It's true that MMORPG work like that but knowing Sony they probably will use this on other games too. Don't forget that since a few years game publishers are waging battle against the second hand market almost believing that it's the same as pirating since they don't make any money with it.