PSN down: PlayStation players complain about frustrating bug that 'locks' games amid maintenance error
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Your support makes all the difference.PlayStation players have complained about a frustrating bug that leaves them unable to play their games.
Users reported that their consoles told them their games were "locked" and that as a result it would not let them online. An error message told them that their console need to be changed to their "active" one, even if it was already – and attempting to do that brought up messages about the servers being down for maintenance, players said.
Some reported that they were eventually able to get online after repeatedly pressing that "activate" button, which can be found in the settings under the "account management" tab. Others reported that the issue simply fixed itself in time, and so there is no way to know for sure that using the settings is likely to make the problem go away any more quickly.
But the underlying issue appears to be a problem with PlayStation's online services, which a host of users reported were not working as usual.
Tracking website Down Detector showed a large spike in users reporting that the online services were down or not working as usual.
PlayStation's own server status page showed no issues. "All services are up and running," the page read.
The PlayStation system allows users to set one particular device as a user's "primary" console. That, in turn, allows that console to have additional access to content: anyone else using that console will be able to play the games installed on it and use the PlayStation Plus subscription, for instance, and it will automatically download any content that is bought through the store.
But that relies on PlayStation's online services, which allows the console to check with Sony's systems to ensure that a player has registered that console and someone has bought the game they are attempting to play. It appears to be those services that have stopped working as usual, meaning that games will show as being "locked" even if they were bought legitimately, and have played as normal in the past.
Sony does operate a troubleshooting site, to which it tweeted a link overnight, advising players who are unable to log in to follow its instructions. But those did not seem to give advice on the bug that had locked down games, leading to a flurry of frustrated replies in response to its tweet.
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