"This is why we buy discs": Gamers feel vindicated after PS5 incident

Frustration within the gaming community over Sony's announced move away from physical games appears to be so strong that even an everyday PlayStation 5 issue has sparked a major discussion. The incident began when a player suddenly found themselves unable to launch their digitally purchased copy of Ghost of Yōtei. Reddit user u/hellraiser29 explained that they wanted to play the game on their second PS5, but instead of reaching the main menu, they were greeted with a message stating that the license could not be verified. Even manually restoring the console's licenses failed to solve the problem. After about half an hour, they gave up and played a game on disc instead.

For many Reddit users, the incident has become a symbol of the downsides of digital game ownership and a validation of the current criticism directed at Sony. Many players feel it reinforces a familiar argument: when you buy a digital game, you ultimately own only a license and remain dependent on servers, account settings or successful license verification. Comments such as "This is why I buy my single-player games on disc," "No disc, no purchase," and "You don't actually own anything" have received thousands of upvotes.

The other side calls it "rage bait" or "karma farming"

Others in the community have taken a more nuanced view. Several users argue that the problem is unlikely to be an inherent flaw of digital games, but may instead have been caused by the configuration of the Reddit user's two PS5 consoles. It is possible that the console had not been set as the primary offline console or that GameShare was being used. In both cases, Sony needs to verify the license online.

Some Reddit users believe the issue would never have occurred with the correct settings and accuse the original poster of leaving out important details. Terms such as "rage bait" and "karma farming" appear repeatedly throughout the discussion. Critics of Sony's digital strategy, however, are quick to point out that none of this would have mattered with a physical disc, since a second console would not require any additional configuration to launch the game. As always, feel free to share your own opinion in the comments.