Software Usage Terms
(for PC & Mobile)
1. Who are we?
1.1. We are Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Limited (with company number 03277793) of 10 Great Marlborough Street, London, W1F 7LP, United Kingdom.
2. Defined Terms
2.1. “Authorised Systems” means the device (which is not a PlayStation console or a device used to stream content from a PlayStation console) for which we make the Software commercially available (e.g. if on Steam, PC; if on the iTunes Store, Apple iOS; if on the Google Play Store, Android).
2.2. “Software” means the game and/or application software published by PlayStation Publishing LLC, us or our affiliated companies and developed to operate on one or more of the Authorised Systems.
3. When do these Software Usage Terms apply?
3.1. Our Software Usage Terms (the “Terms”) apply to your use of all Software on Authorised Systems.
3.2. These Terms are between you and us and not the owner of the store (the “Store Owner”) through which you purchased the Software (the “Software Store”).
4. Software is Licensed
4.1. All Software is licensed, not assigned, which means you acquire rights to use the Software, as described in these Terms, but you do not acquire ownership of the Software. If you do not comply with these Terms, we can terminate your Software licence which means you will no longer have the right to use the Software.
4.2. When you purchase a Software licence, you are purchasing from the company identified as the retailer on the Software Store’s terms of use (the “Retailer”) .
5. Limitations on Your Use of Software
5.1. Your licence to use Software is a non-exclusive, personal licence to use the Software for private use only on the applicable Authorised Systems (as indicated in the product description for the Software or otherwise notified by us to you from time to time) and only in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Russia and Oceania. Your licence to use games is not transferrable unless your local applicable laws say it must be.
5.2. You must not use Software commercially, broadcast it, charge for its use or make other public performance of it without express permission from us.
5.3. You must not lease, rent, sublicense, publish, modify, adapt, or translate any portion of the Software.
5.4. You must not emulate the Software.
5.5. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you must not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or copy any portion of the Software, or create any derivative works, or otherwise attempt to create source code from Software object code.
5.6. You must not use any means to bypass or disable any encryption, security, or authentication mechanism or to gain unauthorised access or to interfere with any account, service, hardware, software or network.
5.7 You must not use stolen or illegally acquired Authorised Systems or Software.
5.8 Use of the community or social features provided by the Software in accordance with these Terms and our Privacy Policy will not breach clauses 5.2 and 5.5 of these Terms.
6. Resale
6.1. You must not resell games licensed under these Terms unless expressly authorised by us.
7. Age Ratings
7.1. If Software displays an age rating, it means it contains content that is unsuitable for anyone below that age. Parents and guardians should supervise their children’s access to and use of the Software and in particular, their use of any community features.
8. Privacy
8.1 You may be able to use your Software online. If you do, we may collect information about you. An explanation of how your personal information is used can be found in our Privacy Policy at playstation.com/legal/privacy-policy/.
9. How to behave towards us and other users
9.1. Our Software may provide community features that let you play with and against other people; communicate and interact with other people; and share information from your game and other activity via social networks. When you use any such features on our Software you must follow these rules (we call it our “Code of Conduct”) in all dealings with us and other members of the online community:
✓ Be inclusive.
Our games are for everyone, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, nationality, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, shape and size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability, or any other attribute that people use to label others or divide communities.
☒ Do not do or say anything hateful. For more information, please visit playstation.com/hate-speech-policy.
☒ Do not threaten, harm, or alarm anyone or encourage anyone else to do so.
☒ Do not bully, harass, or stalk anyone.
✓ Be sensible. Follow the law.
☒ Do not be vulgar or offensive.
☒ Do not encourage anyone to hurt themselves or someone else.
☒ Do not threaten, condone, perform, or promote any illegal acts.
☒ Do not impersonate anyone else.
☒ Do not infringe anyone’s privacy or spread lies about anyone.
☒ Do not infringe anyone’s intellectual property.
✓ Be kind.
Help each other out. Remember you were new once too. You can help make someone’s early gaming and community experiences good ones by being considerate.
✓ Be respectful.
We know we can’t expect everyone to agree all the time. Disagree respectfully or walk away.
☒ Do not do anything to harm the PlayStation brand or the community for your game.
✓ Be responsible.
If you believe you have found a vulnerability in the Software or any of our other products or services, tell us so we can fix it. Please visit HackerOne.com/PlayStation for information on our BugBounty program.
☒ Do not use our products for, or associate them with, spam or any commercial activity.
☒ Do not share, buy, sell, rent, sub-licence, trade, or transfer any accounts, account details, or other credentials.
✓ Be a team player.
☒ Do not disturb or interrupt gameplay.
☒ Do not cheat.
☒ Do not use any bugs, glitches, vulnerabilities, or unintentional mechanics in products or PSN to get an advantage.
☒ Do not phish for or harvest any accounts, account details, or other credentials.
☒ Do not forward recommendations or offers to your contacts without their permission.
☒ Do not share or send information that misleads others.
✓ Be discreet. Keep it decent.
Always use common sense and good manners. Things you say and do online affect other people and have real world consequences. Think before you post anything online. Beware that information you put online can spread and may be seen by people you didn't expect would see it.
☒ Do not reveal personal information about other people or yourself. It makes you and them vulnerable. Personal information includes, but is not limited to, social network handles, messaging app profiles, phone numbers, email addresses, and real-world addresses like your home, school, or temporary location.
☒ Do not share material that is pornographic, obscene, or that depicts extreme or abhorrent violence.
☒ Do not share or threaten to share any image or other media of another person without their consent.
✓ Help us ensure our games are the best place to play.
We are committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment. If you breach this Code of Conduct, or your conduct offline gives us reason to believe you may endanger the safety or well-being of our community, we may take any action as reasonably necessary to protect our products and our players.
If you believe someone has breached the Code of Conduct, tell us so we can take action to help keep our community safe. It is particularly important to tell us if you think there is a risk anyone could get hurt in real life. If you see someone else misbehaving:
√ Report them to us using our contextual grief reporting tools. For more information on grief reporting and blocking, please visit playstation.com/reporting and playstation.com/blocking.
√ If you engage with them, stay calm and respectful. Lead by example and don’t breach this Code of Conduct yourself.
☒ Do not submit false grief reports or otherwise abuse the grief reporting system.
✓ Follow any specific rules for each product.
For more information, find additional resources at playstation.com/safety and playstation.com/behavior.
10. Creating and Sharing Online
10.1 When using online community features, you may be able to create or share messages, comments, pictures, photographs, videos, game assets, game videos and other materials and information (“User Generated Content” or “UGC”). When doing so, you must behave decently, respectfully and with consideration for other people by following our Code of Conduct.
10.2. UGC created and shared by you belongs to you but we still have intellectual property rights in your UGC so you must not commercially exploit UGC without our consent.
10.3. You authorise us, our affiliates and other users of the Software, to use, distribute, copy, modify, display, and publish your UGC, your online name/ID (and, if you choose to use it, your name), including on websites associated to the Software. You also authorise us, without payment to you, to license, sell and otherwise commercially exploit your UGC (for example, selling subscriptions to access your UGC (alone or in combination with other UGC) and/or receiving advertising revenue in connection with UGC), and to use your UGC in the promotion of our products, Software and services. You recognise that we and other users of the Software may alter or delete your UGC. By posting UGC you are telling us that you have all rights necessary to post such UGC and to grant the rights set out in this paragraph.
11. What if I have a bad experience online?
11.1. We want you all to enjoy our online community but we can’t guarantee that everyone will behave properly. As such, we accept no liability to you for other users’ activity and UGC and no liability to others for your activity and UGC.
11.2. If you experience any unacceptable or inappropriate behaviour in-game, we want you to let us know.
11.3. Although we may enable you and other users to post to social network services, we are not responsible for those services. If you experience any unacceptable or inappropriate behaviour on a social network service, please report it to the social network service using their grief reporting process.
12. Reporting from games we publish
12.1. We include grief reporting mechanisms where we think they might be most relevant. For example, you may see a report option or in-game reporting tool in the Software if that Software offers the ability to share UGC. If you use the most proximate grief reporting tool, when you submit the report, you may also be able to send us applicable evidence which will help us assess your report. For example, if you grief report a game asset or level that someone created, when you send us the report you might also be able to send us the asset or level. Of course, this means other people can grief report you and your UGC too.
12.2. If there is no grief reporting facility within the Software and you want to make a report please contact our customer services. For online support (help pages and an online contact form): playstation.com/get-help/contact-us/.
13. Are we monitoring online activity?
13.1. Yes, but we can’t monitor all online activity and we make no commitment to do so.
13.2. We may track and record your Software activity and remove any of your UGC that breaches these Terms, without further notice to you. Other users may record things they see and send them to us.
13.3. Information we get can include your content, voice and text communications, gameplay videos, the time and location of your activities, your real name, your online ID and IP address.
13.4. We (or our affiliated companies) use that information to enforce these Terms, to comply with the law, to protect our rights and those of our licensors and users, and to protect our community. We may pass this information to the police or other appropriate authorities.
13.5. See our Privacy Policy (available at playstation.com/legal/privacy-policy/) for more details about this use of your information.
14. Software Updates and End of Service
14.1. Software may be updated from time to time, but only where it is reasonable because it is minor and justified. For example, we may make changes:
14.1.1 to ensure the Software is working as intended (e.g. fix bugs and glitches) and to improve efficiency;
14.1.2 for security reasons;
14.1.3 to adapt the Software to a new system or technical environment;
14.1.4 to improve the Software. This may include updating in-game items, in-game levels and tasks or changing the rewards for completing in-game activities; or
14.1.5 to adapt the Software to a change in number of users and/or to ensure the commercial viability of the Software.
15. Feedback and Beta Trials
15.1. We welcome your ideas and feedback on our services and products, but you must only provide us with your own ideas and feedback. By providing your ideas and feedback to us you transfer ownership of them to us, although we may or may not implement them. You will not get paid or receive any other compensation for your ideas or feedback unless we say otherwise.
15.2. If you participate in, or redeem a voucher for, a free beta trial, you agree to the following additional terms:
15.2.1. you must keep the beta software secure and in good condition and must not copy the beta software, give or sell it to anyone, try to reverse engineer it, nor use it to create derivative works;
15.2.2. you are licensed to use the beta software only for the beta;
15.2.3. we do not warrant that the beta software will work correctly (or at all);
15.2.4. during the beta we may modify the beta software without notice, which may add or remove data, content and functionality, and you agree we will not be liable for any such loss of data, content or functionality; and
15.2.5. we can end the beta or stop you accessing it at any time.
16. Copyright Ownership
16.1. All Software contains library programs, the copyright to which is owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. and exclusively licensed to us for our geographic area of operation. Other copyrights and intellectual property rights subsist in the Software and may be notified to you from time to time.
17. Limitation of Liability
17.1. As a consumer, you may have rights under applicable local laws that cannot be excluded, limited or changed. You can exercise any such rights against the Retailer. Those rights take priority over anything in these Terms, including in this clause 17.
17.2. These Terms do not:
17.2.1. affect any statutory guarantees or warranties you have as a consumer under local applicable laws (such as your rights if the Software is faulty);
17.2.2. exclude or limit our liability in any way for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors;
17.2.3. exclude or limit our liability in any way for our deliberate breach, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation or gross negligence; or
17.2.4. exclude or limit our liability in any way unless we are allowed to do so under your applicable local laws.
17.3. If you are a consumer, subject to clause 17.1 and 17.2, our liability to you is limited to £100 (or local currency equivalent) or, if higher, the price of the Software that gave rise to the liability.
17.4. To the extent you are using the Software other than as a consumer:
17.4.1. we do not limit our liability for: (i) death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; (ii) our fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; (iii) any liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable local laws.
17.4.2. subject to clause 17.4.1, we, our affiliated companies (including PlayStation Publishing LLC), licensors and the Store Owners, accept no liability for: (i) loss of profit; (ii) loss of sales or business; (iii) loss of agreements or contracts; (iv) loss of anticipated savings; (v) loss of or corruption of software; (vi) data or information; (vii) loss of or damage to goodwill; and (viii) any indirect or consequential loss.
17.4.3 subject to clause 17.4.1, our, our affiliated companies (including PlayStation Publishing LLC), licensors and the Store Owner’s total liability to you under or in connection with these Terms, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise will not be more than £100 (or local currency equivalent).
17.5. Neither we, PlayStation Publishing LLC nor any Store Owner offers any maintenance or support services with respect to the Software.
17.6. We have not approved or checked any third-party websites on which you access or use the Software or which are linked to the Software and we are not responsible or liable in any way for their content. Your use of third-party websites will be subject to the terms and conditions of those websites and platforms.
18. Third Party Beneficiaries
18.1. The Store Owner and its subsidiaries, and our affiliated companies (including PlayStation Publishing LLC), are third party beneficiaries under these Terms, and each shall have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.
19. Governing law, jurisdiction and third party rights
19.1. If you are using the Software as a consumer:
19.1.1. these Terms, any contracts formed in accordance with them and any disputes we may have in connection with them will be governed by and determined according to the laws of England and Wales but you will have the additional protection of the mandatory laws of the country in which you live. The mandatory laws of the country in which you live take priority over the laws of England and Wales.
19.1.2. we can enforce these Terms in a court of competent jurisdiction in the country in which you live.
19.1.3. you can enforce these Terms in a court of competent jurisdiction in in the country in which you live, or where our company is registered.
19.2. To the extent you are using the Software other than as a consumer:
19.2.1. these Terms, any contracts formed in accordance with them and any disputes we may have in connection with them will be governed by and determined according to the laws of England and Wales; and
19.2.2. the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.
Last Updated: June 2024
