Following the concerns around used games on Xbox One and unsubstantiated rumours from GameTrailer's Geoff Keighley that Sony might impose a DRM scheme to prevent the use of trade-ins on PS4 the No PS4 DRM Twitter campaign, which kicked off with a NeoGAF forum post, has been acknowledged by several key Sony employees.
John Koller, the head of Sony Hardware Marketing commented:
This is why I love PlayStation fans- the passion bucket overflows #playstation
— John Koller (@jpkoller) May 27, 2013
While Nick Accordino, an SCEA producer, added:
Humbled by the outpouring of passionate PlayStation fans and their willingness to talk to us directly. Please know that we hear you. <3
— Nick Accordino (@Nikoro) May 27, 2013
PlayStation Software Product Development Head Scott Rohde has also chimed in:
I love passionate #PlayStation Fans!!
— Scott Rohde (@RohdeScott) May 27, 2013
Finally, Sony senior business development manager Shadid Kamal Ahmed joined the discussion saying:
To all the fans, with a special mention to GAFfers, I *love* your passion. It convinces me that the path I chose 31 years ago was right.
— Shahid Kamal Ahmad (@shahidkamal) May 27, 2013
The campaign has picked up a lot of favourable reactions from major game media members including Kotaku's Jason Schreier and Destructoid's Jim Sterling.
Sony has yet to announce its plans for pre-owned games on PS4 though it's good to know that the company does at least appear to be listening to concerns that they'll place restrictions on used games. While the Tweets above belong to the personal accounts of Sony employees rather than the official PlayStation Twitter the high level staff at the company involved in the PS4 are no doubt aware of what's going on.
Neither Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios and probably the most senior Sony employee on Twitter, nor the actual PlayStation account have commented on the matter. Sony has not yet issued a statement regarding the campaign and this story will be updated should they do so.
Hopefully, we'll have a better picture following E3 next month. In the meantime, if you'd like to join the Twitter campaign you can send this open letter to Sony as well as EA, Ubisoft and Capcom.
The PS4 is set to be released later this year.