I cant play any of my digital PS3 content until I connect to the internet

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

"This content has a time limit. To perform this operation go to settings date and time settings set via internet"

Locked out from every single digital purchase on my PS3. Every one. Everything from PS1 classics to the game I actually wanted to play The Last of Us. I am literally locked out of playing the PS3 games I've purchased until I connect to the internet.

This is horseshit there's no excuse for this. This is actually not the first time I've encountered this problem I had it happen quite a while ago as well. And yeah google tells me it's a common thing that happens on PS3 if you haven't had your PS3 connected to the internet for a long time.

So all that front from Sony at E3 2013 against always online, and PS3 already had a form of required online checks to let you play content you've purchased. This sucks.

 

[Dest]

You're going to see more and more of this going forward. And once the servers that say you have a license go away and you can't ever authenticate again, you're SOL. Digital future is shit.

 

[KaiPow]

This sounds like a case where you might have remotely deactivated your consoles from Sony's website.

I'd make sure the PS3 is activated as your primary console if you have internet hooked up to it: https://support.playstation.com/s/article/Activate-Deactivate-a-PS3?language=en_US

The PS4 also does something similar in attempts to tamp out game sharing.

 

[Deleted member 16136]

Could be wrong, but is this PS3 set as the primary PS3? I thought if it was, that shit doesnt show up. Can't remember, been a while.

 

[Lyrick]

Yep this happens.

I had it happen to me when I only owned a single PS3 and didn't use it for several months on end.

 

[Fisty]

How long has your PS3 been off? Have you recently deactivated any consoles?

Seems like it shouldn't be much of an issue to use whatever internet you are using to post to just log in for a minute to verify licenses.

 

[Syysch]

The time limit thing sounds like something that would pop up for games redeemed through ps+. It does attach an expiration date to those, sometimes it updates the date to the new one when you extend your sub, sometimes it doesn't update the date until you launch the game.

 

[Deleted member 18400]

This sounds like you deactivated your PS3 as your primary console with that account.

EDIT: To be clear this was designed that way to prevent you from going to your buddys house, logging into your account on his PS3 or 4, downloading all your games and then turning the internet off and going home. Giving that person a free copy of all your stuff.

 

[Iztok]

You're going to see more and more of this going forward. And once the servers that say you have a license go away and you can't ever authenticate again, you're SOL. Digital future is shit.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, this is the main problem here. At some point you won't be able to fix this anymore.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

This sounds like a case where you might have remotely deactivated your consoles from Sony's website.

I'd make sure the PS3 is activated as your primary console if you have internet hooked up to it: https://support.playstation.com/s/article/Activate-Deactivate-a-PS3?language=en_US

The PS4 also does something similar in attempts to tamp out game sharing.

Click to shrink...

I don't know whether it was already activated or not but I've now done this and activated the system. Surely this stuff is just automatic? This is the only PS3 I've bought digital content on.

 

[Lothars]

I don't know whether it was already activated or not but I've now done this and activated the system. Surely this stuff is just automatic? This is the only PS3 I've bought digital content on.

Click to shrink...

Not if it was deactivated. That's the only reason you would get those errors.

 

[sora bora]

I just plugged my PS3 slim after being in the garage for years. All my digitally purchased content booted no problem. Any PS+ stuff would not (I am no longer a subscriber), and if you click the properties, it tells you the date it expired.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

I think it needs to be your primary console as well. And there might be a check needed every X months to verify.

I just plugged my PS3 slim after being in the garage for years. All my digitally purchased content booted no problem. Any PS+ stuff would not (I am no longer a subscriber), and if you click the properties, it tells you the date it expired.

Click to shrink...

Ok, then there is no check every X months. Or did you boot up with an internet connection?

 

[entremet]

I don't know whether it was already activated or not but I've now done this and activated the system. Surely this stuff is just automatic? This is the only PS3 I've bought digital content on.

Click to shrink...

Did you always have 2FA on?

Could your account have been compromised at one point?

 

[Ernest]

I have a ton of digital games on my 360, and that needs to be connected in order to play them, or else I just get those games demos.
BTW, remember when every digital game was required to have a demo?

 

[Euler007]

Why not just connect it to the internet? What's the downside?

 

[logash]

Digital content has a time limit. I figured this out on my Vita. I downloaded GTA Liberty City Stories and when I go to the PSP GUI (custom firmware) there is a little orange timer on it. The UMD dumps that I put on my Vita don't have that.

My thing is, shouldn't there be a place to see how much time you have left or when your license expires offline? The PSP had it in 2004.

 

[My Blue Heaven]

Is there a reason you can't just, you know, connect it to your wi-fi for 5-10 minutes to renew your licenses?

 

[FZed]

Check if you only have 1 ps3 registered on your psn account

Sony

id.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com

Under device management you should see 1 ps3

Then to be sure it is the primary console, just activate it by follow this

PlayStation Support

.

(don't deactivate it via web browser as it is possible once per 6 months)

 

[DC5remy]

Why would you expect to play digital off line?

 

[Rosebud]

Why would you expect to play digital off line?

Click to shrink...

? that's how it always worked

 

[JustAnotherOne]

Why would you expect to play digital off line?

Click to shrink...

Because they are installed on his HDD? I really don't get this question. He should be able to play them offline as the games are tied to his account and console encryption anyway.

 

[Decarb]

I don't know whether it was already activated or not but I've now done this and activated the system. Surely this stuff is just automatic? This is the only PS3 I've bought digital content on.

Click to shrink...

Your account is probably hacked and someone else is using their PS3 as a primary for your account. Change password, activate 2FA asap.

I've said this before, but people should disconnect their consoles (applies to all of them) and see if they can launch their games. If they can't, most likely their account is compromised. Most people are connected 24/7 so they don't even know that they're on a secondary system.

 

[-Le Monde-]

Why would you expect to play digital off line?

Click to shrink...

Digital =/= always online drm check.
All console platforms support playing digital games offline without issues, just as long as you set it as the primary console.

 

[Sprat]

This sounds like you deactivated your PS3 as your primary console with that account.

EDIT: To be clear this was designed that way to prevent you from going to your buddys house, logging into your account on his PS3 or 4, downloading all your games and then turning the internet off and going home. Giving that person a free copy of all your stuff.

Click to shrink...

But you can activate 5 ps3s as your primary which is the exact reason Sony changed it to 1 for ps4

 

[EagleClaw]

Never heard about that problem.
Maybe your ps3 was never set as primary device.
Also, how can a ps3 "learn" that it isn't anymore the primary console if you aren't connecting it to the internet, that doesn't work, because the console would never recognise that it isn't the primary anymore.

 

[BourbonJungle]

Ran into a similar issue and it didn't seem worth creating a new thread for.

Used my PS3 today for the first time since July, started with it properly logged into PSN.

played the old XMen arcade game with friends and did a system update when prompted for another game.

Now I can't login to PSN on my PS3 and a bunch of games are said to be "expired". I've reset my password and can log in using it on my PS4/5.

PS+ Is still active, has never lapsed and I'm still working off the same account / email. Can anyone else log into the PlayStation store on their PS3 now?

 

[TheChrisGlass]

All PS+ games expire. Once downloaded, they're set to expire on the day that your PS+ will expire, as of the day you install the game. There is no system-wide check for PS+ on games. Only on startup of individual games.

However, once expired, simply reopening them while connected online will refresh the expiration date. It's why I hate PS+ games. Also, you can't be sure a game is PS+ or not by simply checking if there's an expiration date. Because so many games had UNLOCK KEYS, the PS+ subscription is tied to the unlock key. Meaning it's DLC that expires and there's no way to check that without starting up the game and being denied access to the full game.

But if OP's purchases aren't PS+, I don't know what to say. Seeing how it's not a common question online, I do wonder if there's something else at play.