why are Sony so backwards with buying from different regions?

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

So this is a thing:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/no-longer-able-to-buy-psn-codes-on-amazon-us.36861/

It's probably (hopefully) short term , but as someone who relies on Amazon as my means of putting credit on my PSN account, it really brings home how backwards Sony's system is.

On my Switch I can change my region at the click of a button. Plus I can use my card/PayPal no bother.

Steam is slightly more complex as you have to have logged in from whichever country you want to change to first, but buying games on there is piss easy (as is GoG/Humble etc)

I don't have an Xbox, but by all accounts switching regions is no problem, but perhaps someone can verify if you can use a credit card from any country regardless of chosen region.

Then we have Sony, where you have to make a different account for each country. Then you need a credit card from that country to purchase stuff from the store. I didn't really care, because Amazon was always the answer. But at the moment it's not.

Some may say "Just use your own country's store." Which is all well and good except the country I live in doesn't have one. Plus I've spent a lot of money on my US account and that's where all my friends/Trophies are.

Honestly in this global age, why do Sony have such a stick up their arse about this? Money is money, why do they care where it originates from? You know you're doing it wrong when Nintendo have a far better system.

I realise other stores sell codes, however, that's not the point I'm trying to make here.

Jared Babitsky · Apr 18, 2018

I don't have a PlayStation so idk how adding funds works. Are you not able to just link a credit card to make purchases?

Savantcore · Apr 18, 2018

Isn't Nintendo's thing massively in violation of their ToS's? I dunno, Sony's a pain but I guess there's some legal reasoning behind it, especially when it comes to games that are banned in some territories.

In any case, I'd suggest you use cdkeys.com as they're cheaper anyway.

Ada · Apr 18, 2018

the_kaotek1 said:
Plus I can use my card/PayPal no bother.

This isn't true, in fact its a step back from 3DS. Paypal must match the region the account is on, same with cards. As someone who imported every 3DS game digitally with a UK debit card it sucks to now have to buy points like on PSN.

MS is the only company who is doing it correctly. 1 account but can buy from any region store.

Aeana · Apr 18, 2018

It's a big problem, but not just a Sony problem. You mention being able to use your card on Switch, but as an American who frequently buys Japanese games, I can't use my credit card on the Japanese eShop. The problem is the same.

Strangelove_77 · Apr 18, 2018

Does the Switch still use the same account? Are all your purchases underneath that one account or do you have to use a separate one?
On PS4 each region is a different account. I have a US, UK and Japanese account and they all have to have their different profile. my US account is my primary account and I use the other 2 to download free stuff like themes and demos that aren't available in the US.
Im just curious how It works on Switch since it seems that its a bitch on most online stores to buy stuff from different regions.

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

Ada said:
This isn't true, in fact its a step back from 3DS. Paypal must match the region the account is on, same with cards. As someone who imported every 3DS game digitally with a UK debit card it sucks to now have to buy points like on PSN.

I've bought games on my none US PayPal and my non US card on the US store. I was honestly shocked it worked tbh. I can post the receipts if you want proof.

Mind you my account is a Cambodian bank, but it's a US dollar account ( the dollar is one of two currencies in use here) so that may be why - no currency conversion going on.

Strangelove77 said:
Im just curious how It works on Switch since it seems that its a bitch on most online stores to buy stuff from different regions.

You can just go to your Nintendo account and change countries, it's dead easy. No need for multiple accounts.

Aeana · Apr 18, 2018

the_kaotek1 said:
I've bought games on my none US PayPal and my non US card on the US store. I was honestly shocked it worked tbh. I can post the receipts if you want proof.

Mind you my account is a Cambodian bank, but it's a US dollar account ( the dollar is one of two currencies in use here) so that may be why - no currency conversion going on.

You can just go to your Nintendo account and change countries, it's dead easy. No need for multiple accounts.

This only works if there is not an eShop available for your credit card/PayPal account region, apparently.

Ada · Apr 18, 2018

the_kaotek1 said:
I've bought games on my none US PayPal and my non US card on the US store.

It wouldn't even let me add an EU paypal account to my JP one. Edit: above, yea that's probably the real reason. Enjoy it while the loophole exists.

Kouriozan · Apr 18, 2018

Strangelove77 said:
Does the Switch still use the same account? Are all your purchases underneath that one account or do you have to use a separate one?
On PS4 each region is a different account. I have a US, UK and Japanese account and they all have to have their different profile. my US account is my primary account and I use the other 2 to download free stuff like themes and demos that aren't available in the US.
Im just curious how It works on Switch since it seems that its a bitch on most online stores to buy stuff from different regions.

Same account, you switch country, buy what you want, and switch back to your own country, it will show the stuff you bought on the other country as purchased, you can delete and download it again as you please without changing country again.

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

Aeana said:
This only works if there is not an eShop available for your credit card/PayPal account region, apparently.

Oh huh, that explains it. For once there's a benefit living here when it comes to buying games digitally. Wish Sony would follow suit.

The thing I don't understand is it'd be piss easy to just bring Cambodia under US PSN given we use the dollar here anyway.

duckroll · Apr 18, 2018

Yeah OP is jumping the gun here. Just because he has a unique case where his card works does not mean Nintendo is doing anything better. It's a problem for most people who import digitally on all stores.

Strangelove_77 · Apr 18, 2018

Kouriozan said:
Same account, you switch country, buy what you want, and switch back to your own country, it will show the stuff you bought on the other country as purchased, you can delete and download it again as you please without changing country again.

Ah. Thats actually really cool. I don't buy stuff from other regions because it'd be on a separate account. If they were all from the same one I wouldn't hesitate.

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

duckroll said:
Yeah OP is jumping the gun here. Just because he has a unique case where his card works does not mean Nintendo is doing anything better. It's a problem for most people who import digitally on all stores.

Yeah that's my bad, I assumed it was the same for everyone (because really, why wouldn't it be?

Derp · Apr 18, 2018

Aeana said:
This only works if there is not an eShop available for your credit card/PayPal account region, apparently.

I am in Russia and able to buy with my PayPal/Debit Card from SA and US eShop, since for the most part prices in Russian eShop are really high.

Serebii · Apr 18, 2018

Aeana said:
This only works if there is not an eShop available for your credit card/PayPal account region, apparently.

I'm in the UK and have bought so much on my Japanese 3DS on the Japanese 3DS eShop with my UK Credit Card.

Aeana · Apr 18, 2018

Serebii said:
I'm in the UK and have bought so much on my Japanese 3DS on the Japanese 3DS eShop with my UK Credit Card.

I was just going by the actual Nintendo FAQ on this:

"If a Nintendo eShop exists for your region, credit cards issued from your region will not work in a different region's eShop. (For example, credit cards issued for the U.S. will only work in the Nintendo eShop for North America.)"

And it bears out for trying to use an American card on the JP eShop.

Jaded Alyx · Apr 18, 2018

OP, you can still buy the game code itself on Amazon right? For example, God of War

But yes, Nintendo has been amazing in this area since Switch release for people in regions without a proper digital store.

I can use my credit/debit cards on the US eShop. Couldn't do that before - had to use the Canadian eShop.
I can use my PayPal account on the US eShop. PayPal wasn't an option before.
I can buy eShop codes on Amazon
I can buy game codes on Amazon and redeem them automatically or manually on the Nintendo.com, or manually on the Switch eShop.

El-Suave · Apr 18, 2018

They're VERY protective about their pricing. You're talking abot the company that made special disc versions of their first party games for the UK without other languages to stop people from other European countries from importing during the PS3 era.

The Booktastic Bus · Apr 18, 2018

Serebii said:
I'm in the UK and have bought so much on my Japanese 3DS on the Japanese 3DS eShop with my UK Credit Card.

3DS still accepts foreign credit cards, Switch doesn't. It's a fucking ballache. Best workaround? Charge up your credit on the 3DS and then buy the games you want on Switch!

Ada · Apr 18, 2018

The Booktastic Bus said:
3DS still accepts foreign credit cards, Switch doesn't. It's a fucking ballache. Best workaround? Charge up your credit on the 3DS and then buy the games you want on Switch!

Mind blown...

Blitzhex · Apr 18, 2018

A huge issue with PSN is that dlc is region locked to the region of your game disc. It's been this way since the ps3.
Kinda defeats the purpose of playstation being region free.

The Booktastic Bus · Apr 18, 2018

Ada said:
Mind blown...

It's a ridiculous thing, also doesn't bode well for when the 3DS eshop inevitably goes down before the Switch one does.

I was actually thinking about making a 'region free' thread with details for each console on what region locks are in place and how to manage/get around them. I moved around a lot and prefer playing games in Japanese which can inevitably cause some problems.

Most recently is with Xbox One X and Game Pass which isn't in Japan so I've had to juggle regions a bit.

ZeroX · Apr 18, 2018

My credit card and PayPal don't work on any eshop except local. It works for some people, but that isn't enough to say they're doing it right.

Blitzhex said:
A huge issue with PSN is that dlc is region locked to the region of your game disc. It's been this way since the ps3.
Kinda defeats the purpose of playstation being region free.

(Most) DLC carries over between accounts. If you have an EU disc playing on a US account, you can make an EU account, buy and download the DLC and switch back to the US account and access it. The main exception is microtransactions which are single use account locked obviously.

LRB1983 · Apr 18, 2018

Blitzhex said:
A huge issue with PSN is that dlc is region locked to the region of your game disc. It's been this way since the ps3.
Kinda defeats the purpose of playstation being region free.

As ZeroX said this was solved with PS4 since you can have your main account and the account where DLC is purchased logged/active at the same time. The DLC can be played on your main account.
I tested it with asian digital versions of DOAX3 and Summer Lesson and had no problems to play them and all DLC with my european account.

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

Blitzhex said:
A huge issue with PSN is that dlc is region locked to the region of your game disc. It's been this way since the ps3.
Kinda defeats the purpose of playstation being region free.

Yeah this is also a real pain in the arse, and one of the reasons I went all digital. The shops here mostly sell games that are from the Asian region. But sometimes they are NA and on rare occasions EU. When I bought Bloodborne (the reason I got a PS4) it was an Asian version. When The Old Hunters came out, I had to:

1. Create a new Hong Kong PSN account
2. Find a way of getting credit on it (that didn't involve paying an extra premium to somewhere like PlayAsia because fuck that)

Just to play it on my main account which at the time was an English one because that's where I'm from.

It was at that point I realised this was going to be an issue with future games, so I created a US account and never looked back.

It seems like whatever was going on with Amazon has been resolved, but it's still a shitty system that I hope it's made much more user friendly by the time ps5 rolls in.

ghostcrew · Apr 18, 2018

the_kaotek1 said:
I don't have an Xbox, but by all accounts switching regions is no problem, but perhaps someone can verify if you can use a credit card from any country regardless of chosen region.

Not quite. You used to be able to do this but they've reduced it somewhat in the last year or so. You can buy gift cards from other regions and simply switch the region on your console and buy from any region (using your main account - no need to make secondary accounts for other regions like on PS4) but you can no longer use your credit card on other regions. It'll notice that it's the wrong region and disallow the purchase. Using gift cards/foreign credit is fine though. It's fully region agnostic. Buy a game from the Hong Kong store and it'll just download fine from the UK store in English on your main account. All DLC is compatible with all regions too. You don't have to keep buying DLC from the same region as the initial purchase. It doesn't care where you bought the game from.

Deleted member 35631 · Apr 18, 2018

I actually hate more that they don't have refunds, specially in unreleased games. I would understand why they wouldn't want to offer refunds for released games, since people can play the games for free (if possible), but a preorder? Why not? We should be able to cancel a pre-order whenever we want as long as it before actual date (maybe 1 or 2 days before).

flatearthpandas · Apr 18, 2018

Don't know why but they sure are fucking awful.

I got locked out of my account recently. It is literally impossible for me to contact US customer service since I live outside of the US currently. They have no email address and I am instantly blocked from their chat as soon as I connect.

Just total, complete ass.

Thiago · Apr 18, 2018

flatearthpandas said:
Don't know why but they sure are fucking awful.

I got locked out of my account recently. It is literally impossible for me to contact US customer service since I live outside of the US currently. They have no email address and I am instantly blocked from their chat as soon as I connect.

Just total, complete ass.

What happened? Were you banned from PSN or forgot your password?

IvanSlavkov · Apr 18, 2018

My psn account is a UK one, due to my country not having a store whe I created it. I've been using my debit Visa ever since then without any issues and even leaving UK as a coutry in the billing info. All the rest of the information is written in latin but in my language, go figure.

captainraincoat · Apr 18, 2018

flatearthpandas said:
Don't know why but they sure are fucking awful.

I got locked out of my account recently. It is literally impossible for me to contact US customer service since I live outside of the US currently. They have no email address and I am instantly blocked from their chat as soon as I connect.

Just total, complete ass.

You want to know whats even funnier....if you use a vpn and get through to the chat and speak with someone they ban your username from being able to re-connect to the chat even if your question was resolved or not

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

flatearthpandas said:
Don't know why but they sure are fucking awful.

I got locked out of my account recently. It is literally impossible for me to contact US customer service since I live outside of the US currently. They have no email address and I am instantly blocked from their chat as soon as I connect.

Just total, complete ass.

This is a huge problem and worry for me. I actually got in touch with their chat and got a refund for a No Man's Sky, now I'm blocked. Their customer service is the pits and just drives me to PC as my main platform. Microsoft have become really consumer friendly this gen too.

flatearthpandas · Apr 18, 2018

ThiagoJG said:
What happened? Were you banned from PSN or forgot your password?

I changed my phone number and forgot 2 step verification was on. That's definitely on me for being careless but still no excuse for Sony being completely inaccessible. I was able to get in contact with Google and resolve the situation. Can't even contact Sony, despite them having hundreds of dollars of my software held ransom

flatearthpandas · Apr 18, 2018

the_kaotek1 said:
This is a huge problem and worry for me. I actually got in touch with their chat and got a refund for a No Man's Sky, now I'm blocked. Their customer service is the pits and just drives me to PC as my main platform. Microsoft have become really consumer friendly this gen too.

I'm not too worried. I'm going to try everything I can reasonably do to get back in the account. I'll keep asking @playstation on twitter though they have been ignoring for about 9 hours. Hopefully they don't block me on Twitter.

If they do or I can't find a way to talk to CS, I'll be escalating from there. Luckily, 90% of my purchases are credit card. If Sony doesn't want to talk to me, maybe they'll talk to the BBB or Chase Visa.

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

flatearthpandas said:
I'm not too worried. I'm going to try everything I can reasonably do to get back in the account. I'll keep asking @playstation on twitter though they have been ignoring for about 9 hours. Hopefully they don't block me on Twitter.

If they do or I can't find a way to talk to CS, I'll be escalating from there. Luckily, 90% of my purchases are credit card. If Sony doesn't want to talk to me, maybe they'll talk to the BBB or Chase Visa.

I would imagine your best bet is to actually call them, even if you're not in the US. Don't people get banned if they go through their CC company?

captainraincoat · Apr 18, 2018

Just checked Amazon op....the digital cards are back.up

For the record I have an Aus credit card but use an us address

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

captainraincoat said:
Just checked Amazon op....the digital cards are back.up

For the record I have an Aus credit card but use an us address

Yeah I saw, I'm chuffed but there's still a wider problem going on here.

Btw my address is somewhere in Beverly hills because the first zip code that came to mind was 91210 lol

flatearthpandas · Apr 18, 2018

the_kaotek1 said:
I would imagine your best bet is to actually call them, even if you're not in the US. Don't people get banned if they go through their CC company?

Way I figure is an inaccessible account may as well be banned. Idea was more complain to chase and see if they could open a dialogue, not just chargeback.

In any case, skype can actually call the us support number toll free even from other countries so that basically takes care of things for me.
Edit: would also add us customer service was incredibly helpful on the phone. Purely just difficulties getting in touch with them internationally

the_kaotek1 · Apr 18, 2018

flatearthpandas said:
In any case, skype can actually call the us support number toll free even from other countries so that basically takes care of things for me.
Edit: would also add us customer service was incredibly helpful on the phone. Purely just difficulties getting in touch with them internationally

That's really good to know. A while back I was getting the dreaded ws-37397-9 error which meant I couldn't access anything in my library not already downloaded. I had an absolute nightmare trying to get in touch with customer service to the point where it was easier just to change my ISP to resolve it.

Liam Allen-Miller · Apr 18, 2018

This is because they were ridiculously ahead of the curve in 2006, and that architecture has aged dramatically (see other PSN limitations like no name changes).

Nintendo is only ahead of the curve because in that space of time they've gotten to take four cracks at it. Their Wii, Wii U and 3DS eShops were the worst for consumer choice.

EDIT: Even then, you can't use credit cards from other regions on the Switch, right? Don't you have to use prepaid cards?

Krakin · Apr 18, 2018

We could try getting a message to Sony. I live in the Caribbean and this is a frustrating situation for us as well. We have a lot of dedicated and loyal gamers here but there but despite the fact that many territories are English speaking, we often get lumped with Latin America :/. My money should be good enough for Sony!

the_kaotek1 · Apr 19, 2018

Krakin said:
We could try getting a message to Sony. I live in the Caribbean and this is a frustrating situation for us as well. We have a lot of dedicated and loyal gamers here but there but despite the fact that many territories are English speaking, we often get lumped with Latin America :/. My money should be good enough for Sony!

It's be cool to do that, but unless you get a ton of people asking Sony about this, my bet is they'll give zero shits.

PurelyChris · Apr 19, 2018

Ada said:
This isn't true, in fact its a step back from 3DS. Paypal must match the region the account is on, same with cards. As someone who imported every 3DS game digitally with a UK debit card it sucks to now have to buy points like on PSN.

MS is the only company who is doing it correctly. 1 account but can buy from any region store.

Weird... I have a UK Nintendo account linked to my German PayPal account that is linked to my Deutsche Bank account. I buy UK digital games all the time, no problem.

JoeyJungle · Apr 19, 2018

I actually just found out the other day that you can make a Singapore paypal account with a US credit card to buy stuff off the Singapore PSN store (wanted to preorder SRW X and had some PSN credit in my account, so buying more credit wouldn't have added up right without being an extra $20). I had to put in a fake address and fake drivers license number (111111111111111111), but made the account no problem, and now I have a singapore PSN account linked to an extra credit card I have.

Freddo · Apr 19, 2018

Really dislike the region thing Sony have. There are a number of PS1 games released in North America that I would like to have on my European account, like Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics, Legend of Mana, Threads of Fate, Valkyrie Profile, Xenogears and others.

But then again, I would like the PS4 to be able to run PS1 games too, they didn't do that right either.

ghostmind · Apr 19, 2018

The unwillingness of Sony to allow accounts to move between regions ultimately soured me on the PlayStation platform. After moving between countries, I tried playing along for a while, juggling two accounts between my pre-move games and post-move games, but ultimately it became not worth the effort.

Strings · Apr 19, 2018

While you may have had a good experience changing region and having your card work with Nintendo, it literally functions the same as Sony for me, where I have to grab credit.

Ada · Apr 20, 2018

PurelyChris said:
Weird... I have a UK Nintendo account linked to my German PayPal account that is linked to my Deutsche Bank account. I buy UK digital games all the time, no problem.

EU region for both is probably why it works for you. I use EU/JP accounts, can't add UK paypal/debit to JP account like you could with 3DS.

lordlad · Apr 20, 2018

Sony splintered all the regions into different stores due to legality reasons (different rating for different games in different regions, etc)..

Microsoft essentially 'workaround' this issue because the Xbox ID is your microsoft ID as well for outlook.com and their cloud stuff. MS is kinda lucky that no government come to knock on their door on this.

Nintendo's i think is just a hole that they haven't plugged yet. Their nintendo network system is still in its infancy that i don't think they know to to region split their store properly (Google Play Store used to be 'region-free' too in its infancy (you can trick it via vpn or by using an app) until Google plugged this hole).

why are Sony so backwards with buying from different regions?

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account

Serebii.net Webmaster

The Shrouded Ghost

User requested account closure

One Winged Slayer

Banned for trolling with an alt account