Update: We've received word back from Konami, and they did not patch P.T. to become unplayable, according to PR.
...after our investigation we can confirm that there have been no Konami or PlayStation™Network (PSN) update that would have affected or prevent access to the game.If you still want to keep your copy of P.T. safe, you can check out our directions below.
Original Story:Rumors are circulating that P.T. has become unplayable for some PlayStation users. Currently, nothing is concrete and could amount to a hoax that blew up on Halloween night.
Reddit user Chucklay posted on /r/TwoBestFriendsPlay that Konami "may have just sent out a patch for anyone that still has PT installed." The image in the post shows that it was last updated on October 22nd of this year, and the Application Starting is "Ineligible."
User Scanford in the same Reddit post pointed out BWK of the podcast Top 5 of Death said:
"It has an expiration date, the teaser does, so I think it's next year, maybe even this year,<other host: really?> yeah, in December you will never be able to play this game again."Other users appear to be having the same issue. On /r/SilentHill, user PopulusTrichocarpa explained on October 22nd that he could not access P.T. anymore as well - it was also updated on the same day as the previous post and the status was "Ineligible." PopulusTrichocarpa's account, however, raises questions, as it is a couple of years old with four posts, includingt a couple on Metal Gear subreddit making posts in code, like of codec calls or of PT in Base 64.
Some have theorized the issue is connected to the new PSN name change feature. The announcement for name changes revealed "not all games and applications for PS4, PS3, and PS Vita systems are guaranteed to support the online ID change." This could possibly affect users' abilities to play P.T., but it doesn't explain the new update.
Other people are saying their game is working as intended. Game journalist and author Mike Futter tweeted some are having no problems at all. However, a friend of Futter's also had his demo "stealth update."
https://twitter.com/Futterish/status/1057740537619513356
There is no absolute certainty that Konami sent out a patch to ruin the demo's playability, however, there are some safety measures you can take to assure your copy is not affected. Futter offered some advice to those who want to keep their copy safe. We've outlined the steps below.
- First make sure you are not connected to the internet
- Transfer P.T. to an external hard drive. Find Storage in the PS4 settings.
- In Storage, select System Storage.
- Select Applications and press the PS4 controller's Options button.
- Select Move to Extended Storage and select P.T. Confirm your choice by pressing Move and then OK.
P.T. was a 2014 horror game demo developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami. This "playable teaser" ran on the Fox Engine was a demo for the upcoming Silent Hills game.
The new Silent Hills game was ultimately canceled, and P.T. was taken off of the PlayStation Store. Players who had downloaded it and did not remove P.T. from their console were able to play it whenever they wanted.
Because the demo was so well-received and was unable to be downloaded any longer, prices for a PS4 with P.T. downloaded on it sold for nearly $2000 and other exorbitant prices.
Now, those consoles may have lost most of their value. We have reached out to Konami for comment and will keep you updated.
Quick Take
I don't see the harm in keeping P.T. playable for those who kept it downloaded. It's hard to tell if this was intentional or a hoax. The timing is either a terrible prank, a total coincidence, or just plain tactless since plenty of gamers were probably going to give it a go this Halloween.Are you able to play P.T. still? What do you think about the possibility of not being able to play it anymore? Let us know in the comments below!
