Summary
When the PlayStation Network (PSN) goes down, you might find that you’re unable to play any of your downloaded digital games. If this is the case, you can enable Offline Play. The only catch is that you need to do it now, before the network goes down again.
How to Enable Offline Play on Your PS5
It’s a sign of the always-connected world we live in that thePlayStation Network going downhas the potential to stop you from playing games, even when they’re already downloaded to your console. If you want to be able toplay games offline, you’ll need to have Offline Play enabled. This allows you to play games that you’ve purchased and downloaded, even when you don’t have an internet connection.
Frustratingly, it’s only possible to change this setting when you’re online, so when PSN is down, you can’t enable Offline Play. That’s why it’s a good idea to do it now before PSN goes down again.
Power on your PS5 and sign in to your account. Select the Settings icon at the top of the screen. Select “Users and Accounts.” In the left-hand menu, select “Other,” then choose “Console Sharing and Offline Play.” Select “Enable” and Offline Play will be turned on. You should now be able to play downloaded games offline even when PSN is down.
Turning Off Your Network Connection
During the recent PSN outage, some users who already had Offline Play enabled on their consoles found that they still weren’t able to play offline games, as their console was still trying to connect to PSN before launching the games. However, many users found that the problem went away if they fully disconnected their PS5 so that it was no longer trying to connect to PSN over the internet.
Click the Settings icon on the PlayStation home screen. Select “Network.” In the left-hand menu, select “Settings.” Toggle “Connect to the Internet” off. You’ll need to turn this back on again if you want to play online.
How to Restore Licenses on PS5
When you buy a digital game, you’re paying for a license to play that game. These licenses are verified online to ensure that you’ve bought the game you’re trying to play. However, sometimes the license can’t be verified, stopping you from playing games that you own as thedigital rights managementfails.
If this happens, you can use the Restore License feature to repair your licenses for downloaded games so that you can play them again.
The kicker is that this feature won’t always work when PSN is down. If you’ve had issues with downloaded games not working when you try to play them offline, you can try restoring the licenses to see if this fixes the problem.
Select the Settings icon on the PS5 home screen and choose “Users and Accounts.” Select “Other” in the left-hand menu. Choose “Restore Licenses,” select the game or games that you want to restore, and click the “Restore” button. Once the licenses are restored, you should be able to play the game offline.
The Limitations of Offline Play
The biggest issue with Offline Play is that it’s linked to Console Sharing. If you enable the feature, you can only use it on your primary device. If youshare PS5 games with someone elseusing this feature, only one of you will be able to have Console Sharing and Offline Play enabled. If yours isn’t the PS5 with the setting enabled, then you won’t be able to play offline.
In addition, Offline Play doesn’t work with all games; some games require that you connect to the internet to get the full features of the game. For example,Gran Turismo 7can only be played in a very limited way offline, and you’re not able to save any progress made when playing offline. You can use the siteDoes It Playto search for games and find out whether they are playable offline.
There’s nothing more frustrating than having an expensive game console filled with games you can’t play because the prerequisite online services are down. The good news is that with Offline Play enabled, you can still enjoy many of your games even when there’s a problem with PSN. So go ahead and do it now, before it happens again.
PlayStation 5 Slim Digital Edition (PS5)
When you’re done, here are some otherPlayStation 5 settings that you might want to change.
