{"id":14577,"date":"2026-08-31T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.both.org\/?p=14577"},"modified":"2026-08-29T18:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T22:37:54","slug":"microsoft-reaches-out-to-playstation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/?p=14577","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft reaches out to PlayStation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n
\r\n \r\n <\/i>\r\n <\/a>\r\n 1 <\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve never been a big Microsoft Windows fan. I used MS-DOS throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, but I never liked Windows. I\u2019d used Windows 3, 3.1, and 3.11, but I thought each one was slow and uninteresting. That\u2019s why when the rumors spread in 1994 that the next version of Windows would \u201cdo away\u201d with MS-DOS, I thought \u201cif Windows 3.2 will be anything like Windows 3.1, I would rather keep using DOS.\u201d And that\u2019s why I ditched Windows, went full-time on Linux, and started the FreeDOS Project<\/a> in June 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never looked back. For a brief time, I was forced to use Windows at work. The interface was prettier, but I still preferred Linux. It cemented my decision that I was not a Microsoft fan. I\u2019ve never run any Microsoft software since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the early 2000s, I had an opportunity to play the original Halo<\/em> and Halo 2<\/em> on XBox. And I had to admit it: Halo was kind of fun<\/em>. For a shooter, it had a decent plot\u2014and of course, lots of action. But that was a friend\u2019s XBox, not mine, so those two Halo games were the limit of my dip into the Microsoft game world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until a few weeks ago, when I realized Halo was now available on PlayStation 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit of background: when I swore off Windows and went \u201call in\u201d with Linux in the mid 1990s, that meant I couldn\u2019t play PC games anymore. So I bought a PlayStation. The first PlayStation came out in 1994, so by the time I made the switch to Linux, there were lots of PlayStation games to play. Since then, when I\u2019ve played games, I\u2019ve probably played them on some iteration of a PlayStation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I have a PlayStation 5, and now Halo is on PlayStation 5. I thought \u201cI liked the original, I\u2019ll give it a try.\u201d If anything, it will be a fun diversion over the next week while I ran through the single-player campaign. I bought the game via the PlayStation Store for $50, and downloaded it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Halo
Halo on the PlayStation Store<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And I was immediately greeted with a message that I needed to have a Microsoft account to play a Playstation game:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
I need a Microsoft account?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

To play Halo: Campaign Evolved<\/em>, you\u2019ll need to sign in with a Microsoft account and link it to your account for PlayStation Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the next screen, follow the instructions to use another device (such as a phone or tablet) to complete the linking process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This is another instance of Microsoft extending itself into areas beyond Windows. Why do I need a Microsoft account to play a PlayStation game?<\/em> I don\u2019t have a Microsoft account, and as a Linux user, I\u2019m unlikely to ever want a Microsoft account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m not the only one. After a little looking around online, I found a Reddit thread<\/a> where others were also peeved about needing a Microsoft<\/em> account to play a PlayStation<\/em> game. A few examples of similar complaints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

It\u2019s been infuriating. I have an Xbox with Gamepass Ultimate and a PS5 . I wanted to play co-op with my son with him on the Xbox and me on the PS5. The game is included in Ultimate, and I bought a new copy on the PS5, and both games can\u2019t be running at the same time! They are two different instances, each paid for separately, and MS won\u2019t let them both run at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I can\u2019t play or even launch the menu offline. And it\u2019s not mentioned on the box at all\u2014I just checked; it just says \u201crequires downloadable content.\u201d I\u2019m taking it back, I don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

and:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

My issue with it is that there is no mention on the store listing or anywhere until you launch the game. With PS refund rules, simply downloading the game removes your refund ability. So, if you decline, you\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That last one really got me, because I had the same issue. I contacted PlayStation to ask for a refund, PlayStation Support responded that because I\u2019ve downloaded the game, I am not eligible for a refund. To be clear: PlayStation Store didn\u2019t tell me I had to have a Microsoft account to play<\/em> Halo, and PlayStation won\u2019t refund because I already downloaded the game (to<\/em> play it). So I lost $50.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some might say \u201cjust create the Microsoft account, linking it to PlayStation takes like 5 seconds.\u201d And while that may be true, I\u2019m infuriated about yet another instance where Microsoft is trying to extent its reach beyond Windows. I don\u2019t want a Microsoft account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked it up, and linking a Microsoft account with a PlayStation account is a one-way process. You can\u2019t undo it, and need to go through a process for Microsoft to unlink it for you. And they might not do it anyway: \u201cAccount unlinking cannot be completed on your own and must be handled by Halo Support. Follow the steps below to request an account unlink.\u201d \u2026 \u201cAfter you submit your request, a support agent will review your case, determine eligibility, and follow up with next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So thanks, but no thanks. I\u2019d rather take this as a loss and a $50 lesson never to trust Microsoft again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rant: Now you need a Microsoft account to play a PlayStation game?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":14576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[668],"tags":[987,669],"class_list":["post-14577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rant","tag-microsoft","tag-rant"],"modified_by":"Jim Hall","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14577"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14579,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14577\/revisions\/14579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.both.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}