Please allow physical PS4 copies to play without disc

Before I start I'd like to mention that I do know about some people who registered a physical PS4 copy to their account are able to play without a disc, but as far as I can tell that is only because they played in the PS4 beta and simply used the physical copy to register to their SE account. I didn't play the PS4 beta and therefore have to use the disc every time I want to log in.

I also know that PS3 players can play without a disc. This is not the same for PS4, so please don't assume I should be able to play without a disc because of that.


Here is a quick explanation of my problem:

• I bought/installed/registered to my SE account a physical PS4 copy of ARR.
• I realized that a disc was required to start the game every time.
• I bought a digital copy off the PSN store.
• Upon trying to log in, it said I'd have to create a new XIV service account. (the reason being that SE account can only have 1 PS4 account type registered)
• I make a reddit thread about it (link below). People said support should be able to help.
• I contact support and am told they can't do anything about it, and I should try to get a refund from Sony for the digital copy. If the disc gets lost/broke/stolen I can buy a used copy to play on PS4 again.

Here is my reddit post for a more detailed account of the dilemma.


I am very disappointed in how this is being handled, and I don't understand why purchasing a digital copy can't just override the existing PS4 account type registered on an SE account. Or at the very least have support manually change the account type so that it can work.

A shot in the dark: Have you tried deleting the link between your hard copy to your PS4 account and linking the digital copy instead?
Shouldn't have anything to say regarding character data since that is stored on the username you log into the game with.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Well the problem is that the license from the physical copy is tied to both the PSN account and the SE account separately . There is no way for me unlink it from my SE account once it's been linked. And apparently not even SE can do that given their response.

I have purchased a physical version of the PS4 version; I currently use the digital version of it by simply using the download the code places into your PSN Download List.

The disc is really there as a means of installing the game faster and to avoid downloading the game for a very long period of time; however, doing this makes it so that the game application itself requires the disc to be inside the disc drive anytime you wish to play the game.

So, if you haven't already, delete the game application itself, look in your download list and download the game from there.

I did not participate in the PS4 beta but all I did was after the game installed, I deleted the data and re-downloaded it from my library. It no longer required the disc after that.

What you're trying to do is register another code, as others have said what you need to do instead is uninstall the physical copy and then download and install the digital copy and just log in.

Hmm I did try uninstalling the physical copy and downloading it before looking for help, and it still wanted to force me to make a new XIV service account on login. However, now that I think about it, I didn't try that til after I bought the digital copy. So it may have been authenticating via the digital license. I called sony and I'll be getting a refund as well as getting the digital license removed from my library. Hopefully once that is done I'll be able to try the fix again.

Goodluck, hope you get it figured out.

Welp I don't know what to do at this point. I got the refund for the digital copy from Sony and so I re-downloaded the game from my library. I tried to log-in and it's still only giving me the option to create a new XIV service account instead of using my existing one.

I just found this form to merge an extra service account with the original service account which is exactly what the people on reddit were talking about and what apparently SE support knew nothing of when I called them earlier.

So I guess I'll just have to create the new service account and then fill out that form and hope they fix it for me. Unless anyone else has a better idea?