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- You can have multiple “users” on one PS3
- Each user has their own:
- Theme & background settings
- Save data for PS3 games & software
- Trophies
- Friends list & messages (when associated with a Playstation Network account)
- All users share:
- Saved data for PS1/PS2 games
- Games in the Game menu
- Everything in the Image, Music, and Video menu
- Not password protected
- Each user can be associated with one Playstation Network account.
Playstation Network (PSN) Accounts
There are two types of PSN accounts: Master and Sub. Both types have these properties:
- Password protected
- Online ID (nickname)
- Access to online community & Playstation Store
- Mailbox for sending & receiving messages to other accounts
- Trophy collection that can be viewed by friends
PSN accounts do not cost anything to create and there is no subscription fee. An account is required to play games online.
Eligibility requirements for master accounts and sub accounts vary depending on the country or region of residence.
For details, read the Terms of Service for your region.
PSN Master Accounts
These are standard accounts. You need to be a certain age (generally 18 or older) to create a master account. With one you can:
- Use a “Wallet”–add billing information to make purchases on Playstation Store
- Associate (manage) up to six sub-accounts
PSN Sub Accounts
Sub-accounts (“subordinate accounts”) can be used by anyone, including children/minors. They are assigned to a master account (e.g. of the parent/guardian) therefore a sub account can not be created without an existing master account.
Some games are known to prevent sub-accounts from playing online (offline works fine), despite the user being a reasonable age and having the consent of the parent. If you are creating an account for your child and will allow them to play games online and do not need to control their actions, it would be advised to create a Master account for them.
- The associated Master Account has the following control (Parental Control Settings) over the Sub Account:
- Finances
- Some voice/video chat restrictions
i do not meet the eligibility requirements.. This is the error message i recieve every time i try to sign up for ps3 network.
Internet connection is obtained and successful, Please advise? Has anyone had and overcome this problem?
OPLOTS: Do you meet the required age? It is generally 18+ but see the green box above for the link to Terms Of Service for your region. Technically if you are under the age you are meant to have a parent/guardian create a sub-account for you, but you could just sign-up with an earlier birth year…
Ps3 master account and sub account?
hi all, my problem is when trying to connect to ressistance fall of man with my master account i get a login failed or network failed message,this has only just started to happen,the strange thing is when i log into my sons sub account it logs on to the game with no issues at all??anyone got any ideas
I have one sub account made and when i try to make the second it wants credit card verification but i do not have a credit card on master. How do i finish making it or is there an age limit that makes you use credit card verification.
I’m having the same problem
kc31pwr: That is strange! Did you create the second sub-account exactly as you did the first sub-account? You should not have to supply any credit card information, no matter what the age. What step does it ask you for the card details?
I just found this in the Terms of Service:
Your credit card will be used to verify parental consent under laws requiring such consent. You will not be charged a fee for creating the Sub Account. If you do not consent to the disclosure of this requested information, you will not be able to create a Sub Account for the child
Hmm this was not necessary when I tried creating a sub-account. Maybe it has changed or is different depending on the country.
Why is none of my Nicknames good enough when I sign in for PsNetwork?
Hello there is there any way to change an accounts PSN ID/gamertag ? i would like to change it (my son wants the name ) /roll eyes lol
Barry, Michelle: Check our common problems with PSN page. It’s not possible to edit the Online ID.
i have come across a common problem witch is not any describing soulution to on this forum, as most ppl would probobly need.
The problem is when ppl want to change from one credit card to another to purchase from ps-store, many ppl dont know how to couse they most likely forgot their ps3 nick n pass or something… could u post an “how to” or something to describe how to change billing info…
Good idea, Anders. We’ll do an article soon.
how can change my age without starting a new account.
i can play resistance fall of man but i cant play gta4 online.
arana: Once your account is created you can’t change your age.
i set up my master account with out realising i wasnt on my account so now im not the master how can i change this to make me master and my little brother sub
if I have my main account with my psn id on it, then I create a new user and go to sign up for PSN, can I make another PSN id running simultaneously, so I have 2 psn ids?
How can i change my age without creating a new sub account?
Joe -Wait a few years
having problems with the parental control, on my sub account wen i get onto fifa 08 and try and click on online it just tells me that i cannot do it because of parental control from the master user! what do i need to do to b able to play online?
i hav the same problem and im trying to fix it now
i have a master acount and all i need to know is what do u put in for the three street address like it just keeps saying enter a valid adress.
i am also having trouble getting my son able to play fifa 08 online and other games which are under his age restriction,he is 10. How do change the settings to allow him access???
I want to set up a Sub acount and want to know will it change anything on the master acount and does it cost anything??
I have 2 users on my PS3. One of my son (a), and one for my self (b). My Son made the first account on the PS3, But strange thing, he has also my PSN account. (Master account)
Can I change this? So that de seccond accound on the PS3 (b) had the Master account!
Amanda: A sub-account doesn’t change anything on the master account, nor is there any cost.
PaulE: Once you have associated a PSN account with a PS3 User it can not be changed. I think the only way would be to create new Users, copy across any game saves/data, then log into the correct PSN accounts.
Tnx Flame, it works. I have made a new account, copy all the game data from my son to the new account. Delete his account, and I can now use my own PSN account.
if i made a new master account on my psn would i loos my other master account
wullie82: No you won’t lose the other account. But you can only have one account assigned per user.
i already have a master account but i have six sub accounts and i dont no how to delets them ?
Is there a cost associated with joining/creating a Playstation Network account? I can’t seem to find anything anywhere that gives any info on cost, yet when signing up, you are asked for a credit card number? I’m not letting my son sign up his new system until I know what costs are associated with playing on line….he’s chomping at the bit, so please reply soon. thank you.
wullie82: I’m not too sure. You may have to create another master account to add more sub-accounts.
Kelly: Are you in the US? I’ve never seen the requirement to add credit card details; it seems to be a sign-up step for US people. But anyway, quoted from the article above: “PSN accounts do not cost anything to create and there is no subscription fee”.
Can you log into 2 accounts on the PS3? My husband and I want to play a game together but it is not allowing us both to log in at the same time.
Hi…Lately I have been getting kicked off line ALOT and I’m not receiving some messages. Someone sent about 15 messages and I’m not getting them. I have NAT type 2. Wired connection. Ususally when I start having problems receiving messages I’ll look in my Receivied message box and it’ll show a sent message in it…? It will come up and say you’ve received a message…but it’s not there….
Hi, my problem is as follows:
I am 16 years old and apparently too young to set up a Master Account so I got my dad to make a Master Account in order for me to set up a Sub-Account. Heres where I am stuck….
How do I set up a sub-account?
Would appreciate it if you could get back as soon as possible because I wanna get gaming!
Cheers
Heather: It is not possible to log into two accounts at the same time (on the same PS3).
CBaker: That’s pretty weird; it sounds like things are broken on your account. I’ve never heard about it before. You may need to contact Sony support.
Rob-the-Bert: Did you check out our sub-account for an under age person guide?
Ya sorry about that, I just saw it as soon as I left the topic, appreciate the help tho
Hi, this may seem like a really easy question, but I set up multiple User Accounts on my PS3 and I want to get rid of 2 of them. How do I delete accounts from my PS3. I am not refering to the PSN, but rather the PS3 itself.
We just created a master account using my name. We then created a SUB account for my daughter. When she tries to access her saved game data it is not there. When we copy the Data to her Sub Account, it says “Unable to load data. This save data was not created by your “PLAYSTATION@Network account or created on a different PS3 system.” Then tells us failed to load game. What should we do?
Gabriel: Log into the User Account you wish to delete, then scroll back to the User XMB menu (where you chose the user), press your Options button (triangle), and the Delete option should be there. Keep in mind that any game saves associated with the user will be deleted too.
Anthony: Ah bummer, what game is it? It makes sense if the save data was created on another User’s account and locked to their PSN. This is so that online scores etc can not just be copied between people.
here is a good question.
for some reason metal gear online uses just the main account holder for the characters and my brother who is a sub made his character. and the game only gives you 1 free character. so him being 18, I want to upgrade him to a main account holder. without losing all his data. (hopefully coping all his data onto another account name works, though most likely his online character is going to be lost being as it’s connected to my name than to his.)
Hello,
At first I want to say the founders of this site did a good job, and I already learnt some new stuff. It’s a pity I didnt found any answer on my question I was looking for, so that’s why I m using this comment function, here it goes! I lost the pasword of my master acount. I want to buy games in the PSN store, and since they ask me for my pasword I m not allowed to. I dont really know how to make a new master acount, since the first acount I created turned into an master acount automaticly since im already 18+. I made an new PLAYSTATION®Network-account on the site, but I dont know if I can use this on my master acount, or how to implant it, since It has a new pasword and e-mail adress. If there is any confusion just ask me, I will check this page quite often (5 times a day), so you dont really have to wait. Thanks in advance, and i gtg now.
Jelle
Derf: I don’t know how Metal Gear Online works with accounts, though I imagine it will be similar to Anthony’s situation above where the data/character is connected to a specific PSN account and will not be possible to move to another account.
Jelle: Thanks
Did you try to retrieve your password? You get the option when you go to log in. If you signed up for another PSN account through the Playstation website, you can use it on your PS3, sure. You need to create a new User on your PS3, then “Sign up to Playstation Network” with that User but choose “Use an existing account”.