Following Google, Apple, Microsoft and many others, Sony has taken a step towards a password-free future – PlayStation owners have been given the opportunity to log into their PSN accounts using Passkeys passwordless authentication based on the FIDO2 standard and the open WebAuthn protocol, which should later completely replace classic passwords and the less secure two-factor authentication (2FA) technology.
Join your PlayStation account hassle-free with passkeys arriving later today! Keep an eye out for updates. pic.twitter.com/BAmh64EwHR
— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) February 21, 2024
What are access keys and why they were told repeatedly in previous texts (1 and 2). It’s a simple alternative to passwords that lets you securely log in using your own device—fingerprint, face recognition, or a PIN to unlock the screen. The key advantages of the technology are convenience (no need to remember long and complex passwords), speed (authorization is faster than with a password), increased security (access keys are stored locally and synchronized between devices via a cloud service), and resistance to phishing attacks.
Microsoft opened public access to completely passwordless authentication, including to Xbox owners, at the end of 2021, Nintendo added support for access keys in the fall of 2023, and now PlayStation has caught up with the competition. To create and use a passkey to sign in to PSN, you need to activate the feature in your account settings under Security.
How to set up PSN login with passkey
The official guide on Sony’s website has comprehensive instructions in Ukrainian, which describes in as much detail as possible everything related to creating, configuring, managing and deleting access keys for PSN. To set up a passkey for PSN, you need to:
- Sign in to your account on the account management page.
- Go to section Security and enable the option Sign in with your access key.
- to choose Create access key.
- Choose a method to generate the access key, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.
After generating the passkey, a confirmation email should be sent to the email, and in the future the passkey can be used every time you need to log in to PSN – PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 or a connected device. On PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita consoles, it will not be possible to give up passwords for entering PlayStation Network – access keys on older platforms are not supported.
If necessary, on the account management page, you can add several more access keys to any other device in the ecosystem (for example, iPad or Mac), which can also be used to sign in.
If you lose your smartphone, you can log in to PSN using any other device (from the trusted list) and register a new access code, or in extreme cases, use the account recovery mechanism. If you wish, you can give up access keys and return to PSN with a password – you need to disable the corresponding option in the settings.
PS VR2 support on PS VR2 on PC
And in order not to get up twice – Sony just announced that it is working on ensuring the compatibility of the PS VR2 headset with a PC. As a reminder, PS VR2 went on sale in February 2023 at a price of $550. And it’s hard to call the PlayStation VR2 a particularly successful headset — rather, it’s half a failure. There are currently around 160 games available on the PS VR2, so PC compatibility should help expand the game library and the appeal of the headset itself.
“We’re excited to announce that we’re currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer an even greater variety of games, in addition to the PS VR2 games available on PS5. We hope to have this support available as early as 2024, so stay tuned for announcements.”
And why wasn’t it possible right away? Obviously: this is the way.
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