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The meaning behind the padlock symbol in your PlayStation 5 game library

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The meaning behind the padlock symbol in your PlayStation 5 game library

Being locked out of your own games isn't fun, but there are solutions to get back in.

Sony's plans to stop making disc-based games beginning in January 2028 mean digital games need to work flawlessly. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. On your PS5, you may have found some titles inaccessible, as evidenced by a padlock icon over their thumbnails. From your perspective, this can be baffling. You've paid for a game and installed it, so it should always be ready to play, right?

The reality is that when you buy a game from an online store, you typically don't get permanent ownership rights — just a license to download and play. Sony has final control over how you access games associated with your account. If the company withdraws a license for whatever reason, or something goes wrong with the authentication process, you're blocked from accessing the title. This is what the padlock indicates.

As if that weren't enough, the way PlayStation Store and Plus subscriptions work can create headaches. Thankfully, there are some methods to fix those padlocks.

First, check that you're signed into the right PlayStation account, since that's what ties all your purchases and subscriptions together. You can sign out of an account by going to Settings > Users and Accounts > Other > Sign Out , or sign back in via Settings > Users and Accounts > Account > Sign in . This menu lets you create new accounts if needed, too. Next, confirm that PlayStation Network is online using the PlayStation Status page .


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