Sony Changes PlayStation 4 Warranty Following FTC Warning

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo ran into a huge problem a few days ago as the FTC cited them with a warning indicating they were violating warranty terms by warning consumers about opening up their systems and voiding their warranty. The group demanded that the internal stickers be updated or possible face legal action.

We didn't hear from any of the companies at that point, but now Sony has officially spoken up and updated its warranty terms. And it's bound to be good news for those of you that need to open up your systems for one reason or another.

Based on this report from WCCFTech, Sony has updated their warranty across the board for all its systems in the United States and Canada. This includes the PlayStation 4 as well as the PlayStation 3, PlayStation VR and PlayStation Vita.

Here are the terms that were changed by the company:

"Our previous warranties stated that the warranty does not apply if the product is used with a peripheral that is not supplied or licensed by SIE. Our updated warranties state that the warranty does not apply "to damage caused by" use of the product with an unlicensed peripheral.

Our previous warranties stated that the warranty does not apply if the warranty seal on the product has been altered or removed. Our updated warranty states that the warranty does not apply 'to damage caused by' opening the product or to damage caused by service performed by someone other than a representative of SIE or an SIE-authorized service provider."

Granted, we're not sure why someone would open up their system, save for hackers that are trying to access the hardware or those that are merely changing the size of their internal hard drives -- but even that doesn't require so much work as to take the systems apart.

For those that do need to tinker for some reason, just keep this in mind. If you do open it up and damage the system in any way -- like a soda spill or dropping it -- then the warranty will be void, as that goes against the company's terms. That still remains intact so if you are opening the system for any reason -- be careful.

No word yet from Microsoft or Nintendo if they'll be changing their terms on their system, but we'd be surprised to hear if they didn't.

The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro are available now.