PS4 Player Wrongfully Banned Goes Viral Over Cultural Misunderstanding, Sony Swiftly Apologizes

Wrongful bans in gaming are an unfortunate reality and they happen more than gamers might expect. When one PlayStation 4 player took to Reddit to share how he was wrongfully banned over confusion regarding his PSN account name, his gaming predicament soon went viral which prompted swift action from the folks over at Sony.

According to the initial Reddit post that spread like wildfire, "I switched to PS4 a little over a year ago. I created my online ID, added one of my credit cards and debit card. Fast forward to today, I've spent a couple hundred if not a thousand or more in games, content, etc. I randomly got an email today that I was permanently banned. At first I thought it was one of those fake emails people do to steal accounts. But I looked at the sender and it was official Sony email. I chat with support and they said it was because my Online ID was offensive."

The username in question? Kike_0615, which is a childhood nickname popular in Mexico for people named Enrique. It's pronounced "Kee-Kay," but Sony confused the name for a racial slur used against Jews. The PS4 user added, "After I did some research it's apparently used as an offensive way of calling Jewish people. Sort of like the N word for my African Americans. Btw I'm really sorry if I offend anyone by posting my nickname, I swear to god that's my nickname since I was little, I even have soccer and high school track/XC shirts/sweaters with my nickname."

At first, his attempts to get his account back were met with apologies and no-can-dos, but that soon changed when his post went viral. Keep in mind that the user was very clear in his original post that since he learned how the nickname could be misinterpreted, that he wasn't looking to reclaim the username itself, moreso wanting to keep all of the progress attached to it.

Since then, a Sony representative reportedly responded to his plight with the following message alongside a reinstatement:

"First off, I'd like to apologize for everything. We caught wind and saw what you posted and said online. And I can assure you we got to work on it as soon as possible. We set up a quick meeting at the office and trust me, we had an interesting conversation, especially as it's Thanksgiving. But I'm glad to inform you your account is fully reactivated. I'd like to apologize on behalf of all of us. You can keep your current online ID as we realized we made a mistake."

This just goes to show the many reasons why that PSN ID name change feature will be a good thing and we're pretty certain Enrique will be utilizing it to its full potential.