Sony responds to 20th anniversary PS4 sales exploit

Sony says anyone cheating to get a 20th Anniversary PS4 will be disqualified from the selection process.

Sony is having trouble with the system being used to flog its retro PS4. Instead of selling in shop to everyone, Sony chose to allow only PlayStation's loyal fans to be in with a chance of buying the £399 package.

The firm set up a website that contains a huge image packed with video game characters. Then at certain times this week, a clue would be tweeted out from Sony's PlayStation UK Twitter account and GAME's Twitter account.

If you want to snap up the next-gen beauty, then you have to solve the clue, go back to Sony's website and click on the appropriate character. This would then make a secret form available. The first 100 people to fill out the form would then be able to buy the console from GAME.

However a simple exploit has messed up the entire system. Software engineer Dean Wild is behind the blog post titled "Hacking that PlayStation competition" that details how to get hold of the URL of Sony's supposedly secret application form before official clues go live.

Sony has now issued a statement confirming that anyone who gained access to the clues early will be disqualified from the process.

"Unfortunately we are now aware of some users attempting to run programmes to reveal the URL early and give themselves an unfair advantage," said the company in a statement to Eurogamer.

"Users we identify as using these tactics will be disqualified from the process and will continue to be. Since reports of this behaviour surfaced we have been adding additional encryptions and will continue to do so in advance of the final clue tomorrow."