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For quite a lot of us from Nigeria, we rely on local vendors to purchase Playstation games as there’s a geo-restriction on the PlayStation Network. Local vendors sell new PS4 games at exorbitant prices due to the present exchange rate, and you won’t always get the latest releases early enough. This has been the case for years and it seems Sony is not ready to to fully create a market here.
While some people already know about the method outlined in this post, a greater percentage of PS4 users in Nigeria and other unsupported countries have no idea how it works. Instead of buying games from Computer Village, it’s quite possible to buy the games (digital versions) directly from PSN.
To pull this off, you need to:
- Change your IP address.
- Register for a US PSN account.
- Get a prepaid PSN card.
- Load up your PSN wallet.
Changing your IP address
You can do this by using a Virtual Private Network or an anonymous proxy. Since I have a VPN subscription, this is what I used. If you try to access PlayStation Network registration page with a Nigerian IP, there’s a chance you your access would be denied.
To change you IP address, we have a concise tutorial on the different methods available to change your identity on the internet. You can read all about that here.
Registering for a US PSN account
As mentioned earlier, if you try to access the registration page on your browser using your regular IP address, your access may be denied. If you’ve already changed your IP address, verify it has really changed by going to IP-Score.com.
- Click here to access the PSN registration form.
- Fill in the required details, but remember to choose the US as your country and enter a valid US state.
- After registration, verify your email and login in.
- Complete your registration by creating your PlayStation Network profile here.
- Select your online user ID and proceed.
- You will later be asked to provide a US address and phone number. You can easily grab that from any US Yellow Pages website.
- If asked whether you want to add a credit card under billing, be sure to select “NO”.
- After you complete the registration, fire up your PlayStation console and log in with the new US account you just registered. If you already have a PSN account registered in another country, you should log out first.
Getting a prepaid PSN card
Since you’re not a US resident, it is not advised to use a non-US credit / debit card or a non-US verified PayPal account to fund your PSN wallet directly. I never tried.
To finally access PlayStation Store and buy stuffs, you need to get a prepaid card. Now, there are several sites selling this online and I tried 2 of them before settling for Offgamers.com. I tried Newegg but my order was cancelled. I used my US PayPal account to make the payment and there was probably some discrepancy with the billing and shipping addresses. I also had the same issues with PCGameSupply.com.
OffGamers lets you buy PlayStation Store cards which you can use to fund your wallet. With this, you should be able to purchase any PS3 or PS4 game from PlayStation (digital download) directly here in Nigeria.
Important note: When buying a PSN card from any store, be sure you’re buying a US card since you use a US PSN account. The card may not work for you if it’s designated to work for other countries.
Number verification with Offgamers
Before your order is approved, you will be required to verify your phone number. That’s why you must use a valid phone number. I used my regular MTN Nigeria line (even though I payed with a US PayPal account). You can as well pay with a Nigerian PayPal account or directly get your debit card charged.
You may be sent up to 3 emails for verification purpose. After successfully completing the transaction, you should get the code (12 alphanumeric characters) to use in under 20 minutes.
Loading your PSN wallet
- To start, login to store.playstation.com.
- At the top-right corner, highlight your username and select Add Wallet Funds.
- On the next page, select Use Prepaid Card.
- On the next page, enter the code you bought earlier and continue.
- You should be asked to confirm the funding. After this, your wallet is loaded.
You can then access the PlayStation Store to buy any game of your choice. I’ve purchased a number of items from PlayStation Store using this method. Again, this method doesn’t just work for Nigeria alone, it works for any other country not supported by PSN.