Sony Accidentally Erases PS4 Anniversary Contest Winners List

After past incidents involving user data being compromised to hacking-related attacks, the Japanese electronics giant's latest blunder seems relatively tame. Apparently, the company has recently managed to accidentally erase all user information related to the 20th Anniversary PlayStation contest.

The contest was restricted to Japan and open to all those who purchased a PlayStation 3, PlayStation4 and Vita consoles or Vita TV between Dec. 4 and Jan. 15. According to VG247, buyers received a calendar along with a code that registered them in the contest once it was submitted to Sony. The company has announced that it has lost all the information required to announce a winner. No specific reason was given for the major blunder apart from the fact that the records were accidentally erased.

"Our deepest apologies for the trouble we have caused to those who entered the previous campaign," wrote Sony through its Japanese website, as reported by Kotaku. The announcement states that eligible participants will now have to submit their credentials again to re-enter the contest. This includes sharing credentials, addresses, and serial number associated with the hardware purchased during the contest period. Those eligible for re-entering the contest can visit this official Sony Japan page, where the form meant to submit the details again is provided.

Last year marked the 20th Anniversary of the brand's iconic PlayStation legacy. Sony had released extremely limited editions of the PS4 console to mark the event. The contest, which was announced at the end of last year, allowed gamers the chance to win one of these coveted anniversary editions of the PlayStation 4 console. These special numbered editions were fashioned in the classic PlayStation grey and were limited to a 12,300 unit run.

Not surprisingly, the special edition console is in hot demand with both collectors and eager gamers. Originally priced at GBP400 (AUD760 approximately), the consoles flew off the shelves quickly and later found their way onto online auction sites such as eBay, where they sold as high as GBP2000 (AUD3800 approximately, as reported earlier. Sony auctioned the very first production unit earlier this year for a whopping $128,000 (AUD161,000 approximately). The company pledged the proceeds of the auction to charity.

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PS4 Limited Edition console (Credit: YouTube/sonyplaystation)