Hours get tracked offline?

[DecSim01]

Say if I have ten hours clocked in a game and it shows that on my profile and then I play for an additional two hours, does the game hours update to 12 hours when I come back online? Obviously not a big deal if it doesn’t, just curious.

[Lorabella]

I've been told over the phone by a Playstation Support person that hours are only tracked while you are online, because they are tracked by your PSN profile and not by the console.

 

But I'm not sure how true that is, because my old PS5 console was doing ridiculous things with not counting hours even while I was definitely online and logged in. For example, I played 9 hours of Stray and my profile just stayed blank (doesn't even say less than 1 hour like some games do), and I played 5 hours of Skyrim and it never updated (was still showing the old hours and "last played three months ago").

 

After going through a bunch of troubleshooting methods and reinstalling the entire system software, they asked me to send the console back and they sent me a brand new one. And the new one works perfectly and has not had any issues counting my hours played (which makes me believe the hours ARE counted by the console and not PSN like they told me).

 

Although I haven't tested in different modes yet, like busy, appearing offline, and actually being disconnected from the internet. If I do end up testing it offline I will let you know.

[You]

Not sure if you're only talking about the PS5 consoles hours tracked.

 

But a few years ago, I played Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires game offline, and on two separate Vita consoles (because the battery is a bit shit on the other one) and I never had them connected to the Internet since I was playing them on the train, I would be on PSN to sync the trophies only.

 

And it was 3rd place in my highest number of hours played at the end of the year. So I think even if offline it is likely storing that data somewhere and then syncing next time you go online without your knowledge.

Edited September 30, 2022 by enaysoft

[Lorabella]

Okay, so I just did a test with Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I played it for an hour while my internet was completely switched off.

 

After I went back online it has NOT updated the hours played, and still says "last played 8 months ago". 

 

So in terms of your hours played displayed in your profile when viewed on a PS5 console, I can confirm that it will only update with hours played while you are online.

 

In terms of your total hours played for the yearly round-up, I am inclined to go with enaysoft's theory that the console is probably still storing the data while offline and then syncing in the background. I guess you could find out at the end of the year when you get your totals and see if they match up with what you know you've played offline (or check it against your save files, if your save files have the hours counted there).

[EDGES]

I used to play mostly offline on my PS4 and when I got a PS5 I was able to see most if not all of the time played on the games I've played on PS4

Edited September 30, 2022 by The Investigator

[DecSim01]

20 hours ago, Lorabella said:

Okay, so I just did a test with Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I played it for an hour while my internet was completely switched off.

 

After I went back online it has NOT updated the hours played, and still says "last played 8 months ago". 

 

So in terms of your hours played displayed in your profile when viewed on a PS5 console, I can confirm that it will only update with hours played while you are online.

 

In terms of your total hours played for the yearly round-up, I am inclined to go with enaysoft's theory that the console is probably still storing the data while offline and then syncing in the background. I guess you could find out at the end of the year when you get your totals and see if they match up with what you know you've played offline (or check it against your save files, if your save files have the hours counted there).

I appreciate you testing it out! Like I said, It's not really a big deal. I usually play online anyways. Tracking hours isn't really important either, I just like seeing my hours rack up lol. Thanks again for testing!

[TriplEEE13]

The hours thing is definitely not tracked accurately. Some of the the games I've played recently while online didn't even register a time (What Remains of Edith Finch PS5 and Lost Words: Beyond the Page). Other games are way off; Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Hades for both PS4 and PS5 are way off. Hades, as an example, took me about 70 hours to beat, but my profile registers it at 14 hours. The PS5 version took me about 50 hours to beat, but my profile registers it at 4 hours.

I noticed the time discrepancies first during the year in review for 2021 when my total hours didn't match my profile. I wish it were more accurate.

[jagg4551]

In my Opinion there must be a official Sony Tracking App for free to Track Hours of every Application or Game.

[Lorabella]

On 01/10/2022 at 9:39 AM, TriplEEE13 said:

The hours thing is definitely not tracked accurately. Some of the the games I've played recently while online didn't even register a time (What Remains of Edith Finch PS5 and Lost Words: Beyond the Page). Other games are way off; Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Hades for both PS4 and PS5 are way off. Hades, as an example, took me about 70 hours to beat, but my profile registers it at 14 hours. The PS5 version took me about 50 hours to beat, but my profile registers it at 4 hours.

I noticed the time discrepancies first during the year in review for 2021 when my total hours didn't match my profile. I wish it were more accurate.

This is exactly what was happening to me on my old PS5, so I called Customer Service, and ended up sending my console back. They couldn't fix it, but sent me a new console and the hours track perfectly now on the new console.

 

You really should talk to Sony Customer Care, because if the hours aren't tracking properly while your are online there is probably a manufacturing fault with the internal clock.

On 01/10/2022 at 8:40 AM, DecSim01 said:

I appreciate you testing it out! Like I said, It's not really a big deal. I usually play online anyways. Tracking hours isn't really important either, I just like seeing my hours rack up lol. Thanks again for testing!

No worries. I was curious too, so I was happy to do the test.

 

Tracking hours might not be important to everyone, but its a feature I really appreciate and so I want it to work correctly. I'm almost always online anyway, so at least I know I'm tracking my play time.

[TriplEEE13]

On 10/2/2022 at 8:33 AM, Lorabella said:

This is exactly what was happening to me on my old PS5, so I called Customer Service, and ended up sending my console back. They couldn't fix it, but sent me a new console and the hours track perfectly now on the new console.

 

You really should talk to Sony Customer Care, because if the hours aren't tracking properly while your are online there is probably a manufacturing fault with the internal clock.

 

Oh, no way. I didn't think it would be that simple of an issue. I wonder if its just the first gen PS5s, because my friend is also experiencing the same issues with his tracking. I'm okay with the fake numbers since sending my console in would likely result in me losing all my trophy videos.

[Lorabella]

1 hour ago, TriplEEE13 said:

 

Oh, no way. I didn't think it would be that simple of an issue. I wonder if its just the first gen PS5s, because my friend is also experiencing the same issues with his tracking. I'm okay with the fake numbers since sending my console in would likely result in me losing all my trophy videos.

 

Yeah. It was actually the 2nd console I had to send back. My first PS5 had a broken disc drive and wouldn't play any physical games, but all the digital stuff worked perfectly (including counting the hours perfectly). So I sent in the first one for repairs, but instead of repairing it they sent me a new console. The new console they sent had a functional disc drive, but soooo many digital issues. I couldn't download any of my save files from the cloud, and any new games I played didn't track my hours, etc. So after being on the phone to them for hours while I did a full system reinstall, they made me send the 2nd console back too. So now the 3rd console I have (because they sent me another new one), finally works the way its supposed to! No problem with the physical disc drive, and all the digital features work perfectly again (I was finally able to access my cloud saves again, and my hours are tracking accurately again too). 3rd time lucky, right?!

 

But yeah, it seems to be hit and miss, some consoles track the hours accurately, and some consoles don't. But since my first console did track accurately, I really noticed it when the 2nd one didn't. 

1 hour ago, TriplEEE13 said:

 

I wonder if its just the first gen PS5s, because my friend is also experiencing the same issues with his tracking.

 

Oh, and all three of my consoles were the 1100 series. I never got the first gen 1000 launch edition. And the new consoles they sent me were before the 1200 came out.

 

Maybe its fixed now on the 1200 model.