How to Buy US Digital PSN Games in India

Every now and then, we have readers emailing us asking why the Indian PlayStation Network (PSN) does not accept debit cards from banks such as HDFC and SBI. While Sony has been dragging its heels on ensuring widespread support for cards issued from all Indian banks, there is a way for you to still get your digital purchases, such as PSN-only games like Everybody's Gone to the Rapture  or PS+ subscriptions.

Indian PSN does not even have prepaid cards for PS+ or store credit, but thankfully, US PSN does and it is available via sites like Amazon.com and PlayAsia. Spend a few minutes on your browser and your console, and you'll have all you need as long as your card works online. This guide has two steps, first for creating a US PSN account, and then for purchasing game codes or US PSN store credit via Amazon.

Step 1: Make A US PSN Account

1. On your PS3, PS4, or PS Vita, sign out of your existing account.
   
   
2. Select Create User
   
   
3. Ensure your region is set to the United States, fill in details as applicable.
   
   
4. Next, you'll be asked to put in address. Select a state and input a ZIP code. From our experience, we were able to sign up just fine with a fictitious street name.
   
   
5. After this, you'll be asked to put your credit card details (which you should skip unless you have a credit card from a US bank), choose your PSN ID, and opt-out of marketing emails.
   
   
6. Verify your account by replying to the email sent your address, and you now have a US PSN account.

(Also see: Top 5 PSN Games You Should Play Right Now)

Step 2: Buying PSN codes on Amazon.com

1. Log on to Amazon.com and create an account if you don't have one.
   
   
2. You will need to provide a US shipping address. Unlike PSN, you can't get away with a fictitious one. You can provide a random address based on US landmarks, information for which can be found a search away, or if you use a global shipping service like Borderlinx or ShopAndShip, you can use the US address provided to you as a legitimate shipping address.
   
   
3. Head over to the PlayStation section of Amazon's digital games, pick out what you want. Indian credit and debit cards work fine for purchase as long as you have saved a US address. You should receive your codes almost immediately. These are just a string of numbers, so you don't need to get them shipped. Claim the code on your console via the store section or on your browser.

Keep in mind that you can't use the same email address as your Indian account. Also, DLCs and season passes are region locked, i.e. they will only work with games from the same region. This means that if you have a game disc bought in India, then the DLC you bought for the game also needs to be from India, and not via your US account. All other content (meaning games) downloaded to your PS3 or PS4 will be playable by all accounts on it, and you don't need to use your US account to play, just to purchase the games.

Did this method work for you in buying US digital PSN games? Let us know via the comments.