AITA for not allowing my boyfriend to sell my PS4 to buy a PS5 for “us”?

A Redditor shared a dilemma from their relationship, where their boyfriend’s gaming habits have become a point of contention. Despite owning the PS4, the user feels sidelined and struggles to maintain access to their console.

The situation escalated when the boyfriend proposed selling the PS4 to fund a PS5 for “them,” sparking a heated debate. Read the full story below for all the details and context.

‘ AITA for not allowing my boyfriend to sell my PS4 to buy a PS5 for “us”? ?’

I 22(F) and my boyfriend 27(m) are both gamers. My boyfriend and I have been dating for 4 years now, we live together, and are basically attached by the hip.. I love him, but one problem. I was a gamer before I met him, he lost his consol a few months prior to us getting together.

So when we started dating I allowed him to play on mine as much as he wanted. At first it wasn’t an issue for me but as time went on, he hogs the thing. He plays every single chance he gets everyday. It’s not that he is neglecting his responsibilities, we clean and cook together, we both work fulltime…

But when we’re done he hops onto my PS4 and goes ham. Whenever I ask if I can play, there’s always this attitude. He sits, arms folded. I can see him constantly shaking his head in my peripherals, huffing the whole time. This completely ruins my entire mood everytime, so i give the controller back and suddenly he is super happy again, nothing wrong.

He says the ones I play are boring to watch- mostly Dragon’s Dogma which I have played for years and is my comfort game-(Because he doesn’t understand the game or story line even when I’ve tried explaining it to him, he only likes FPS and hunting games,

which I have played on occasion because he asked me to play it with him… but really not my cup of tea). He wants to buy a PS5 which I was excited about since I thought he finally saved enough for it and I’d get to play on my consol again without having to ask or feel guilty…

But then he got confused and said he wants to sell mine to have enough to buy the new one. Gaming is also a hobby I love and have done for years before I’d even met him, so I don’t want to take that away from him.

We can’t afford a second consol without selling the first, but in the last 4 years I barely get to play on a consol that I own… And I think this is only gonna get worse once he gets the new one (Since he will be contributing the most money towards it)

I had a mental break down about this and went non verbal for a while… He can’t understand why I’m being so “Emotional” about it. When i tried telling him it’s because it won’t belong to me, so I think he’ll allow me to play on it even less, he got pissed. So am I the a**hole for not wanting to allow him to sell my PS4 to buy a Ps5 for “Us”?

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

Kanulie −  NTA. I would ban him from the PS4 until he learns some manners and shows at least a little bit of gratefulness.
And Dragon’s Dogma is awesome!

Not just the story, but also the world, possibilities, different styles how to play. Unless you are grinding for dragon forge all day? I have no clue how he thinks that’s a boring game to watch over FPS?!

Forward-Dingo1431 −  NTA. Don’t let him sell your PS4! If he wants a PS5 so bad, he can save up and buy it. Not only is his attitude about it s**tty, but I believe that you’re correct about him allowing you to play even less.

Another thing to consider is that if you were to break up, he would take the PS5, and you would be left with nothing. He seems very immature and m**ipulative. Protecting yourself and your belongings in this case is the smart move.

Clean_Factor9673 −  NTA but this greedy git is not the one.. How did he lose his console?. Why hasn’t he bought a new one?
Why in hell would he have the audacity to h** your console?

How in hell does selling your console that he hogs anyway, to buy a new “shared” console do anything but give him an upgrade?
Take your console and d**p him; I’m getting hobosexual here.. What does he bring to the table?

webby-debby-404 −  I am sorry to say but you, my dear, are a complete a**hole to yourself. It’s your PS4 and it’s yours to play whenever you feel like it. It’s very nice of you to share it with your BF but you’ve let him not only take full control of your toy but also over your emotions.

WTF feeling guilt if mr Grumpy doesn’t get what he wants? Please set your boundaries straight ASAP and guard them rigorously to give him a chance of leaving his 7yo behind and become an adult. Jeez, he should behave like 27 if he’s 27 yo.

dryadduinath −  He’s already hogging your console (in a very immature way), when he sells it to buy a new one it will be his console no matter what he says now. Selling a PS4 will in no way get you close to PS5 money.

If you want to do something about consoles, tell him you’ve thought about it and he should save up for a PS5 but you really like your PS4 and haven’t gotten a chance to use it lately so you’re going to keep it and use it more. Kick him off it. Let him pout. If it’s not fun to watch you play, great. He can go do something else.. NTA. 

princess_ferocious −  NTA, and, look…you might want to get a security cable and attach your PS4 to something solid, if you can. Otherwise there’s a non-zero chance that you’re going to come home one night to him playing on a brand new PS5 whether you agree to sell or not…

09blakel −  NTA as a fellow gamer I would never dream of selling someone else’s console no matter how much of a relationship we had. My own gaming hardware is borderline holy to me, and if someone sold it from under me I’d end the relationship.

Also why are you letting him dictate what you play and how much you play on your own device? Consoles are expensive, why do yourself a disservice and waste the hard earned money you paid to have your own one?

INFO what happened to his own console? You say he lost it? Did he break it in a fit of rage or did it get stolen/ sell it for cash himself?
Still tells of poor responsibility on his part to assume part ownership in a console he didn’t pay for.

Zealousideal_Team981 −  You have plenty of comments about your issue, so I’m going to mention something else. Unless you’re using cloud saving, getting the PS5 after selling your PS4 will cause you to lose all of your saved data. You want to have both so that you can connect them and transfer all of your saved data to the PS5.

balanced_crazy −  NTA and I would tell him that “I actually want to be playing more of dragons dogma. So it would be fun for you to get another PS so that you don’t have to wait on me stopping my game, I know how hard waiting for your turn is.”. EDIT: typos

edebby −  NTA. I don’t like his excuses and behavior as a fellow gamer one bit. First, it’s poor man manipulation to be sour about every game you like, just so you’ll feel the bad vibes and break into giving him the controller and making him happy.

This is purely how infants “get what they want” – they become negative and ranting until it frustrate their surrounding people. Second, this is YOUR console, not a shared one, and definitely not a console he can make decisions about as if it was his.

You foresee the future very clearly: once you get a shared console, you will have zero say on what you play, what games to buy and when to play. He is a control freak gamer, and this will enable him to continue his shenanigans

Do you think the Redditor was justified in wanting to keep their console, given its sentimental and personal value, or should compromises be made for the sake of their relationship? How would you balance shared hobbies and personal boundaries in a similar situation? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!