PSN welcome back program gives free PS3 and PSP games

InFamous 1 artwork
Sony has announced that their “Welcome Back” costumer appreciation program will give PlayStation Network owners their choice of TWO FREE GAMES from a list of 5 for either the PlayStation 3 or 4 for the PlayStation Portable.

Incredibly, these full games are actual retail titles and not smaller downloadable games (for the most part). So what if you already own all of the games from the list? It looks like you may be out of luck, here is how Sony responded when asked about it on their official PlayStation blog.

“I’m really sorry tha [sic] there is nothing there that you want,” explained Caplin. “We’ve tried really hard to put together a list of high quality BD [Blu-ray disc] games, rather than simply offering cheaper PSN titles. The average metacritic rating for these games is over 84%, so these are high quality games. Unfortunately with a user base of 77m people, it is really hard to offer something for everyone.”

These free games will be available in all countries that are able to access the PlayStation Store and for those users who had a valid PlayStation Network and/or Qriocity account when the PlayStation Network went offline due to the hack attack. The games can then be downloaded and kept forever. The list seems to be mostly the same for all major territories including the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. You’ll be able to download the new games for up to 30 days from now.

“We developed the program as an expression of our gratitude for your patience, support and continued loyalty during the service outage. From all of us at PlayStation, thank you and welcome back!”

Here are the free PS3 games you can choose from:

  • Dead Nation
  • inFAMOUS
  • LittleBigPlanet
  • Super Stardust HD *
  • Wipeout HD + Fury
  • * Europe gets “Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty” in place of America’s Super Stardust HD.

    Here are the free PSP games you can choose from:

  • LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
  • ModNation Racers
  • Pursuit Force
  • Killzone Liberation
  • Additionally, select “On Us” movies will be available to rent for free over one weekend as soon as the Video Service becomes available (so keep an eye on it this weekend), with the exact specific titles to be announced soon.

    Other “Welcome Back Costumer Appreciation” perks include the following:

  • 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PlayStation Plus subscribers.
  • Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive an additional 60 days of free subscription.
  • Existing Music Unlimited Premium Trial subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of free premium subscription.
  • Additional 30 days + time lost for existing members of Music Unlimited Premium/Basic subscription free of charge for existing Premium/Basic members.
  • PlayStation Home will be offering 100 free virtual items. Additional free content will be released soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.
  • Here is Sony’s “Welcome Back” info video from Sony CEO Kaz Hirai.

    “We’d like to thank all of our publishing and development partners who’ve contributed to the Welcome Back program, including Bigbig Studios, Codeglue, Digital Leisure, Guerilla Games, Heavy Water, Housemarque, Lockwood, Loot, Mass Media, Media Molecule, SCE Cambridge Studios, SCE Studio Liverpool, SCE San Diego Studios, and Sucker Punch Productions. We couldn’t have created such a compelling package without them!

    As a reminder, you will be able to access the above content shortly after services are fully restored. We are doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible.”

    Are you satisfied with what Sony has done to compensate for the hack attack PSN downtime?

    Via PlayStation Blog USA, PlayStation Blog Europe, PlayStation Blog Latin America