Sony is launching what it’s calling the Play At Home Initiative, giving away a couple of great games to PlayStation owners practicing social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The free Play At Home games come in addition to the free games that PlayStation Plus members get every month as part of their paid online subscription.
Game developers, publishers, and console makers have all reacted to the coronavirus in different ways, from cancelling major events like E3 to doing what they can to encourage players to stay inside. Even the WHO says that staying in to play video games can be an effective way to stay physically isolated while still remaining socially connected. Before announcing its latest initiative, Sony already throttled PlayStation download speeds to help conserve bandwidth as people use the internet more than ever. Publishers and storefronts have had major sales, either specifically related to the coronavirus or just conveniently timed, and Google is offering a free trial of its Stadia streaming platform.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced its Play At Home Initiative specifically in response to the coronavirus, saying “We are deeply grateful to everyone practicing physical distancing and take our responsibility as a home entertainment platform seriously.” From April 15th to May 5th, players will be able to download Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey for free, and they will remain in the library of anyone who downloads them during that time forever. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection contains remastered versions of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which add up to a lot of playtime for anyone who hasn’t played them yet. Journey’s idiosyncratic multiplayer and gorgeous open environments make it an especially bittersweet experience for anyone practicing isolation right now. Both the Uncharted collection and Journey have been offered as PS Plus downloads in the past, so there’s unfortunately not much to see here for subscribers.
The Play At Home Initiative also has a component aimed directly at independent developers. Sony is setting aside $10 million to support its indie partners, though it hasn’t made details about how it will disburse that money yet. Sony seems to be committing more to indie developers for the PS5 generation, recently appointing long-time Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida head of a new indie division.
While offering a handful of PlayStation games that have already been out for years may not be the most impactful gesture from Sony, it’s sure to help ease the minds of at least some players. The promised $10 million fund for indie developers will end up going much further in the long run, as independent game development is precarious at the best of times, leaving developers even more unstable during the ongoing crisis.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment