UPDATE: Due to high traffic on PlayStation Store, you may encounter error messages or issues. We advise you to check back a little later and try again.
Note: In order to download two games at no cost, you must redeem them from the “Welcome Back” category. The individual titles are still available for purchase outside of the “Welcome Back Program”
If at any point you can’t find the ‘Welcome Back Free Game 1 or 2’ products, the list of available titles or a game you’ve selected, go to your XMB>PlayStation Network>Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to complete the process.
We’re so excited to welcome you back to PlayStation Network. With the PlayStation Store back online, we’ve been getting all caught up this week, having launched an abundance of amazing content for download on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable devices across games, movies, themes and DLC. Today, we’re excited to launch the Welcome Back program to thank you for your loyalty, and below, we’ve got what you need in order to get access to the included content. So, here’s a list of questions about the program. If you don’t see your question below, mention it in the comments and we’ll do our best to provide an answer. Thanks again for your patience and understanding as we restored the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services – your support has meant a lot to us and is greatly appreciated.
Q: What’s in the Welcome Back Program?
A: To start, all PSN members who had signed up before the outage (April 20, 2011) will be able to select two games for the PS3 system and two games for the PSP system.
For PS3 owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section in the PlayStation Store, and select 2 titles from the following list:
- Dead Nation
- inFAMOUS
- LittleBigPlanet
- Super Stardust HD
- Wipeout HD + Fury
For PSP owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section of PlayStation Store on your PSP system and select 2 titles from the following list:
- LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
- ModNation Racers
- Pursuit Force
- Killzone Liberation
Select your first game from “Game 1”, then return to the Welcome Back page and go to “Game 2” to select your second game out of the remaining choices available. This goes for both PS3 and PSP.
In addition, we’re giving access to our premium subscription service, PlayStation Plus, which includes games, huge discounts, exciting exclusives and added features like online storage and automatic downloads, to all PSN members for 30 days at no charge, requiring no long term commitment. As with the games above, go to the PlayStation Store and under the ‘Welcome Back’ section, select ‘PlayStation Plus: 30 Days Free’, and you’ll be given access to all of the benefits of PlayStation Plus. Note that this will not auto-renew and simply expires 30 days after activation.
Current Plus subscribers receive an extra 60 days added to their existing subscription at no charge. For current Plus subscribers, no action is needed as the 60 days are automatically added to your subscription.
PlayStation Network users will also get 100 virtual items in PlayStation Home as a show of appreciation for your patience while Home was inaccessible. Additional content is coming soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.
A selection of “On Us” movie rentals are currently available to PlayStation Network customers this weekend only, where Video Service is available.
Finally, current Music Unlimited Premium subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of premium subscription plus days lost due to the outage.
Q: When will I have access to the Welcome Back Program?
A: The content offered as part of the Welcome Back Program is available for download today and will be available through July 3.
Q: I have both PS3 and PSP. Does this mean I will get 4 games all together?
A: Yes, as long as you were a PSN member before April 20, 2011, you’ll be able to receive up to 4 games based on the titles listed above; 2 on each platform.
Q: Are there any limitations to the PS3 and PSP games we are receiving as part of the Welcome Back Program?
A: These games are yours to keep.
Q: How long do I have to get into the PlayStation Store and receive my content for Welcome Back?
A: Access to the Welcome Back content will be expiring on July 3. Once this date has passed, the Welcome Back section in the PlayStation Store will be removed.
Q: When does the 30 days of my PlayStation Plus access expire?
A: Your PlayStation Plus 30-day access will expire 30 days from the date you activated it in PlayStation Store.
Q: When will (insert game here) be published?
A: Look forward to posts over the coming days that will show what content will be available at that point, or coming soon. We’re planning frequent store publishes offering lots of new content for everyone to enjoy.
Q: I’m getting 30 days of access to PlayStation Plus; can you refresh my memory on what I get with this service?
A: From the time you activate your 30 days of PlayStation Plus, you’ll be able to download games and game related content, purchase select store items at a discount, and have access to the exclusive features of Plus. You’ll also be able to get early access to any Plus exclusive Demos and priority Beta invitations that might be scheduled during your 30 days.
Q: Do I get to keep the games in PlayStation Plus forever?
A: Content that is free in PlayStation Plus will not be available after your PlayStation Plus time has expired. However, if you decide to join PlayStation Plus, you’ll have access to all of the content you downloaded during your 30 day access for as long as you are a subscriber.
Q: Do I get to keep any games or content I purchased with the PlayStation Plus discount?
A: Yes. Any content you purchase at a discount is yours to keep, regardless of your subscription status.
Q: Aside from the games and discounts; does PlayStation Plus offer anything else?
A: Yes! PlayStation Plus includes the Online Storage for Game Saves feature, allowing you to backup treasured game saves or access them from another PS3 system as long as you are a subscriber. In addition, you get the Automatic Download feature, which automatically updates your 10 most recently played games while the system is in stand-by mode so you don’t have to wait for updates before playing your games.
Q: What content will be in PlayStation Plus when I activate my 30 days?
A: PlayStation Plus content and discounts are regularly updated throughout the month. For up-to-date information on content within PlayStation Plus, please visit the Plus homepage.
Q: Where can I find the Welcome Back content in Home?
A: The 100 virtual items can be found in the kiosk in Home’s Central Plaza along with two personal spaces – Dragon’s Lair and the Mansion Garage. A new game – Ooblag’s Alien Casino – will be released soon (June 2011). This game will be free-to-play. As an added bonus, players that access the Ooblag Alien Casino space will be rewarded an active item version of the Ooblag game that can be played in your personal space(s).
Q: How do I access the content in the Welcome Back Program?
A: Follow the steps below to access the content in the Welcome Back Program:
1. Log on to PlayStation®Store
2. Click on the “Welcome Back” tab in the upper left menu
3. Select “Welcome Back Free PS3™ Game 1”
4. Within the category, click on the “Welcome Back Free PS3™ Game 1” product and “Get Now”
5. Select your free PS3™ game*, and “Download”*
6. Repeat steps 3-5 with “Welcome Back Free PS3™ Game 2”
7. Go to the XMB™ to play your free games.
Q: I clicked on one of the Welcome Back Free PS3/PSP Game 1/2 selections, clicked “Get Now”, but no games showed up. Now that option is no longer selectable in the Store. Where is my game?
A: This is an issue we’re working on resolving, however for the time being, you can still get to that content by going to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotion. You should be able to access the content in the option you selected here.
Q: Why am I getting errors saying I can’t access the Store?
A: Due to the surge of people going to the Store, you may experience some blocks in accessing certain areas of the store. Give it another try, or wait for a small period of time to avoid the rush.
Remember, if you didn’t see your question answered above, drop us a line below and we’ll do our best to answer it. Welcome Back!
@444: That method does work. I am downloading some content to my PS3 that way right now. Also, is the free PS home stuff in there? I did not see it.
@logicsquirrel its your account that gets the plus status not the system. There should be a plus icon next to your avatar stating that you have playstation plus
ppl it erroring cause to many ppl in store just wait!!!
It worked now Thanks Sony. Also try to make just a little faster
look at venomblade89, it;s useful, problem is it doesn’t work all the time thanks to all the people trying to get on. Heres hoping.
inFAMOUS is not showing up for me. Im guessing if you download the trial you have to finish it for it to show up? I think there was a trial. I dont remember.
Oh wow, I can’t even access the Store.
Mine messed up so i went to the SCEA Promotion thing and clicked on game 1 for ps3 and it brings up an error how do i get through that to get my game?
Woot Woot! Too bad that this doesn’t work. I went to get LBP (PS3) from Welcome Back, and the store decided to freeze on my while I was trying to download the Free Game 1 thing, when I went back the option to buy Free Game 1 was not even there! It works on Free Game 2 though, *how wonderful, atleast 2 worked* and the PS Home 100 free items things keep giving me an error. And I keep on getting an error (80431063) when I try to download the PSP games onto my PSP. So Sony, next time you decide to dish out a Welcome Back package, make sure it works first.
*= Sarcasm
When and how do we collect the Home items
My PS3 Sixaxis controller is not working. It sometimes turns back on, but not for long. I’ve been using it for a few years. Help?
In our house we have Two active PlayStation 3 Consoles & 2 PSPs – Two Master accounts, 1 of which as 2 sub-accounts all Before this whole fiasco started. My question is am I still restricted to only 2 PSP titles and 2 PS3 Titles? or will I get access to more?
You would think the promotion could be available for a week or at least for the weekend damn that’s cold sony. Offline for over a month then you have 24 hours to pick up the welcome back package. Oh and where do I call if I was billed twice for the purchase of one game. I noticed it on my checking statement this morning.
I couldn’t download anything what’s wrong???
@SarahDeathler Its no use people dont read anything all they do is “omg error I gotta post this up quick” If they did read our help comments they wouldnt be freaking out that they “lost” their games
I went in to get my games I got the first one and this is for PS3, but when i went to download the 2nd the store had an issue stating it was undergoing maintenance, now i dont have an option to get my 2nd game, what do I do now?
i need help! i tried to pick my first game then it said error so i went back and the game option was gone… now i can only get one game
i cant do it, im going to the playstation store and going to the welcome package and it keeps saying error 80710D36
If your games are dissapearing read the first few pages, the direction are listed in red…..
okay i got through it, but now when i try to go back to the account management thing to get my second one it says error. what do i do now?
It doesn’t work for me. It says the content cannot be accessed by my account. . .
What if I download my games, for some reason my PS3 goes bad and get a second ONE, could i transfer my games to my new PS3?
Wow sony after i read this i sprinted to my ps3 and clicked on ps store and guess what it said “this service is currently undergoing maintenance”. Thanks for nothing sony!
ok s
Errors!!!! I keep on getting error 80431063
guys, read the blog. everything is explained clearly., just follow the directions…you havent lost any of your selections or games or anything, just go to…PlayStation Network > Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions
everything is there…
Ok I got it to work now. I lost one of the options to select the game, I checked my downloads and there it was!!!…as if…anyway psn store is too glitchy. Took me an hour and 23 minutes to get the first game(I still gotta wait for it to download)…lets see how much time I get for the next one……
ok so i went to try to get two free games problem is just psp available
i read my info wrong. i apologize for my earlier post. its available til JULY 3, not June 3…lol i feel retarded.
but anyways, the errors are still pissin me off though
what about the codes, for games like DCUO, and Mortal Kombat…?
when can we expect that portion of it all to be up because with dcu, u need to input the code just to install the game
An error has occurred.
(80710D36)
there were icons for 1 and 2 but they gone and i never got games and my account dont get free playstation plus why is this am i getting screwed
@butler
Its a month! Jeez maybe thats why everyone is in such a rush
EVERYONE READ THE FIRST FEW PAGES OF COMMENTS IN RED IT SHOWS YOU HOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD YOUR GAMES!!!
Please finish maintenance. Please finish maintenance. Please finish maintenance. Please finish maintenance. Please finish maintenance. Please finish maintenance. Please finish maintenance.
I keep getting an error everytime I try to do something.
It says, “An error has occurred.”
(80023103)
It’s impossible to download some thing…and i tried download the games many times. Now my welcome back menu is empty.
I tried go to the games manually and the psn is trying to charge me for the games….
what is going on?
What do I do if I get this, “This content cannot be selected at this time,” message? I was trying to get Pursuit Force for the psp and the game just disappeared. When I look at the transaction history it says, “welcome back psp game 2.” But it didn’t say that for the Killzone game. Can I get it later? What’s up?
FOR SOME REASON EVERYTIME I GO TO THE SO CALLED WELCOME BACK PACKAGE…I GET AN ERROR MESSAGE!! THEN IT SAYS ITS DOWNLOADING SUMTHIN WHEN IT OBVIOUSLY ISNT!!! COME ON NOW????!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! AND NOW IT SAYS I ALREADY GOT MY TWO PS3 GAMES!!!!!!!!! BS
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME PLZZZZ!!!
Already had those games.
Thanks for the extra two months though
Hey I just purchase the first game and then suddently the Game2 dissapears, Sony could you please explain what happens?
There’s no inFamous in the list of games I can download..anybody else having that problem?
Yay Glad to see PSN back up and running :D
EVERYONE, the second page has your answers =p
k so i try going on the playstation store and it keeps saying error.. so whats going on?
YOU JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND KEEP CHECKING ITS NOT JUST YOU DOWNLOADING THE GAMES ITS THE WHOLE WORLD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, BE PATIENT!!
Didn’t work for me and now I can’t try what the first few pages said because the account management says down for maintenance…
darn it.. now i need a bigger memory card for my psp…
Question: Im on my account right know and tryed to download my second game and i hit “get now” and right before i got to hit download it said a error has occured and shut me out of playstation store i went back in the store tryed going to my second free game and it wasnt there how do i get it back
I cant get my 2nd free ps3 game :/
Check the update at the top of the blog post and see if that doesn’t guide you to that 2nd PS3 game.