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!
Wait…the PS+ games expire if you ever cancel? Why would anyone ever pay for that? LOL What a rip-off. Oh well, thanks for the games Sony, but I doubt I’d buy a PS4 after all this, but who knows. At least its all over now.
What if i don’t have a PSP? What can i do with 2 free PSP games?
@bellum123 Any tricks that you did to get Wipeout? I see in my download list “Wipeout full game unlock” tried downloading it got Na-da. Still waiting to get through all the heavy traffic to check my account mangement services list again.
@simplemind05 sounds like you and I might be having the same problem, if I can i’ll let you know what I did once I get it straightened out if I can.
Looks like errors are gone from store :D. Just waiting for NHL 11 The Hut Store to work hehe.
Yay!!!! I finally got to sign in on the site. It said it’s been down for maintenance forever. Anyway thanks Sony!!! Only problem is the downloads are taking forever. I’ve been stuck at 50% for about 20 minutes now.
you guys said it expires july 3 is that 11:59:59 eastern or 11:59:59 western ??
We wouldn’t be having this problem if Sony at least gave everyone sometime. Their servers are being cramped which explains all these lags and technical error everyone has, since they’re trying to rush into it.
Fail me error still there lol 80710D36 lol
i hope i get my ps3 back from service before it goes away just sent it out yesterday
Infamous isn’t showing up in my list of choices, but the other 4 are. I’m going to assume this is some sort of glitch-up, since I downloaded the full-game trial from Plus a while back. I really want to get this game as one of my freebies! Help!
I can’t believe the 3 movies they are giving us!REALLY….Ghosbusters!….BAD!
I am trying to download the free 30 days of PSN +, but it says that the content cannot be accessed on my account. What can I do?
Unfortunely for me When I went to download my game 1 the sever had crashed: when I went to get game 2 it crashed again. So my 2 free downloads were completly lost and now it says in the welcome back tab “The was no content found” meaning that the system thinks I already got my downloads. what do i do, does any one have a clue?
If I download my game now but after the 3rd of July I upgrade my PS3 hard drive. Will I still be able to download it to my “new PS3 hard drive” after the 3rd of July?
I only got 1 of my ps3 games, yet both of my psp games… and when I go to check my DL box I get SQUAT. I am sorry but the store is still jacked up and I cannot get the content that you allow… I am mad, am I gonna get my second ps3 game???? it’s not giving me the option….. and it’s not resetting.. I think you shoulda emailed us codes. cause this is WHACK.
@1707 it worked for me but im still missing my psp game 2 still kinda pissed
@bellum123: Read THIS message. Don’t sweat it. I’ve got some pull around here. Just for you, I’ll make Sony extend the time limit not only to June 7th . . . but all the way to JULY 3rd. Just for you. But you OWE me, man!
and they made me change my name will that affect me at all
wooooow is it just me or the playstation store is realy glitchy.. it only said to download free game 2… wheres my free game 1 at?? and then at times it would say error.. smh totally disappointed
Got 1 game downloaded and froze on LBP!……CRAP!
Ghostbusters, Bad Boys and Final Fantasy rentals, available only this weekend? Why even bother? These options are terrible, why not just credit each account with one free rental of their own choice? Very disappointing.
me and my sister share the ps3, each of us can download 2 free games? plz reply
Wow, people can’t log on or go to the store “due to high traffic”. Looks like psn is still broken, or always has been? If the network can’t handle high traffic, why even have one? I understand if a online game gets overloaded (then it needs more servers), but the network itself? Thats trash.
Glad you are back up!!
Horrible traffic… but what can you expect lol.
Q. I tried to download the PS3 free games and base on the errors received I selected game #1 and game #2 to be the same (Infamous) by mistake. What can I do to make sure I can repick my 2nd game differently. And by the way none have been downloaded yet, but I cant repick none since the link is no longer available.
Hope I can be helped…
how do you get the 100 free things in ps home?????
Yes 1750 it so up in your download list.
Millions upon millions of people flooding the same 8 things for hours? I’m surprised I can still access the store at all.
I mean PSN just came back up so there’s still gonna be glitches for a little while but as soon as the Package comes of course it’s gonna glitch up even worse
@1761…I saw it but can’t remember where in the home.Just keep looking cause it is there.
@1750
Yes , these items will remain in your download list as long you have the account.
Everything worked out for me if you got to page 1 comment 35 it tells you what to do but ill just paste it right here for ppl that dont know how to calm down.
If this happened, go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to download the game for that first slot.
and also if u keep getting an error message just be calm it will eventually work because i went through the same thing and actually counted how many error messages it got and it totaled to 20 but just be calm it will all work its self out and if for some odd reason it doesnt work for you then SUCKS TO BE YOU!
both ps3 games are downloaded. i was wondering with the 100 free items for playstation home if its just for the main account or all? my bf and i have 2 accounts. both have spent over $100 each on home. would be nice if we both get the 100 items. anyone know?
1761 it won’t matter any way I try it earlier today they had errors across the board because store issue lol You can’t get them to fix that error number lol.
I love how right after I download my 2 free games, my 8-10 month old PS3 slim hard drive decides to fail… my 3 year old fat ps3 hard drive lasted all those years. Luckily I had an extra one that worked perfect :D.
@1761 its in the home central plaza right by the leaderboard to that ufo game its a kiosk machine should be in front of a tree i believe hope that helps
Ok I need a reply, I downloaded WipEout as my Game 1, it downloaded good, installed good, but It wont show? I checked everywhere! I need a reply!
@ everyone about the error message seriously it works just keep plugging away at it just exit and keep trying thats what i did and it eventually worked.
@1771 try download and install again, it happen to me once and that solved it
@1771…Did you download the fury add on?
@1771 yea i have the same issue it only shows up in my game data if i figure it out by tonight ill post it up on here.
I have a master account and a sub account can i download games from both of them?
Everything worked smoothly, thank you for your efforts. Plants vs. Zombies would have been nice but, Dead Nation should be fun.
@1776 i believe not i might be wrong but give it a whirl
Hello I don’t know where to go for this problem so hopefully I’m lucky and someone reads this. So I tried to download my first free ps3 game but got an error and couldn’t download wipeout hd so I left and came back again but I don’t get the option to pick my first free game. So pretty much I’m stuck.
Hi, i bought my PS3 on the Saturday before Easter. I waited for 3 weeks to get to play online, and i was excited to get the “welcome back” program. Somehow i can’t access the “welcome back” program because i created my account as soon as i heard PSN was back online. Are there any solutions to my problem? If so, please help.
I’ve just bought a PSN card today and i’ve been trying the whole day to enter it. Are you fixing the voucher’s codes and PSN codes still or is it working? if it’s and it rking i guess my PSN code isn’t working. But still the Duke Nukem demo came out and i put that code and it worked. BUT I JUST BOUGHT A PSN CARD AND IT DOESN’T WORK. I live in US. And i bought this in Walgreens. Please HELP!
I picked my first ps3 game of LBP. It did not let me get now and I checked my download list and transaction management under account and it’s not there either. How do I get LBP back then? Tried calling your 800 number only to be on hold for 5 mins and a automated voice basically telling me we dont want to take your call and hangs up on me 3 times. Now thats b.s. right there also.
ok thanks 4 the help all
@1779
If this happened, go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to download the game for that first slot.
if u get an error message keep at it cuz eventually it will work
Can I get the games right now and activate playstation plus subscription later (maybe after 3 weeks)
Thank you,
anyone know the answer to my 1767 post?