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!
I wanted to first off give thanks to all the harwork you guys at Sony did. Secondly, I’d like to welcome Mr. Haro to the Sony team. Lastly, might I suggest a mini game where you have to shoot hackers before they compromise targets? Thanks again, you guys are great!
@1861 .. I don’t know, don’t have a PSP. I play the ps3 version. the PSP version is bobo in comparison. littlebigplanet is pretty good on the PSP from what I understand though.
@1865 .. that is true, but there are still enough people playing the first game to always find randoms on the story levels and most hearted community levels .. that community is about to get a big boost as well, with all these people who never played the first game hopping on. i’ll get back on it some for sure, I never did get all the prize bubbles ..
@TheMadHatter13: Thank you, I’ll try that…
Y is escalation map pack for ps3 coming out on June 10 instead of the 3rd
no wackedout, you CAN play littlebigplanet online. trust me.
I finally found the trick to seeing the end of my Download List (in order to restore my system after the in-outage-ylod)
(If) When you manage to actually access the list, just drive hard on the ‘down’ button on the d-pad
it works.
Thanks Madhatter! Killzone Liberation I ended up re-downloading from the site directly to the PSP, but it won’t let me do that with the minis from yesterday. Think I’ll see if Media Go can help . . . or I’ll just decide that it’s too much trouble for a rotating octopus I can play on the PS3 anyway . . .
I hope I didn’t mess up either. I pressed Get Now on the welcome back 1 and I selected a game and pressed download. The problem was error 80431063 came up option 1 disappeared. I still don’t have access to that game. I’m going to hold off on option 2 because of how poorly Sony is handling this. Is there a way to recover option 1?
@1886 – now that’s a question I had. June 3 was the original release date. my theory: Activision knew this was going to be madness, it was easy to see coming if you’re familiar at all with how a network operates. they didn’t want to have Escalation caught up in that, angering their community. so they decided to wait a week. just a guess.
@iwanttobelieve no prob
@konanjiraiya Did you download the Playstation Plus 60 minute Trial of Infamous? I have a feeling that is the reason why I’m not seeing the game. I’m really disappointed about it too. Hoping Sony has a fix for it.
So I went to make my welcome back purchases… & it has been lagging a bit… but it some put both of my free games under Infamous.
Can I get someone to fix this?… I deleted the double download that came up so now it’s at 1… but I lost my Welcome Back game 2.
Also… just in case PSN isn’t aware… the straight for download game A.M.Y. was released last week I believe or 2 weeks ago. It’s not on here. Please don’t forget to update & include AMY in your content… when your adding new games for download. Been waiting on this… & hoping for not a lot of lag time on it.
Thanks.
i downloaded my first free game which was dead nation (which im enjoying alot) and then when i was going to download my second game infamous it said i had no more hard drive space so i cleared some and came back to download it again and it didnt show up i tried the account management>transaction management>services list>SCEA Promotions but i still cant redeem the second game. Im in canada anyone else with this problem? any help is appreciated.
ok so im all tired out im going to bed if anyone else has any problems with the downloading the free games hopefully theres a good hearted person to copy and paste it if not ill be back on tomorrow to scroll through more comments and try to help peace everyone.
Here it is
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.
Ok, I did “…Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to download the game for that first slot. …” But, I’m still not seeing the “PlayStation Plus: 30 Days Free” thing…
All I see is the “Welcome Back: Free PSP Game 1 (&2)”… I already saw and did that in MediaGO…
@1895 – if the problem (when trying from account mgmt) is an empty list or an error message, just keep backing up and trying. it will eventually work.
hey home isnt working for me at all…
@1897 – i’m already on plus, so i haven’t tried that side of it, but i THINK that just comes through the store straight up. plus isn’t something you download – in that same menu where you see SCEA promo however, you will see a selection for Playstation Plus if you’re on it – clicking it will tell you your expiration date …
@shyguyNC: Ahh, ok thanks… I’ll keep trying.
@1896 Infamous still doesin’t appear on my list of free games….
FIX FOR inFAMOUS NOT SHOWING:
Got to your download list for the free trail you downloaded with ps plus. Redownload it, let the 60 minutes expire. Then Go back to store and it will then show for download.
You have to let the trail expire before the game to show.
Worked for me.
@shyguyNC its not an empty list it says Welcome Back: PS3 Game 2 then when i click it it wont let me redeem a game it also says quantity 0 so im so confused at this point
why doesn’t mine work? I can sign in but i cant get the crysis 2 1.03 update for multiplayer cause it keeps freezing and signing me out. same for black ops
I had this error all day, read in page 3 or 4 and sony responded to the problem.
Ok can ne1 tell me why wipeout hd + fury is not working as a game i got it and downloaded and installed but it saved to game saved data and not in game files and will not work?
the option disappeared as described in one of the questions. whenever they do fix this i look forward to playing the first infamous
HELPPPP!!!! i want to play crysis 2 multiplayer so badddd!!!!!
ok i downloaed the 2 games i wanted but now cant seem to find them to play em. what do i do. where are they at? can anyone help me out please
Help! I chose inFamous as one of the games. I did the “get now” process, chose infamous, but left the page without pressing download! Now that the option is gone, i can’t get inFamous. I already went into SCEA promotion in account management and i do not see inFamous (but i do see Wipeout which was the second game I have chosen). I want my compensation… Q_Q
I just noticed, I am not the only one having problems getting InFamous from the Welcome Back promotion.
OH MY GOD I WENT TO DOWNLOAD INFAMOUS AND WHEN I WENT TO DOWNLOAD MY SECOND GAME THE FREE DOWNLOAD GAME #2 THINGY WENT AWAY WTF UP WITH THAT???
What happened to Lilo and Stitch?
Thursday God of war and God of war II was free with playstation plus membership and now that I joined for my free 30 days of plus they are no longer free. I think that maybe the playstation users are not getting the full benefits of the plus membership. Sony thats messed up!
@1903 Going to redownload it now and if it works for me, thanks a bunch.
@1913…..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.
Pass the word along. This fixes it
My game is takeing to long.What to do?!?!
WTH!? PS3 Game 1, PS3 Game 2, and now PSP game 4 has disappeared!?!? I was able to get PSP game 3 which was Killzone: Liberation. But Dead Nation, Infamous, And Littlebigplanet PSP is not there nor is it available anywhere!?!? I hope that I am still able to get them! Is the playstation store under another hacker attack!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Please let it be not true!!!
im happy its back but i still want legend of dragoon
is home not working at the moment,cause i keep getting a network connection,i unplugged my router and everything
I’m in the Services List but all I can find are six things, none of them labeled “SCEA Promotions”.
psnbeta.us.playstation.com
Home – 1st Party IP
SPE Home
Namco Bandai – Home
Home
Wipeout HD
That’s all I have, trying to use any of them doesn’t really do much of anything.
I don’t know what other game to pick. It’s either Dead Nation or inFAMOUS
I’m having problems with the welcome back program.
I signed in to the store via my PSP and selected welcome back 1 and welcome back 2. It showed me the games to choose from and then kicked me out with an error or maintenance message. The welcome back screens are gone in my store and so are the games.
Now I have no free games or welcome back icons in the store.
What happened? I’m thankful for the free games but have been unable to download them now.
Could some one email me codes to download the games or am I out of luck?
Any help would be appreciated.
1919….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.
Pass the word along. This fixes it
@konanjiraiya: I’m having the same problem. I followed the “XMB>PlayStation Network>Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions” process to try to download inFamous and it isn’t available to me. I see the other four games. I was able to download Little Big Planet from the Store earlier after a lot of error messages.
@1904 – whoah that’s weird – what happens specifically? it just takes you to an empty list on a store page? with 0/0 entries? How many times did you try, i.e. is it consistently behaving that way?
haah. Thats really funny. Theres people here that are arguing that Sony should of took their time to fix the store perfect. There really is no way to make these people happy if they took longer im sure you still would of been arguing about having it on sooner..
I went to the service list and it was an error, now when i go there it wont let me choose my first game it says none available :(
WELLTHIS IS AMAZING BUT THE STORE IN THIS MOMENT I THIN XPLOTE xd
@1912 Did you try checking your download list? That’s happened to me with DN and was fixed it may install slow though.
@1922 Did you d/l the actual “welcome Back” option?