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!
Well Deathspear It won’t connect to your facebook page, but somehow it got me to G4tv and your posts there About not believing the network would be back if Sony didn’t say it themselves on May 24. LOL
At least I think it was you. Green shorts little hat? I will add you if I can find you though.
still cant sign into media go >:( wtf !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I found ya on G4tv death, I sent a message there.
+ Itobon on June 5th, 2011 at 12:53 pm said
Dude i’m having the same problem as well this sucks
I’m a user of ps3(psn) since 2007, i try to get those games for free, but they no working…since whem i logged a error messagem apears and i couldn’t dowload the games… they disapear of my welcome back section. what’s happened? can i get the games another time? the psn will give me another chance to get those games ? I’ve lost the games because errors messages or psn error messages. THX…
no, just read the blog.
I feel for you guys that endured this outage and just because you didn’t have an account before hand, you get nothing. I bought a new slim just days before the hack, but I’m fortunate that I had an account on an old fatty for years before.
During the outage I saw so many people buying PS3s, & I was just shaking my head thinking how clueless they were that the PSN was down. Of course the salesman wouldn’t let the customer in on that info, which is just wrong. To me, a huge part of the functionality of the PS3 is the Store. Most of the games I like to play, which I found out the hard way this past month, are download only & not available as a hard copy. With a new PS3, and no access to my old one, I basically had a brick.
Add to that I couldn’t access Netflix & MLB.com (I know some of you claimed you could, didn’t work for me). Again, found something out the hardway: Login via PSN is required for these things. Why is that? I had to buy a Roku just to get access to my subscriptions. I doubt Sony is going to reimburse me the C-note I had to drop on that :/
I’m glad this whole thing is over. I say throw the book at these hackers when (not if) they are caught … hang em’ high!
hey i downloaded my free games and the one titled wipEout HD wont show up on the xmb any were i did everything you said it says i have it but it wont show up can you help me?
this is not fair
Wen it said error i backed out, went back in, and the free stuff wasnt there anymore…-_-“
BasketKaise, peruviansicario, jzrawls and for all the criers about not getting free stuff, it is because you all elected not to register before the attack. I was registered long before the PS3 came out, when PlayStation Network was PlayStation Underground. Long before this “It only does everything” slogan. You all did not have to endure what us pre-attack registered users did. You did not endure the initial hacking which compromised all registered users identity with the *risk* of each credit card number being stolen from those who added their credit card information. The crying needs to stop! If you did not endure that risk you have no right to complain or cry about not getting the Welcome Back package. Finally, loyalty means you accept Sony no matter what they do, good or bad. Trying to bum off of Sony because you bought a system *after* the attack or registered *after* the attack in hopes for free stuff, is no more than a brown noser claiming loyalty.
It’s like joining the military right after a deadly conflict ended and knowing another one won’t break out after you completed your service and then saying “I risked my life” when really, you never did because you were *never* there when the conflict happened.
you know i am thankfull for the 100 free idems and all but sony could have broke it down for us on how many idems was in each store and instead we have to go through every store and section in it to find our free stuff i can get the dragons lair but the mansion garrage isnt there for some reason and its saying it is ????????
Which game do you guys believe is better? Super Stardust or Wipeout???
Like many here, I don’t think this is fair with those who bought a PS3 between April 20 and June 3. Don’t you think those people were aggrieved too?
ok i know people are tired of reading the same question over and over. but this is a little different…..we chose our 2 free games ( inFamous,Dead Nation) And they didn’t show up on our download list you know where it shows the status. We went to account info and download list …they were in there but ouldnt show on XMB where downloads usually show up….. am i going to have a problem with those or will they show up when they are done?
finaly got games at 5:30 AM
Anybody else have a corrupted inFAMOUS download?
@thebgj
i did the same exact thing, and i downloaded the same exact games and had the same question haha.
I can’t tell u exactly how it worked out, because i left and went to the beach.
but when i came back, i had both games under my games section and just had to install them. be patient i think, and if it doesn’t show up in a couple hours i would worry.
@EdwardCORE-UK: About the same thing happened to me, though I did know the network was down at the time. I got my console a week after it went down. I was planning on getting a PS3 since all of my campus friends have them anyway… I knew nothing about the welcome back package until later when it was announced.
@SONY: If this is the kind of welcome and customer support I get from Sony, then I wish I’d kept my Xbox instead.
I can’t even get customer support to email me back or answer the phone now. It’s somewhat infuriating. The annoying thing is that two separate customer support reps I conversed with via email before said that I would be included in the welcome back program. I still have the emails as well as the receipt from Gamestop which says when I got the shodding thing, which was before the package was announced. It’s not like I made an extra account to get two extra friggin games. I couldn’t even MAKE an account until the site was back up.
Will there only be these five games to download over the entire duration of the welcome back program?
ok sony i tried to get two free games that you offered but i only got one and it wont let me get the other!!!! and i dont see the subscription to playstation plus???????
I agree, even if they bought it after they should be welcomed back. It’s not like Sony or game console distributors put out a notice that a large chunk of what you may or may not use this product for may or may not be available. They were still openly pimping the system at the time. Sony never stepped back and said to potential consumers they may not get a fully functional machine. They also paid for the PS3 or PSP which includes the privilege not the exclusive right as the Sony defenders will point out to use the PSN. So technically Sony has a back door out agreed upon by everyone who accepted the EULA agreement. Funny thing is Microsoft, Steam, etc… have the same type of agreement and they seem to be just fine.
Sony sucks, plain and simple. Great base product that they have finally sent on to its final resting place.
i only downloaded one game now i want the other one but when i press the welcome back program it wont let me go in,anyone else have this problem
For all of you that are having problems with the free games…Sony did give an explanation how to retrieve the items if they seem to have disappeared.
I used this feature and got my free games.
Do this:
Go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column,
go to Account Management
then toTransaction Management
Then to Services
Select SCEA Promotions to download the game for that first slot.
The subscription to Playstation Plus is also in the Services list.
I downloaded my first free game, whcih took about 2 hours, and when i returned to the store to download my 2nd free games it said i had already downloaded it. help?
Everybody just watch this tutorial on how to get your games.
http://www.watchvideogames.com/2011/06/04/how-to-activate-your-psn-welcome-back-package/
wheres the game angry birds!?!?
i got a problem when i went to get my free games it keped saying an error occorred (80710D36) and now i dont know how to get them cuz they dont show up now i never got to down load them can some one help plz
id just like to say to all the ppl moaning about the fact that they bought the ps3 during the outage and will not get the package, while i do feel bad for you, it was the salesmans job to let you know you were buying a defective product, sony sells them to the store and the store sells them to us, its the stores responsability to make you aware. secondly we got the package not just for patience but because our information was stolen, if you got a psn while it was down then your info was never comprimised hence the reason you wont get the package.
devlin0523 goto account management and then service list your games are in there
What would happen if XBOX live combined with PSN? It sounds beast but who knows.
I had the same problem with the disappearing selections but the Account Managment “trick” worked. ALSO: To those that keep yelling about the error messages: There’s a whole friggin’ country trying to access at the same time. Nobody dropped the ball or screwed you over! Just back out of the page and try again and I promise it’ll hit… eventually.
And for those whining about fairness cuz they got their PS3 during the outage, this whole thing is more of a present for the rest of us that may or may not have been freaking out over whether or not all our info was robbed NOT solely for the inconvenience of the lack of connectivity. You’ll just have to wait till the next global news event… pfft…
should i get infamous or dead nation someone please respond because i never played these type of games so someone please recommend for me?
Thanks Sony for the welcome back package … I cannot wait to play my free games and I appreciate everything that you have done to make the PSN a more safe and secure place for our online gaming needs!
@jaybird… i downloaded both and i didn’t like dead nation at all.. ive been playing infamous for like 5 hours now. just my opinion.
with that being said, i don’t really know ur gaming background and what kind of games ur into. but dead nation definitely wasn’t for me. i hated the controls mainly. didn’t make any sense.. it’s an arial view when u play. infamous is a third person. similiar to prince of persia or god of war.
Can you download PSP games to your PS3 and be able to play them? Or do the games have to be on the our system?
Really off topic …. But if you guys could put more MLB team logo avatars in the store that would be awesome!
@bananamonkey…
i had that conversation with a friend earlier and he said u can NOT do that… although somebody else mentioned that they downloaded 2 free psp games to their ps3 and would use them when they bought a psp… idk if it worked for him
I don’t think because any of my info was compromised that I don’t deserve the welcome back program: I DO DESERVE JUST LIKE MANY OTHERS WHOSE SPENT OUR MONEY NOT ONLY ON A FAULTY SYSTEM AS WELL ON GAMES TO PLAY ONLINE. People who had their personal info stolen should receive more, as the welcome back program should be extended to EVERYONE WITH A PSN ACCOUNT, BEFORE OR AFTER THE OUTAGE. So your CC info was stolen and you get a couple of old games for that? Yes, that seems fair, in fact, this who are saying people who bought a PS3 during the outage should not get the games, I say to those that they are being totally naive by accepting a such cheap trade-off for “being loyal” to a company that could care less about the integrity of their costumers. Sony should revise their decisions, but they won’t as long as there is people who are defending them for such serious problem in trade of two old games, that they probably have anyway. Stop and think. Those with pre-outage account are the ones who are losing the most here, yet they don’t see it.
When I went to the psn store to get 2 games I saw the free ps3 game 1 thingy. I downloaded it and then my network crashed. Later i went on and it said I needed to get free game ps3 2 thing. I wasn’t to upset because I only wanted 1 game but after I downloaded it its not giving me the option to get the games anymore! I’m really pissed off because I really wanted wipeout hd!
How come i only got one free game? :(
I gotta do this sorry folks:@wowowowo1 you talk about sony getting hacked and find it funny but your also the person who keeps saying his uncle is the ceo. Your statements make me not believe you more and more on what you say on anything.
I tried going to the account managementand I get the server is currently down for maintenance…..
as I too lost the games I slected as my freebies in the welocme back program…..
Also evefytime I go into the Playstation Home it freezes on me with no message until I us the PS button and quit option!
You are absolutely right EdwardCORE… absolutely right. Ive been pondering that all day. Somebody might have my name, DOB, current address (or atleast billing) as well as my cc number… and they offered me 1 game that i’ll actually play and 3 old movies. one is actually older than i am.
they did offer a year of identity theft insurance tho… so kudos to them for that.
and psplus
so i downloaded the two games i wanted n there not showing up anywhere not even the part of the playstation store where i got dem from wtf. idk wat to do its shaddy
I want to add a comment here. To the people who couldn’t sign up and had to suffer I’m sorry to hear that. But to say Sony owes you something and should make a free package to you that won’t happen. Don’t go saying it’s the principle of the matter or it’s what should be right. Sony had to say this is how many customers we had effected and we need to come up with an idea. Sure the games and the movies may not be what you want but you have to consider they had to talk to the devs about this. If you want to go to another console that is your choice but don’t bad mouth sony. Yes they have a share in this but any site can be hacked.