The PlayStation Play at Home Initiative re-launched at the beginning of March after being silent for almost a year, but this time Sony has pledged four months of free content to PlayStation owners. Last April, Sony surprised fans by offering Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey for free. Unlike PlayStation Plus subscriptions, which only allow subscribers to play their free games for as long as the subscription remains active, gamers who claimed Uncharted and Journey before the end of April got to keep the games forever. The rebooted initiative is very similar.
For March, players were offered Insomniac's 2016 classic, Ratchet and Clank. There's a very clear strategy behind this decision: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is releasing on June 11. Ratchet and Clank is a popular, long-standing PlayStation franchise, so a lot of gamers have already played the 2016 game. PS Plus subscribers already have conditional access to it through the PS Plus Collection, but newcomers may be won over and want to purchase Rift Apart when it releases. Ratchet and Clank is also a more family-friendly title, which makes sense for the Play at Home Initiative.
In addition to Ratchet and Clank, Sony offered an extended free trial for Funimation, an anime streaming service. Funimation was already free to watch, but the extended trial allows fans to discover and enjoy anime without having to sit through ads. Unlike Ratchet and Clank, fans can't keep this subscription forever, but it does last for a little over two months.
What Sony's Free Game Choices Have in Common
Sony has promised that more free games and entertainment will be coming through June, so what's next? Any predictions are nothing but speculation at this point, as Sony hasn't teased or announced any of the future content that will be coming, but there are a few patterns to take note of that may help set expectations.
Both the first month of the Play at Home Initiative last year, and the current offering, feature PlayStation exclusives. Journey was exclusive to PlayStation before eventually being ported to PC, while Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Ratchet and Clank are still exclusive to PlayStation consoles. That means April's free game will probably be a PlayStation exclusive as well. The family-friendly aspect is also important and stays consistent across the board. Some could argue that Uncharted isn't "family-friendly" in the traditional sense, but it is rated T instead of M which means it's still more accessible to families than a lot of other popular games.
A final thing to keep in mind is the balance between value and great games. Sony has seen success with PS Plus, repeatedly offering brand new PS5 titles and popular AAA games. This month, fans were stunned to find out that PS Plus subscribers would receive Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a title that has only been out for a year and that Sony could definitely still sell for $60. Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, and Journey are also great games that were offered for free, but there's a big difference.
The games offered through the Play at Home Initiative aren't currently on sale for their original selling prices. These are older games that have dropped in value and are frequently on sale on the PlayStation store. In the case of Ratchet and Clank, it was already available for free to members of PS Plus. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection costs $20 while Journey costs $15. Sony is offering some great games that are special to PlayStation, but it isn't going crazy and giving away high-dollar games.
Predicting April's Free Game For the Play At Home Initiative
Fans shouldn't expect to see something like Final Fantasy 7 Remake release for free through the Play at Home Initiative. That said, fans also shouldn't expect a game they've never heard of that usually sells for $5. Sony is trying to strike a balance here, and like Ratchet and Clank, it may be trying to take advantage of timing and promotional value.
So what games could be included for April? One of the possible choices is Horizon Zero Dawn. It would stay consistent with the patterns observed so far: it's a PlayStation exclusive (despite being recently ported to PC), and it's more family-friendly than a lot of games out there as far as violence and adult content goes. The complete edition is only $20 in the PlayStation Store, and it has an upcoming sequel that's supposed to release in 2021. All the pieces are there. Surprisingly, Horizon Zero Dawn isn't in the PS Plus Collection, which means that subscribers would get more out of it than they did with Ratchet and Clank this month.
Another possibility is Dreams. It's at the same price point as Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, and fits most of the other patterns as well. Dreams is a PlayStation exclusive that allows players to create their own games, music, paintings, movies, and many other works of art on their console. It also meets the family-friendly criteria, and even offers a VR mode. Dreams has been suggested as a PS Plus game for several months now, but it would be a great candidate for the Play at Home Initiative.
What Entertainment Services Will Sony Offer PlayStation Owners in April?
This is a lot harder to predict because, so far, there has only been one example of Sony offering a different form of entertainment to PlayStation owners. This month, Sony is giving fans a free extended trial for anime streaming service Funimation. Funimation is a Sony-owned company, so this arrangement makes a lot of logistical sense, but Sony doesn't own any other streaming services apart from Crackle, which already offers completely free content. If Sony wants to continue offering extended trials or subscriptions to streaming services, it may have to expand its reach.
It's extremely unlikely that Sony will offer something like Netflix or Disney+ to PlayStation owners for free, but there are a lot of other niche streaming services out there that might benefit from being promoted by Sony. Funimation itself is a niche streaming service specializing in anime, so this would make sense. Streaming services like Shudder, which offers content for horror-lovers, and Acorn TV, which has a huge library of British television, are great options to work with other niche streaming services. A partnership with Sony could also be an opportunity for some smaller streaming services to get publicity and win new, permanent customers.
Sony's next alternative entertainment offering may not be a streaming service at all. It could be something like a two-month subscription to Spotify or YouTube Premium, which, like the Funimation trial, would allow PlayStation owners access to free content without the ads. A deal like that, however, would also depend a lot on the other companies involved and what their expectations are. An extended trial for PlayStation Now, Sony's on-demand video game streaming service, could be a great option that wouldn't require building big collaborations with outside companies.
Whatever Sony chooses to offer PlayStation owners in April through the Play at Home Initiative, it's hard to complain about completely free content. But if Sony ends up sticking with some of the established patterns — or even if it decides to go a completely new direction in April — there are some great possibilities for fans to access some exciting content in the next few months. PlayStation owners should definitely keep an eye on the Play at Home Initiative and take advantage of all the free entertainment coming their way.
Ratchet and Clank and extended access to Funimation/Wakanim are available now for all PlayStation owners.