PlayStation’s Play at Home initiative was undoubtedly a bright spot for many gamers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It let fans download free PlayStation games and helped small developers continue to make great games despite the economic hardship created by the pandemic.
In a recent interview, PlayStation boss and Sony Interactive CEO Jim Ryan said that Play at Home’s free games could return in the future. However, that is not necessarily good news, as it would require a continuation of the ongoing pandemic.
Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz recently spoke to Ryan during an event in London. The interview touched on several topics, including his career, the future of PlayStation, and Sony’s response to COVID-19. Dring brought up Play at Home during the middle part of the conversation. Ryan explained that Sony Interactive Entertainment began the initiative to keep people entertained during the first wave of lockdowns in 2020. The company then brought it back during COVID’s resurgence last winter. When asked about the future of Play at Home, Ryan said PlayStation would keep bringing it back as long as it seemed necessary. That means the free games will most likely only return if COVID goes through another resurgence.
That’s bittersweet news for anyone hoping Play at Home’s free games would continue. According to Ryan, players redeemed 60 million games during the initiative. The available titles included a variety of PS4 and PS VR titles, including Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Ratchet and Clank, Subnautica, and Horizon Zero Dawn – Complete Edition. Play at Home also offered free in-game items and currency and an extended trial for the Funimation streaming service.
The interview also discussed other ways Sony has reacted to the ongoing pandemic. Ryan touched on the difficulties of rolling out a console amidst pandemic-related hardware shortages. There was also a discussion about the challenges of promoting games without hands-on-demos or public events. Ryan himself noted that he’d had to adapt to an unusual schedule due to living in London and having virtual meetings with people in Japan and the United States. He also noted that launching the PlayStation 5 from his dining room was a strange experience he’d rather not repeat.
However, Ryan says he’s satisfied with how the company handled the difficulties of the last two years. The PlayStation executive notes the company managed to move 10 million PS5 consoles in an impressively short time. He also mentioned the dual success of Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us 2 and other games like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. While it didn’t come up during the interview, and at the risk of sounding blase, one could even argue that the COVID lockdowns did Sony a big favor.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz