In terms of online gaming services, PS Plus is populated with a cacophony of different users from all over the world. Considering how extensive PS Plus is and how many people use the service, it can be taxing for Sony to maintain quality and consistency throughout every area of the world. Thus, certain technical exploits can slip through the cracks, allowing players access to free content.
While PlayStation has been including free games for PS Plus users to download every month, there have been instances where some users would be able to download an additional game for no extra charge. For instance, last year, PS Plus users could download Bloodborne for free, even though it wasn't included in PS Plus's free monthly games. Now, it seems that a similar occurrence is taking place this month, but it requires a few additional steps.
Over on ResetEra, a Brazilian user named nolifebr discovered that players can download Resident Evil 7 for free on PS4 by following a couple of steps. Firstly, the user would have to download the demo for Resident Evil 7 and then proceed to buy the game through the demo. At which point, the PS Store should open. The ResetEra user then says to select "Game Page," then "Choose Version," then finally, have the user select the second version.
At checkout, the game should be discounted by 100%. Many users have subsequently tried this and it has worked for players in the US, Romania, and the Netherlands to name a few select locations. It's clear that this is an unintentional bug, which Sony will likely patch fairly soon. This could be due to Resident Evil 7 being free to download on PS5 for PS Plus users.
It's interesting to see what users can potentially receive for free if they are diligent enough. Then again, Sony does a fairly good job of rewarding its PS Plus users with free additional content. Even for non-PS Plus subscribers, Sony has provided plenty of free content in the past via the Play at Home initiative that was started as a direct response to COVID-19.
In any case, this bug likely won't be around forever. Sony will likely patch it out soon or likely at the end of August when the next round of free monthly games releases for users to download. PS Plus subscribers can currently download games like Hunter's Arena: Legends and Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville until the end of August. However, many will likely want to take advantage of the Resident Evil 7 bug until it gets patched.
Source: ResetEra