Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced the Play at Home initiative, which will give PS4 users free games with no strings attached. This is part of Sony's effort to help contain the spread of COVID-19, as it is encouraging people to continue with social distancing and stay at home playing video games.
As part of the Play at Home initiative, Sony is giving away two free games for all PS4 users in the form of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and the critically-acclaimed Journey. The games will be available for free beginning April 15 at 8pm PDT until May 5 at 8pm PDT. As long as players redeem the games within that time-frame, they will be able to keep them forever in their digital PlayStation libraries.
Sony has noted that it may take users longer than usual to download the games, however. Sony has reduced PS4 download speeds worldwide due to increased Internet usage all over the world as people are stuck at home.
In the meantime, the Play at Home initiative is about more than just giving away free video games. Sony has also detailed the second pillar of the Play at Home initiative, which is called "Creative Funding." Sony has started a $10 million fund to financially support its independent development partners, as they may be facing unexpected hardships during the pandemic.
"At Sony Interactive Entertainment, we are privileged to bring this much-needed entertainment. We know this is just one small step and we are thankful to be able to offer this support to our players, our communities, and our partners," Sony said in a statement about the Play at Home initiative.
For PlayStation Plus subscribers, the Play at Home initiative means that the entire Uncharted series is currently available to them for free. One of the free PS Plus games for April 2020 is Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, so that combined with Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection will allow users to play through the series from start to finish at no extra charge. Of course, it's worth pointing out that Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection has been free on PS Plus before as well, though this way fans will be able to keep the game permanently, regardless of if their PS Plus subscription expires.