The Covid-19 pandemic has been going on for about a year now, and the last 12 months have been a trying time for everyone. Several months of quarantine had people trapped in their homes, other than trips to the grocery store, and at the beginning no one expected it would go on for this long. Thankfully, things seem to be looking up with increasing availability of vaccines, but it’s still important for everyone to stay safe and social distance whenever possible.
To help with that, Sony has decided to bring back the Play at Home Initiative, a program that launched last April by offering gamers Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey. These two titles were offered for free to all PlayStation owners. Free games are normally reserved for PS Plus subscribers, and have restrictions, such as only being able to play them for as long as the subscription is kept active. With the Play at Home Initiative, however, gamers get to keep the free games to enjoy whenever they want. Since the initial offering back in April, Sony has kept quiet about the initiative and many players thought it would start and end there.
Fans were pleasantly surprised with the new Play at Home Initiative, kicked off on March 1 and it looks a little different this time around. Sony has officially announced that it will last through June, with each month offering a different title to gamers free of charge. In addition to the free game, Sony has partnered with entertainment and streaming services to offer PlayStation owners something other than just video games.
For the month of March, Sony is offering Insomniac’s 2016 title Ratchet and Clank. This adventurous planet-hopping duo has been part of PlayStation’s history since 2002, during the PlayStation 2 generation, and have starred in a total of 12 titles including the upcoming Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart release on PS5. In addition to their successful lineup of games, Ratchet and Clank have been featured in several spin-offs, an animated film, and comic books.
The 2016 Ratchet and Clank game is a remake of the original origin story, making it a great introduction to the franchise for players who haven’t experienced their previous shenanigans. There’s also a rather obvious reason behind Sony’s decision to include Ratchet and Clank in the Play at Home Initiative: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, is launching exclusively for PS5 on June 11. Offering a previous game for free is a great way to get players excited for the franchise’s next installment.
PS Plus owners already have access to Ratchet and Clank through the PS Plus Collection, however, so this month’s selection doesn’t do much for PS Plus Subscribers. However, PS Plus subscribers can still take the opportunity to claim the game as theirs to keep, since the PS Plus version is only available for as long as the subscription is kept active.
PlayStation owners from Germany and China were disappointed with the original Play at Home Initiative, which allowed access to Knack 2 instead of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. This time around, everyone will have access to Ratchet and Clank with no substitutions.
In addition to Ratchet and Clank, and instead of offering a second free game, Sony is adding an extended free trial for Funimation, a Sony-owned anime streaming service. A typical free trial for Funimation is only 14 days, but with the PlayStation initiative, most fans can access Funimation’s content for an additional 90 days.
For gamers in Europe, Wakanim (the European version of Funimation) is available. Instead of having access to the 14-day trial plus the additional 90 days, however, Wakanim users will only have the 90-day access. Both services are free to use with ads, but Sony is offering an extended ad-free experience for the Funimation website and app.
Redeeming the free access to either service requires payment information that will automatically charge when the extended trial ends. In order to avoid an unwanted charge, players will need to make sure to cancel the subscription before the cutoff. A subscription to Funimation costs a minimum of $5.99 per month and gives access to ad-free subbed/dubbed content. The Premium Plus subscription costs $7.99 per month and adds access to sales, events, special offers, offline streaming, and free shipping from the store. For $99.99 per year, subscribers can access all previous benefits in addition to an annual anniversary gift and 2 free rentals.
Funimation includes popular anime titles like Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Dragonball Z. The streaming service is also known for its exclusive content and high-quality dubs that translate Japanese anime into English. Fans who don’t like dubbed content can always opt for subbed versions of their favorite animes as well.
Sony hasn’t made any official announcements about what other free games and entertainment services will be offered between now and June, but April’s lineup should be revealed in the coming weeks. Sony has promised more free games and more entertainment opportunities, so fans can assume that the one game, one entertainment format may stay the same.
Fans are perhaps looking at a minimum of four free games total and four extended access subscriptions to streaming services. Hopefully, the free game for April will be something that PS Plus subscribers don’t already have access to, in order to maximize the amount of PlayStation owners that are able to take advantage of the initiative. The Play at Home initiative is a great opportunity to offer fans PlayStation classics like Uncharted or Ratchet and Clank, as well as put a spotlight on some of the platform’s most popular indie games like it did with Journey.
Because the initiative is formed around helping people stay safe during the pandemic, some multiplayer options would be great additions. The initiative shouldn’t include any PS5 exclusives unless they’re offered in addition to another game. That would prevent anyone who hasn’t been able to find a PS5 or isn’t ready to upgrade to next-gen from taking advantage of the offer.
The entertainment service aspect of the Play at Home Initiative also has a lot of opportunities. With the first month being an anime service, it would make sense to continue offering access to some niche streaming services that aren’t as common. Something like Shudder, which specializes in content for horror-lovers, or Acorn TV, which features a wide range of British television, would be great additions for future months.
The PlayStation Play at Home Initiative will only run through the end of June, and Sony is unlikely to repeat the event as the pandemic continues to get better. Fans should definitely make sure to check out all the free content that is available now and in the coming months to take full advantage of what Sony has to offer.
Ratchet and Clank and extended access to Funimation/Wakanim are available now for all PlayStation owners.
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