PlayStation Will Bribe You with Free Games to Practice Social Distancing
Social distancing is hard. Sony's free PlayStation game bribe makes it a little bit easier. | Source: Sony
- PlayStation has announced the new Play At Home Initiative to encourage people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey will be available for free beginning tomorrow.
- Sony has also set up a $10 million fund to aid independent developers affected by the pandemic.
PlayStation announced today that Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey will be available for free for a limited time as part of the newly-unveiled Play At Home Initiative.
As Sony Interactive Entertainment head Jim Ryan explains in a PlayStation.Blog post published today, the Play At Home Initiative aims to facilitate stay-at-home measures and lessen the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Sony hopes the initiative will encourage the PlayStation community to support the “safe choice” of practicing social distancing.
The Play At Home Initiative consists of two components:
First, providing free games to help keep the PlayStation community entertained at home; and finally, establishing a fund to help smaller independent game studios who may be experiencing financial difficulties continue building great experiences for all gamers.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey Free
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey will be available for free on PlayStation 4 as digital downloads beginning on April 15 at 8 pm PDT until May 5 at 8 pm PDT.
The Nathan Drake Collection features remastered versions of the first three Uncharted titles bundled together. So, in effect, Sony is giving away not two, but four games – more than enough to keep you busy for the weeks of lockdown ahead.
Rather than limited-time access, players will get to keep both games forever and play at their leisure. It’s unclear how players can claim the games as of writing, but we imagine it’s through the PlayStation Store.
Sony does note that in line with measures to safeguard internet bandwidth in Europe and the U.S., downloads may be slower than usual.
PlayStation Sets Up $10 Million Indie Fund
On the funding side, Sony has set up a fund of $10 million to directly support indie developers struggling as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sony says the funds have been specifically earmarked to help mitigate “hardships and financial struggles.” PlayStation will provide details and criteria for eligibility “soon.”
