UPDATED: Welcome Back Program Available Now – Details Inside

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UPDATED: Welcome Back Program Available Now – Details Inside

UPDATE: Due to high traffic on PlayStation Store, you may encounter error messages or issues. We advise you to check back a little later and try again.

Note: In order to download two games at no cost, you must redeem them from the “Welcome Back” category. The individual titles are still available for purchase outside of the “Welcome Back Program”

If at any point you can’t find the ‘Welcome Back Free Game 1 or 2’ products, the list of available titles or a game you’ve selected, go to your XMB>PlayStation Network>Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to complete the process.

We’re so excited to welcome you back to PlayStation Network. With the PlayStation Store back online, we’ve been getting all caught up this week, having launched an abundance of amazing content for download on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable devices across games, movies, themes and DLC. Today, we’re excited to launch the Welcome Back program to thank you for your loyalty, and below, we’ve got what you need in order to get access to the included content. So, here’s a list of questions about the program. If you don’t see your question below, mention it in the comments and we’ll do our best to provide an answer. Thanks again for your patience and understanding as we restored the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services – your support has meant a lot to us and is greatly appreciated.

Welcome Back

Q: What’s in the Welcome Back Program?
A: To start, all PSN members who had signed up before the outage (April 20, 2011) will be able to select two games for the PS3 system and two games for the PSP system.

For PS3 owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section in the PlayStation Store, and select 2 titles from the following list:

  • Dead Nation
  • inFAMOUS
  • LittleBigPlanet
  • Super Stardust HD
  • Wipeout HD + Fury

For PSP owners, go to the ‘Welcome Back’ section of PlayStation Store on your PSP system and select 2 titles from the following list:

  • LittleBigPlanet (PSP)
  • ModNation Racers
  • Pursuit Force
  • Killzone Liberation

Select your first game from “Game 1”, then return to the Welcome Back page and go to “Game 2” to select your second game out of the remaining choices available. This goes for both PS3 and PSP.

In addition, we’re giving access to our premium subscription service, PlayStation Plus, which includes games, huge discounts, exciting exclusives and added features like online storage and automatic downloads, to all PSN members for 30 days at no charge, requiring no long term commitment. As with the games above, go to the PlayStation Store and under the ‘Welcome Back’ section, select ‘PlayStation Plus: 30 Days Free’, and you’ll be given access to all of the benefits of PlayStation Plus. Note that this will not auto-renew and simply expires 30 days after activation.

Current Plus subscribers receive an extra 60 days added to their existing subscription at no charge. For current Plus subscribers, no action is needed as the 60 days are automatically added to your subscription.

PlayStation Network users will also get 100 virtual items in PlayStation Home as a show of appreciation for your patience while Home was inaccessible. Additional content is coming soon, including the next addition to the Home Mansion personal space, and Ooblag’s Alien Casino, an exclusive game.

A selection of “On Us” movie rentals are currently available to PlayStation Network customers this weekend only, where Video Service is available.

Finally, current Music Unlimited Premium subscription members will receive an additional 30 days of premium subscription plus days lost due to the outage.

Q: When will I have access to the Welcome Back Program?
A: The content offered as part of the Welcome Back Program is available for download today and will be available through July 3.

Q: I have both PS3 and PSP. Does this mean I will get 4 games all together?
A: Yes, as long as you were a PSN member before April 20, 2011, you’ll be able to receive up to 4 games based on the titles listed above; 2 on each platform.

Q: Are there any limitations to the PS3 and PSP games we are receiving as part of the Welcome Back Program?
A: These games are yours to keep.

Q: How long do I have to get into the PlayStation Store and receive my content for Welcome Back?
A: Access to the Welcome Back content will be expiring on July 3. Once this date has passed, the Welcome Back section in the PlayStation Store will be removed.

Q: When does the 30 days of my PlayStation Plus access expire?
A: Your PlayStation Plus 30-day access will expire 30 days from the date you activated it in PlayStation Store.

Q: When will (insert game here) be published?
A: Look forward to posts over the coming days that will show what content will be available at that point, or coming soon. We’re planning frequent store publishes offering lots of new content for everyone to enjoy.

Q: I’m getting 30 days of access to PlayStation Plus; can you refresh my memory on what I get with this service?
A: From the time you activate your 30 days of PlayStation Plus, you’ll be able to download games and game related content, purchase select store items at a discount, and have access to the exclusive features of Plus. You’ll also be able to get early access to any Plus exclusive Demos and priority Beta invitations that might be scheduled during your 30 days.

Q: Do I get to keep the games in PlayStation Plus forever?
A: Content that is free in PlayStation Plus will not be available after your PlayStation Plus time has expired. However, if you decide to join PlayStation Plus, you’ll have access to all of the content you downloaded during your 30 day access for as long as you are a subscriber.

Q: Do I get to keep any games or content I purchased with the PlayStation Plus discount?
A: Yes. Any content you purchase at a discount is yours to keep, regardless of your subscription status.

Q: Aside from the games and discounts; does PlayStation Plus offer anything else?
A: Yes! PlayStation Plus includes the Online Storage for Game Saves feature, allowing you to backup treasured game saves or access them from another PS3 system as long as you are a subscriber. In addition, you get the Automatic Download feature, which automatically updates your 10 most recently played games while the system is in stand-by mode so you don’t have to wait for updates before playing your games.

Q: What content will be in PlayStation Plus when I activate my 30 days?
A: PlayStation Plus content and discounts are regularly updated throughout the month. For up-to-date information on content within PlayStation Plus, please visit the Plus homepage.

Q: Where can I find the Welcome Back content in Home?
A: The 100 virtual items can be found in the kiosk in Home’s Central Plaza along with two personal spaces – Dragon’s Lair and the Mansion Garage. A new game – Ooblag’s Alien Casino – will be released soon (June 2011). This game will be free-to-play. As an added bonus, players that access the Ooblag Alien Casino space will be rewarded an active item version of the Ooblag game that can be played in your personal space(s).

Q: How do I access the content in the Welcome Back Program?
A: Follow the steps below to access the content in the Welcome Back Program:
1. Log on to PlayStation®Store
2. Click on the “Welcome Back” tab in the upper left menu
3. Select “Welcome Back Free PS3™ Game 1”
4. Within the category, click on the “Welcome Back Free PS3™ Game 1” product and “Get Now”
5. Select your free PS3™ game*, and “Download”*
6. Repeat steps 3-5 with “Welcome Back Free PS3™ Game 2”
7. Go to the XMB™ to play your free games.

Q: I clicked on one of the Welcome Back Free PS3/PSP Game 1/2 selections, clicked “Get Now”, but no games showed up. Now that option is no longer selectable in the Store. Where is my game?
A: This is an issue we’re working on resolving, however for the time being, you can still get to that content by going to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotion. You should be able to access the content in the option you selected here.

Q: Why am I getting errors saying I can’t access the Store?
A: Due to the surge of people going to the Store, you may experience some blocks in accessing certain areas of the store. Give it another try, or wait for a small period of time to avoid the rush.

Remember, if you didn’t see your question answered above, drop us a line below and we’ll do our best to answer it. Welcome Back!

Comments are closed.

5,171 Comments

  • @95
    I got into the same problem, when I try to select killzone for my first psp game. It told me to get the welcome back game 1 first, but when I selected it a error message popped out. Now PSP game one is disappeared from my list. I’ve checked the transaction history and it showed that I got the “welcome game 1” thing without the game.

  • Why do I keep getting the “This content cannot be selected at this time”? I’m trying to download the Key for the first PS3 game.

  • Im having problems too. I clicked my first game, but when I went to get the second game it kept bugging out, then both options disappeared and my first game isn’t even downloading or anything.

  • If you guys had the error problem and it went away…just sign out and sign back in…it worked for me

  • the game are not in download list

  • Nevermind mine works. See comment 16 as stated above. You have to go back to the XMB, account management, services to download them.

  • it did it with game one and two, GOD DARN IT SONY I WILL BE TICKED IF I DONT GET THESE GAMES!

  • Ok Thanx Kristi for letting us know how to get the games, Im sure the only thing most people will complain about now is th COD BLACKOPS maps

  • i can’t get the game….. the icon for the free ps3 game went away…?

  • I know it’s not all Sony’s fault but it showed up in the In-Game Store as available before the store was officially up. I am just wanting to know what happened? Did Treyarch pull the plug or another delay?

  • It may be said already, but after you choose “get now”

    go to account management -> transaction manager -> services List

    They are there to choose from!

  • mine games are downloading with no problems

  • Yep, 16th comment FTW!

  • I just tryed to get my first free game a error occured and now it wont let me download it.

  • SONY ITS BROKEN ITS NOT WORKING Grrrr lol HELP US

  • i have infamous downloading. but now the option to download another free ps3 is gone. its probably cuz theres to many people on tryin to download at once… lol, im sure itll be figured out though. jus gotta give it some time i guess.

  • And of course I’m screwed too. Yea. This cements it. I’m through with this crap.

  • ok, I went on my other account, the one I use to record footage on and play on JTV with and the downloads are there, I get them either way, its all good

  • Lost my 2nd free game ticket.

    -_____-

  • Thank You, this is awesome way to start the weekend and drum up more excitement for E3 too!!!! Wipeout HD you are mine!!!! Thank You again

  • Thank you very much

  • how do you play the free games like deadnation…i clicked get now and i dont know how to actually start playing it?

  • um clicked on both game 1 and 2 now there both gone and I have no games wtf

  • Just great , both PS3 free game 1 & 2 is gone for me.. Awesome.. :/ feels plain awesome.. I was hoping to actually try out Infamous hoping it would convince me to actually buy and play the 2nd one

  • I tried to download Little Big Planet as Free Game 1 but got a bunch of error messages. I signed out, came back, and now the “Free Game 1” option of the PSN Store is gone! “Free Game 2” is there, but I didn’t get the first one! Now I’m afraid to click the second and not get anything. My PS3 works fine so I don’t know what happened. What do I do?

  • Well sony? What do you have to say?!

    I want the free game download vouchers I just lost back!

  • Bought my ps3 during the outage…Meh!
    Would be nice if i could a get a free game of something!

  • Weak, when I tried to redeem the Plus membership it couldn’t connect twice and then the third time it said the option was unavailable so I backed out and it disappeared…. meaning I can’t get it now…. at least tha’ts what it looks like….

  • @Susan Panico so, just to make sure I understand correctly… If I already paid you the money for these games when I purchased them (I own almost all of them), I am pretty much screwed right? I mean, you are not giving me back the money I already spent on these games if I already own them? If so, how are you welcoming me back?

  • are you kidding me, it went through said, error, and it lost it again

  • this contend cannot be selected at this time

  • Same issue here, just lost one of my psp downloads, im gonna wait and see what happens before i risk burning another one.

  • weekendjeremy_69

    I got error code 80024102.. & it didnt download… please help…

  • GUYS GO TO PAGE TWO!
    The guy replied to comment was right. Listen to him. It works!!!

  • What looks to have happened for some of the people who tried to download their free games (such as myself) is that when we followed the instructions ~

    Quote
    Step 1 Here’s the step to download your free games:
    Step 2 Select ‘Welcome Back Free PS3 Game 1′ and click on ‘Get Now’
    Step 3 Press circle to go back and select your first free game
    Step 4 Return to the Welcome Back page and select ‘Welcome Back Free PS3 Game 2′ and click on ‘Get Now’
    Step 5 Press circle to go back and select your second free game
    Step 6 Go to the XMB(tm) to play your free games

    Make sure to complete the download of each title all the way otherwise you’ll have to go into account management>transaction management>services list>SCEA Promotions to download the games.
    End Quote

    Is that between or at step 3 & 4 there were no icons for any of the games to be downloaded. So we were unable to actually select a game as they were blank, thus at this moment some of us have “lost” our free game(s).

    • Avatar photo
      Kristi Fernandez

      Hi Oner- The ‘Welcome Back Free Game 2’ should appear in Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions – then from there you’ll be able to see the remaining titles

  • every time i click to go to store it says an error has occurred

  • Outrageous!

  • i’m getting the error code 80029701 and 80029780 every time i try to download infamous

  • Ok guys, calm down.. everybody is trying to access the store and we are flooding the PSN with too many downloads. a piece of advice for some before you download read.

    To get your 2 free games here’s what you need to do :
    1. Go to welcome back program
    2. Click PS3 game 1
    3. Accept/Download PS3 game 1
    4. Go back once !! (very important)
    5. Select game
    6. Download game
    7. Repeat for PS3 Game 2

    Once you leave the Icons get removed (Don’t know if this is a glitch or just because of the traffic… but watch out with this one)

  • I tried downloading the playstation plus and it made an error and now its gone completely!!! can someone help me out?

  • it now flat out wont let me sign into psn

  • PAULSODMG-TEKKEN

    [DELETED] love you leggo

  • Hey Playstation, I got both of my free games, but when click for the free sub to Playstation Plus at the get now menu it said “error”. i back out and the thing dissappear!!! is there a way to see if i got the plus package or let me try again?

  • Only got one of the four free games for download thanks to some problems i’ve encountered trying to get them. Thanks Sony. You are so reliable now

  • OMG I DID A MISTAKE.. :( I BACKED OUT WITHOUT DOWNLOADING NOW ITS NOT LETTING ME DOWNLOAD AGAIN.. I DIDNT SELECT MY GAME.. WHAT SHOLD I DO NOW?

  • I just tried to DL a game for PS3 & PSP, it gave me errors and said content not available. Now it only shows free game 2 for each system tho I didnt get either game. Can I still get those games somehow?

  • Great, Can access the games now but getting error codes all over the place. FIX THIS SONY!

  • woot, cant wait.

  • I tried to get my games, but it through an error and now both of my PS3 game options are gone!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • I cant even friggin get account management to come up, screw this, I am waiting till later

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