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!

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5,171 Comments

  • Can we select the Playstation Plus at any time? Or do we have 30 days, like the welcome back program, to redeem it before it disappears? Like can I start my Plus subscription on June 20th or July 1st, etc instead of today? Is it up on the store a month like the welcome back program or is it there forever and whenever we want to select it?

    I really need to know because I’m getting Infamous 2 and don’t need ps plus for Uncharted 3 beta. I want to become a Plus member at a time when I find a game that I want or at a discount, if it’s possible to redeem it at any time.

    Thank you for answering if you do.

  • it ripped me off on my 2nd game. got an error message then when I went back the 2nd game icon was gone

  • Please help did I lost my 2 free games. I downloaded the Welcome Back Free PSP 1 but I couldn’t download any game and the same thing happen with the second game. Please help.

  • The store froze and I didnt get my free games! Is there anything I can do?

  • Ok dont know what I did Wrong But i did not get first game or I do not know where to find it??

  • Same here all my “Free” PSP games are now gone due to the error. I thought Sony was testing to make sure it worked, now I am screwed out of the only game on the list I didn’t have!

  • If no games appeared for you but you did select “Get Now” on one of the PS3 or PSP Free Game 1 or 2; go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions and you should be able to select accordingly.

  • Everyone get off the store now please. lol

  • “If this happened, go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to download the game for that first slot.”

    I did this, it DIDN’T work, just gave me an error and never downloaded, now when I try again, it won’t let me… says it expires today, and I have 0 remaining… won’t let me get my first free game… So I guess I screwed….

    PLEASE HELP MORGAN, can I get a response? I need technical support here.

  • hey, i followed all the instructions onto the store, but once i clicked get now for the playstation plus, and free game 1 and 2, it said error has occurred, and once i backed out each of them had disappeared… does this mean i get no free stuff??? i was really excited for this, please help

  • The PSN is acting wonky from all of this activity. I believe I will wait a couple of days.

  • Hooray! Can’t wait to go home and get my games. :-) Thanks, Sony.

  • testing obviously didnt go so well.. im getting countless “an error has occured”, I cant even get into my account management… oh well.

  • Woo 80431063 errors. I guess technically the PSN Store is “up” but there are no shopping carts and nobody at the registers. Have been trying to spend money since the store came back and it’s one 80431063 error after another. Was a heavy load on the store upon its return not anticipated?

  • what if I have one account but my brother has another, but were both on the same ps3, are we both entitled to the welcome back, and yes we both have paid for stuff in the past and I was a ps+ member before I got ylod

  • i think that error code is just a busy server

  • Someone posted on the Facebook site to do this if you lost your games

    IF YOU GET SCREWED OUT OF YOUR GAMES DUE TO THEM NOT SHOWING UP OR AN ERROR APPEARING, FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPERLY DOWNLOAD THEM

    go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to download the game for the slots you miss

  • I get error 80710D36 when I go into Account Management/Services List/SCEA Promotions and click “Select Content” It won’t give me the list of games.

  • How does Sony create a DDoS attack worse than the April outage? Announce that the “Welcome Back Package” is now available! Oh, man…. the store just died.

    Also, what’s up with the method for retrieving the games? I chose “FREE PS3 game package 1” then chose “FREE PS3 Game Package 2″ and now cannot download either because the real instructions were to back out (circle) after GET NOW on first package, then choose and download game before moving on to FREE PS3 Game Package 2.” Who knew I needed to read the fine print first? Hello, McFly???

  • Sir can i activate the psn plus even after years?It’s really good to know.

  • Thanks for the Transaction info! It worked for me to get both PS3 & PSP games that I ‘lost’ in the PS Store. :) I’d do it that way on purpose “next time” if given the chance, forget the “store” …

  • Hrm, gee, I guess, thanks for a couple of games i wasnt interested in or already own…

    How about getting the rest of the PSN back up and offer us something less insulting?

    In fact, dont bother, and dont bother making another console Sony. Your second rate cant cut it crap console was just done in, by yourself.

  • I think this is very cheap to notify people out of the blue on the same day that this welcome back program is to expire… many people are at work and will be pissed off that they missed their oppertunity.

  • Thanks Sony. Speaking for myself, I really appreciate you guys working so hard to make everything square, with the free identity theft protection, the free Playstation Plus, free Qriocity, the free games (can’t wait to play inFamous and Killzone Liberation!) and the free movies. Thank you! Is there anything special that will need to be done to access the free rentals? Or do you just need to select what is listed as free? Is there a limit the amount of free rentals we can download this weekend? Or is it as much as we can watch until Sunday?

  • @Eveoflight

    Did you read my post? THAT DIDN’T WORK! It gave me another error message, now it wont let me do it again… says i already downloaded it and i haven’t… i have no downloads, and it wont let me do it again

  • UM YEAH…. I CLICKED ON GAME 1 DOWNLOAD AND IT TOOK A WHILE AND THEN IT SAID ERROR OCCURED AND THEN A BUNCH OF OTHER MESSAGES STARTED POPPIN UP SO I EXITED OUT OF IT THE GOT BACK ON AND WENT TO THE SAME SCREEN AND THE OPTION GAME 1 DISAPPEARED BUT GAME 2 WAS STILL THERE SO I CLICKED ON IT AND IT WORKED FINE. SOOOOOO HOW DO I GET GAME 1 BACK.

  • I didnt follow the instructions @ didnt get to pick my 2 free titles. How do i get my 2 titles now?

  • so i downloaded game 1 and 2 but it didn’t give me any games or even game options. what should i do?

  • I’m having problems getting the Welcome Back games. I went into Game 1 and selected the Game 1 option and keep getting an error (I assume due to overwhelming response to the program being live) and when I go back to the Welcome Back page, Free Game 1 option disappears without me being able to select a game.

  • Well somehow i lost my free game thing and only can get 1 game for ps3 o_O

  • i clicked the get the welcome back button to get playstation plus then it said error now its gone and i still dont have the playstation plus.

  • I signed in to redeem my games and got and error message. Now I can only download one PS3 game and the game I tried to download is not in my history or anything. Can you guys fix this?

  • lol the servers are SOOOOOOO SLOOOOOWWWWWW

  • @257 Thank you very much

  • @280 same here i can only get 1 game lol

  • I went to services list like you said Morgan, and it worked. It took a while to get through the errors, but it eventually worked. Thanks for the free games Sony!

  • @274 JUDALATION

    LOL it expires on JULY 3rd. We are in the month of JUNE right now.

  • To everyone that error-ed out and can’t select games anymore, if you went to get free game 1 or 2 go to account management>transaction management> Services List and select SCEA Regional Promotion then get “Welcome Back: Free PS3 Game 1 or 2 and select get content and it will take you to a store page where you can select from the list of games. I just did it, stay calm, don’t panic, we can get through this.

  • ***********PLEASE READ************************

    “If this happened, go to the XMB and under the PlayStation Network column, go to Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions to download the game for that first slot.”

    I did this, it DIDN’T work, just gave me an error and never downloaded, now when I try again, it won’t let me… says it expires today, and I have 0 remaining… won’t let me get my first free game… So I guess I screwed….

    PLEASE HELP MORGAN, can I get a response? I need technical support here.

  • @ whomever posted the method to download the games.

    Thank you, dear sir. I just got at least one game, I’ll get my other one later when errors stop happening. I was frustrated till I tried the method, it really works. Thanks again.

  • 270
    + dbrb2fan on June 3rd, 2011 at 10:38 am said:

    Please read the post. It says July 3rd the option will be removed from Playstation Store. Please read before you comment.

  • for wipeout do we have to download thwe demo first when i go into transaction list it has all 3 demo fury and unlock im confused and i still cant get the game 1 to show up even in transaction list

  • Come on people its really not that freakin difficult. Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions>Whatever games that you need. Thanks Sony, this is comin from the heart, it really is a good company, and keep up on that security next time.

  • when i try downloading anything, my system says an error has occured. i was only able to download the free theme that was there. plus now the playstation plus offer has dissappeared from the store so now i cant get that either. i feel like im being cheated out of a really good offer. :(

  • So, I went to download my “Free PS3 Game 1” and I got an error code. Now it seems that I have lost my first free game download. What happened? I also cannot download my second free game because I keep getting an error code there also. What’s going on?

  • @Klokateer1986

    dont worry u aint the only one but i just lost one of my games

  • WTH? Now I’ve lost BOTH of my free PS3 game downloads!!! What happened?

  • Sorry to bother you but when I went to download WipEout as my first PS3 game it does not show up in my download history. Yet now it shows I can only download one PS3 game. So will I be reimbursed. Because I would hate to have lost out on one game. I don’t want to have to download the same game twice.

  • ummm i tried to do the Welcome Back thing to download my free game #1, and i chose Little Big Planet, and it said i couldnt download anything a the time, then it dissapeared. then i did the whole Account Management>Transaction Management>Services List>SCEA Promotions thing and it says i already downloaded something. but Little Big Planet isnt downloading. may i please have some assistance?

  • It said “CANNOT ACCESS AT THIS TIME”. Now my Game#2 AND OS PLUS ARE GONE.

    Please help.

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