You have to read the fine print when it comes to the free PlayStation 5 game offer…

Sony launched this promotion in the United States back in September, where PlayStation Network users over the age of 18 who activate their new PlayStation 5 by 23:59 PDT on October 20, 2023 will receive a free game. If you ignore the location restriction (although if you’re using a VPN you can probably skip that, unless you’re asked for your home address or something), the offer is pretty reasonable.

But Sony has twisted the plan, and not in a very positive way. Several people on social media have pointed out that Sony has sneakily changed the terms of the promotion so that it’s now “invitation only”, meaning that not all US “PlayStation 5 newbies” might be able to take advantage of the free game (which is funny because only one of the games was not developed in-house by Sony, so it’s mostly PlayStation Studios creations that are being offered in the promotion).

Invited players can choose from the following games Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Demon’s Souls Remake, The Last of Us Part I, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Returnal, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut. Death Stranding was developed by Kojima Productions, and perhaps Demon’s Souls Remake stands out a bit, as the remake of From Software’s PS3 exclusive was a joint effort between the now closed Japanese studio and Bluepoint Games.

Sony’s goal for the fiscal year ending in March is to ship 25 million PlayStation 5s, breaking a 25-year-old record set when the first PlayStation shipped 22.6 million units in 12 months. (And 1994-1995 was a very different time for the games industry, too; it’s surprising the PlayStation 2 didn’t break it).

Source: VGC