One of the most embarrassing oversights on the PlayStation Store is that, up until very recently, you couldn’t purchase a game if you’d previously claimed it courtesy of a PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now subscription. This meant that, if you’d added a title to your library but let your membership lapse, the only way for you to access it was to resubscribe to the service you'd obtained it through.
Fortunately, the error has now been fixed. As you can see from the screenshot embedded above, we downloaded Dead Cells via our PS Now subscription, after it was added last week. Thus, we have the option to either start it or purchase it at full-price. We could outright buy the game now, and it’d be ours to keep – even after it’s removed from the PS Now catalogue.
The same is true of Fall Guys: we obtained the title through August 2020’s free PS Plus update. But by visiting the release’s page on the PS Store, we have the option to either start the game or purchase it. This resolves a lot of headaches that we’d had with Sony’s storefront in the past, so it’s nice to see it quietly adjust this so we can, y’know, give the company even more of our money.
Comments 58
Cant believe it took them that long to fix this. tragic.
Come now do we really believe this was an oversight?
Not checked to see if it's been included as part of the fix, but there's a similar problem with EA Access titles.
Dead cells was free? Omg...i missed out
PS+ and Now integration confirmed for PS5... jk jk
Thank god though, its only taken 5 years.
@gmxs phew
Yet, somehow the wish list is still only on the website.....
@Cutmastavictory It wasn't free, it's part of Playstation Now, so if you subscribe you can play it. It was never a PS Plus game.
That means I can dispense with the quarantine account I put PlayStation now in at the end of my subscription period.
So 2 things : the option is only available on the PS4 Store, not on the WebStore (I haven't tested the PS3 or Vita store yet...). Which is a shame since I purchase my game via the WebStore.
Second thing, I checked a random game (Limbo) to see if the option was here and, on the PS4 Store, I noticed a little "PS Now" stamp next to the game. Which is weird since in Turkey, we don't have PS Now. That would lend some weight to the rumor that PS Now will be made more widely available around the world, and even maybe that PS Plus and PS Now will be merged.
Can someone from another country without PS Now check if they can see that stamp?
Now the wishlist please...
Hallelujah!!! Been irritating me for years. The number of vita games i would have bought when on sale is insane. And now im unlikely to see them on sale again. At least its now sorted
To be fair I would prefer it if they would change the system so that games you claim or have claimed on PS+ are yours to keep even if your subscription expires. It's something that Microsoft allows through GwG. It's one of the few things that feels better than Sony's version.
It's rare that something 'big' is offered on there anyway so losing access to the games that have been offered may not entice people to resubscribe, but the incentive of keeping the games claimed might be enough to keep people paying to play the 'lottery' of wondering what next month's offering will be.
@Feena
YES! A wishlist is long overdue. And gifting. I've bought games a few times as physical copies for my friend who doesn't have much money and digital gifting would be more convenient for such a scenario.
I primarily buy physical for myself but this option would be ideal for him.
Anyone else got Superhot mind control deletefor free for free for already owning previous Superhots, but it still shows for £19.99 on the store even though it's in my library.
I've tried restoring licences but to no avail.
Makes my OCD hurt.
I know someone has been banging on about this for years. Finally he can stfu about it. No doubt he will find something else to constantly moan about.
Good, it's annoying that ps users can't buy games when it's already free on psplus. Sometimes I just want to keep the games forever on my ps4 account without psplus, or buy it when the game is discounted, or if I want to support the devs.
Great, now I can BUY exactly SAME game that I have already in library...
As same as if I put my game disc into PS4, it recommends me to buy it digitally. "Yes I've inserted that disc, not to play game, but to buy it second time.".... really great way how to robb children or not so smart players...
@Feena @GADG3Tx87 There is a Wishlist option on the Webstore if you are interested.
I would advise to use the webstore whenever you can, its layout, speed and ease of use is far superior to the PS4 Store.
@Olmaz Yes, when I tried webstore, it has somehow screwed my credit card information list in ps store system, so it pops that famous error WC-40382-7 now I had to revert back to prepaid wallet codes.
@Olmaz
I use this, but it definitely needs an overhaul. Limit of 100 games. You can't drag items around and order them how you want. When you purchase something off of it it does not automatically disappear from the wish list.
@djlard I had a problem with my credit card 6-7 years ago, but after that it has been a smooth ride. Sorry to hear you had troubles too.
It's clear Sony has to step up its game relative to its store. It's mind-blowing that the main interface for customers to give them money is so finicky to use!
Hallelujah! Shame the PS4 is nearly at the end of it's life pre-PS5 for this to actually change.
@Akimi Agree on all your points. Sony is really lacking in term on store interface. Shouldn't it be one the main and first priorities of a enterprise to offer a clear, easy to use, attractive and addictive storefront?
Good.
Now add a f*&king wishlist for Christ's Sake.
This was one of many jaw-dropping deficiencies of the PS store. My biggest gripe with the store is how half-assed the sale updates are. On the Canadian store, I regularly see banners/tiles on the home page for a new sale that has just gone "live" and when you click the link it takes you to a page with either no titles listed or only some titles (often without the sale prices listed yet). They apparently don't have some sort of process where all the titles and sale prices are pre-loaded before the public sees them, which is quite amazing for an online store from a huge corporation in 2020.
@Olmaz yes, I use it! But it doesn’t send me email when the games of my wishlist are on sale or anything
@Feena Yes, I know, Sony strikes again.
Personally I stopped using the store except to purchase what I've already decided I'm going to purchase. To know what is new, to see the discounts and get notifications, I use this site : https://psprices.com
But we shouldn't have to use third party sites (with all the risks it can bring) just because Sony isn't capable of making a good store!
@Futureshark Well, here we are several weeks later, and PSN still doesn't show my free copy of MCD either, though I bought the original game the week it launched with my own money.
@Mega-Gazz I was about to say the same. How hard is to add a friggin’ wish list?!
They fix it at the end of the ps4 era... it's a joke, right ?
Now we just need a search/filter option on the download list.
Wow, only took them 13 years. Now fix the slow, glitchy store UI and horrible layout, and the PS4 shop will finally be tollorable.
Thank god for that, I'm not always subscribed to plus and find it infuriating that I can't buy games like Sonic Mania
Okay, glad they'd fixed that up-hadn't realized that was the case! (Think I was lucky when I'd gotten Trine 2 on ps plus & could still buy the dble pack ages ago. Kept plus going thru the years as there's a cple of ones like Scott Pilgrim & Tranformers Devastation that'd been delisted otherwise. And Beyond Good & Evil HD never got to ps4 either. Console Wishlist (rather than pc psn storefront),& gifting def.,would be nice...though with the rinse & repeat AAA psn sales recently the wishlists tend to gather cobwebs sadly!
Sometimes I wanted to buy a game that I already had on PS+ now it is finally possible.
Not working for me. If I view Fall Guys on the PS4 store I only get the option to Start, no "Add to Cart £15.99" as per the example above.
Anyone else?
PS. Running beta firmware v8.00 b3 if that makes any difference.
It's really dumb how you don't actually own these "free games." It was good how in the 360 era even when your gold ran out you still had access to the games you got from the subscription. Now all they really are are games for you to rent.
That's nice they have fixed it. I doubt I'll ever let ps plus expire, so it's nice to hear news about the other side.
The only time this would be redundant, is if the game is multiplayer only.
Here, you can buy this game if you no longer have PS Plus, but you'll need PS plus to take part in the multiplayer, so therefore the purchase would be completely unnecessary. I hope these instances have been locked off.
The biggest issue I've had with the Playstation Store for over a decade is that it only accepts US dollars in my region, rendering certain credit cards either useless or with ridiculous exchange rates. (There's also no official exchange rate publicly available, you learn about it through trial and error.)
I get the need for clickbait articles, but yeah, far from the most serious flaw that the store has.
I'd argue that the download list and the way the wishlist works are far worse problems.
I have sometimes wanted to buy game bundles, but couldn't because I've gotten one or more games through PS+. I hope this fixes it.
“Biggest flaw” is still the way the PSN account is funded.
This was actually a serious problem. I quit PS+ years ago and this was a major reason. I never wanted to download the free games if I thought I would want to own it long term. Because I knew I couldn't ever buy it even after I stopped the subscription.
@GADG3Tx87 I’ll correct you since nobody else has; your comment of keeping your games on GwG is more than a little disingenuous. You only get to keep the backwards compatible Xbox 360 games, not the Xbox One games .
That good and all but can they just overhaul the entire store? It kinda sucks to navigate. Although saying that the eShop and Microsoft store suck as well.
now, if only you could purchase for a friend.
@HollowSpectre the ABSOLUTE WORST is the Nintendo eStore. I've never seen a bigger POS design.
I don't plan on ever buying any PS+ games I have, but good to know the option finally exists!
Does this mean mgs4 is available to buy and download, since its apart of a subscription service?
@Rob_230 Same here it made me not download a few games.
@Party_Cannon Sorry i have no friends for me its the wishlist on my PS4.
@get2sammyb Nice article explains why the PSN Store needs an enitre overhaul.
Here is my situation: Active PS Plus membership here in the USA. Cannot buy Uncharted 4, Bloodborne, or the TLOU. Got those free via PS Plus. Can buy Heavy Rain, Detroit Become Human, God of War 3, Got those free from PS Plus as well.
Select games only?
Got any answers to why its not every game sold on the PSN Store?
Tested this out so this is what I found myself. USA Account with Active PS Plus Sub. The Free PS Plus Games were already installed.
Bought the Quantic Dream Bundle which includes: Detroit Become Human, Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls.
Already got via PS Plus free: Detroit Become Human and Heavy Rain. After purchase it showed Full Game is unlocked for these two and Beyond Two Souls was marked for Download. You did not have to download them again if they were already installed.
If your in your library under PS Plus games at the bottom left, I noticed that Both Heavy Rain and Detroit were removed.
Same Thing happened when I bought God of War 3.
Although still unable to purchase Bloodborne and Uncharted 4, these were given out via PS Plus also.
Why don’t someone remove this article, it’s a lie, you still can’t buy PS Plus games and never will as long as you have a ps plus’s account, so if you intend to buy a game later never take it as a game of the month.
They did not fix this completely. If you own one part of a bundle you still can't buy the entire bundle in many cases. I'll give you a few recent examples, I got Bloodbourne for free when it was offered on PS+. The Old Hunters DLC was $15-20, but the Bloodbourne GOTY Edition was on sale for $7.50, but it would not let me purchase it. Gave me the error, you own Bloodbourne so you can't purchase the GOTY Edition. Another example, I was trying to buy some pack of remakes on sale, but I owned one of the games in the pack and couldn't buy it. Just today, I was going to download Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition for $50 because it's half price right now, but because I previously purchased a used Borderlands 3 physical copy my only options is to pay $80 for both season passes and STILL not get some of the extras included despite paying more.
I can't find the link, but on reddit I saw people talking about the Bloodbourne deal specifically awhile back and apparently the only way to possibly resolve it is contact playstation and tell them to remove the purchase from your account (this article says they fixed the PS+ and PSNow issues with free games, but if you pay for any part of a GOTY or Bundle of Games it doesn't seem to work). I can't say if that works for sure or not because I've been on hold with Playstation Customer Service for almost 2 hours just so I can get them to revoke the rights to a used physical copy of a game I've bought, played, and sold only then will they POSSIBLY allow me to give them $50 for the complete version of the game. It would be one thing if it was a digital copy I bought that was still installed on my machine, but they basically aren't letting me buy a game because I briefly put in a disc of the game previously which makes ZERO SENSE. Finding an actual customer service phone number for PSN where you could talk to a human being was difficult enough, but a 2+ hour wait?
They really need to change the way purchases work in the Playstation Network Store. Microsoft was killing them in this area before Smart Delivery... The Xbox Dashboard is garbage, but Sony's isn't much better and the way you purchase things on Xbox is much more user friendly. I'm not a fan boy of either console, I follow the games. If Sony customer service doesn't help me with this then I will just buy it on PC.
@AbjectSilence this is the issue I am having I bought ride 3 and don't want to pay 32 pounds for dlc now the gold edition is for sale 10 pounds but it won't let me buy it it's very frustrating
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