Sony Now Giving Away Free Games To Sell PS5s [Update: Only To Some Players]

Update 10/3/2023 3:38 p.m. ET: The promotion in question appears to be limited to pre-selected PSN accounts, presumably those who already have a PS4 and haven’t yet upgraded to a PS5. Since this article first went live, Sony has now added the disclaimer “Invitation Only” to the top of the support page about redeeming free games.

Original story follows.

Almost three years into their life, the “next-gen” gaming consoles haven’t received any price drops, but that doesn’t mean Sony isn’t doing some great deals to try and get PlayStation 5s out the door in 2023. The latest discount is a free game for anyone who buys a new PS5.

The deal started making the rounds on September 23, and includes a range of first-party exclusives that are normally priced at $US70 like God of War Ragnarök and The Last of Us Part 1. It’s part of a new upgrade program for PSN users that runs until October 20. During that period, anyone who buys a new PS5 and activates it will get to redeem a free game from the following list:

• 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
• The Last of Us Part I
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• Returnal
• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
• Death Stranding: Director’s Cut

Sci-fi shooter roguelike Returnal and the action-RPG Demon’s Souls remake are both currently full price at $US70. The Spider-Man games, including Spider-Man: Remastered and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, are both heavily discounted right now, and in fact you can get both for just $US40 by way of the Ultimate Edition of the latter which comes bundled with the former (that promotion ends September 28).

The latest PS5 deal comes as Sony is trying to hit a record-breaking 25 million consoles shipped for 2023. It comes after after the release of a discounted God of War Ragnarök bundle that included the console and game for $US510 total. That deal is still going on, in fact, so if you have the money and are looking to upgrade, you can basically get two free games with the purchase of a new PS5 at the moment.

This latest sales push also comes right before the release of Spider-Man 2 on October 20. It’ll be one of the first big Sony first-party blockbusters to be a “next-gen” PS5 exclusive. Sony clearly wants to sweeten the deal a bit to get more players to finally take the plunge.