In case this miraculously escaped you, humanity has been going through a period of turbulence for almost two years, based on crowned viruses and other house arrest. Fortunately, the players that we are have been able to take advantage of the good graces of some, such as the “Play at Home” program.
It was in April 2020, that is to say an eternity (or so) ago: faced with a planet summoned to change its habits under penalty of seeing the species which squatters its surface the most, Sony decided to launch a new program designed to make isolation less painful for us players. Her name : Play at Home.
At the time, confined adventurers could download for free Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey, before the operation is renewed in February 2021. Precisely with Ratchet & Clank, to finally offer all at once a dozen titles in April.
60 million consumers locked up
Asked about this Play at Home program by our colleagues from Games Industry, Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan calmly took stock of the operation:
We offered this service when we were all hit hard by the first confinement. We thought it would be a good thing to do, and we were very pleased with the reaction from the audience. And then Christmas came, and we finally got re-set… it was a little sad. We thought it would be a good thing to do again. So we started over, this time over a period of several months, players finally downloaded 60 million games.
COVID long?
Crowned with this success which places the manufacturer in the shoes of a great prince concerned about his flock, could Sony again be as magnanimous? The answer is undoubtedly positive, but the conditions to be fulfilled quite undesirable:
Could we do it again? It all depends on the situation vis-à-vis the Covid, we will observe its evolution. If we were to be reconfigured – and I hope not – until 2022 or beyond, who knows? We might feel the duty to restart the operation.
So you will have understood it: to enjoy again a few freely accessible titles, it will again be necessary to fall within the scope of a globalized confinement, a prospect which is obviously not encouraging. Ask Australians, to see …
