There is no such thing as a free lunch. Or, to put it simply, everything “free” comes with a catch, even if it comes at the last minute.
Last week, Sony decided to double down on its previous price cuts and keep the sales of the PlayStation 5 coming in by announcing the Upgrader Program. At the time of its initial reveal, Sony implied that anyone who bought a new PS5 was entitled to get a free game as long as they activated their console before October 5. But, now, it appears that Sony has made changes to better reflect the name of the promotion.
In what appears to be a “last-minute” alteration to the deal, the Upgrader Program is now “BY INVITATION ONLY” and presumably only applies to those who already own a PlayStation 4 but haven’t upgraded to a PS5 yet.
The selection of free games for the Upgrader Program are as follows:
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered
- God of War: Ragnarök
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut
- Rachet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Demon’s Souls
- The Last of Us: Part 1
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Returnal
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
- Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
As you can see, the list consists of PlayStation 5 exclusive titles from first-party studios and/or next-gen upgrades to the exclusives that are published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, like Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, which makes sense. You wouldn’t exactly want to potentially get a freebie of a game that you already own.
It’s unclear if the last-minute addition was a clarification made after realizing something following the announcement or if it was meant to come after the fact.
Regardless, it’s clear that Sony is serious about wanting to sell 25 million PS5 units this fiscal year. While it doesn’t have a strong first-party lineup to help it get there, the combination of price cuts and promotions should do the trick. Not to mention, the lone PS5 exclusive for the lucrative holiday season is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, a full sequel to the best-selling PS4 game.
Speaking of, with the holidays just right around the corner, we’re expecting big box retailers to run promotions to help Sony move even more PS5 units.
Technically, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 isn’t the “only” PS5 exclusive coming this holiday season. Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition, which comes in two discs, hits the store shelves on October 6 and contains both the base game and its PS5-exclusive expansion, Burning Shores. Afterwards, fans can look forward to the release of another PS5 exclusive (albeit not a first-party title), Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, on February 29.
