Gaming

PlayStation Plus Subscribers in Danger of Losing Previous Free Game Forever

Sony really needs to fix this lingering PS Plus issue. 

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PlayStation Plus members are going to want to make sure they don’t make a key error that could lock them out of a previous free game that was part of the service. Since Sony added the PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers back in 2022, there have been some major issues tied to licensing that users have started to come across. Namely, games that are part of both the Game Catalog associated with PS Plus Extra and have also been free monthly titles in the past can have their license permissions switched, which can result in subscribers losing access in certain situations. Now, this is in danger of happening once again with a PlayStation game that will soon be delisted.

Recently, PlayStation announced that it would be removing LittleBigPlanet 3 from sale later this month on the PS Store. The removal is set to happen on October 31st and follows a prolonged period in which the servers for LittleBigPlanet 3 have been down. Previously, LBP 3 was a monthly free game on PS Plus back in February 2017, which is likely how many PlayStation users added it to their own digital library. If you were one of these people, though, you’ll want to make sure you don’t lose access to the title once it’s delisted by ignoring the version on the Game Catalog.

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In addition to being a monthly free game, LittleBigPlanet 3 has also been part of the PS Plus Game Catalog for quite some time. Compared to monthly free games, though, any titles that PS Plus users download through the Game Catalog are then looked upon as rentals rather than games that are outright owned. This means that once these games exit the PS Plus Game Catalog, which will be happening with LittleBigPlanet 3 this coming week, they’ll no longer be accessible.

The problem at the center of all of this is that any games downloaded via the Game Catalog can override previous licenses that PS Plus users might have already had. So if you already have the license of the the PS Plus version of LittleBigPlanet 3 that was up for grabs in February 2017, DO NOT try to download the iteration that’s listed on the Game Catalog. Doing so will completely alter the former license and you’ll see LittleBigPlanet 3 deleted from your PlayStation digital library in the weeks ahead.

Again, this is a confusing issue and it’s one that Sony hasn’t really drawn any attention to. Despite ongoing complaints from fans, it doesn’t look like any of the problems here will be resolved in the near future for one reason or another. As such, we’re simply trying to point out the issue so that you don’t lose the ability to play LittleBigPlanet 3 in the future.

[H/T PlayStation Lifestyle]