You remember the PSN Store did those special discounts last year? Basically, the Store guys went to a load of developers and said “these are not the download prices you’re looking for,”
Amazingly, this Jedi mind trick seemed to work and us happy PSN Store customers ended up with some pretty impressive discounts. I remember it well, my credit card company sent me a thank you card.
Well, it seems like they’ve been working hard in the interim to get more special deals prepared for the store and this time, they’ve tied it all up into a full on promotion. Starting on August 24th, they’re launching a new yearly initiative called PLAY. Stick with us, this one has several layers of bonuses and discounts to keep track of.
Starting on August 24th, for four weeks, there will be a big PSN release. You will be able to pre-order each game for a short while before it becomes available to download and in doing so, you’ll get access to a new theme, free of charge. On top of that, customers who buy the titles during the PLAY promotion, which runs until September 20th, will not only get the game they paid for, they’ll also get another, entirely separate piece of DLC for that game.
So, if you pre-order (and they’re going to start taking orders for all four titles in this year’s promotion from August 10th) then you’ll get the game, the bonus DLC for buying during the PLAY promotional period plus a free theme for pre-ordering. On top of that, PlayStation Plus subscribers are going to receive a 20 percent discount on all purchases of PLAY titles made before September 20th, when the promotion expires.
Oh, and one final bit of good news. If you buy all four titles in the PLAY promotional period (10th August – 20th September) then you’ll qualify for a completely free copy of PayDay: The Heist when it is released later this Autumn. That game is also going to be available for pre-order between 20th and 29th of September, for those who don’t take advantage of the bonus PLAY deal.
Here are the titles involved and their respective launch dates:
- August 10th – Pre-orders start for all four games in the promotion.
- August 24th – Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition, €14.99. Bonus DLC is a character, Gill, who is unlocked from day one rather than having to beat the entire game to get at them. The pre-order bonus is a theme produced by Capcom. Pre-orders can be made up to August 18th.
- August 31st – The Baconing, €12.99. Bonus DLC is an additional co-op character called Roesha. Pre-orders can be made up until August 25th and will entitle you to a free static theme, exclusive to PLAY.
- September 7th – BloodRayne: Betrayal, €12.99. Bonus DLC is an exclusive dynamic theme and a virtual item for your PlayStation Home avatar. In addition to this, pre-orders will be taken up to September 1st and will entitle you to another static theme, exclusive to PLAY.
- September 14th – Renegade Ops, €12.99. Bonus DLC is a vehicle and character pack featuring two new vehicles and special weapons. Pre-orders are taken up to September 8th and entitle you to a static theme, exclusive to PLAY.
- September 20th – PLAY promotion closes. Get your games bought before this day to ensure you qualify for the free copy of PayDay: The Heist!
Paranoimia
One of these days they’ll do a promotion on games I actually want to buy. :-(
Origami Killer
was about to say the same thing, wan’t none of these games
GamingBlueBoy
Neither do I .
cam the man
One of these days they’ll do a promotion on racing games, I might want one of them. Although knowing my luck I’ll already own them.
bigdon23
SO TRUE
Saying that they wouldnt be selling under a promotion if they expected big sales!
Kovacs
Finally. Sony’s “Summer of Arcade” equivalent. Kinda.
At lest it’s not COMPLETELY the same. I’m interested.
embryo69
Beat me to the Summer of Arcade analogy.
embryo69
Seems pretty cool. A bit like the Summer of Arcade for xbox. I have no clue if the games are any good though. I will keep a look out for any TSA reviews and Giantbomb.com quicklooks.
jonny_bolton
You can’t please everyone and while I appreciate that the discounts and the rewards are good for those that want them, I unfortunately am not tempted even slightly by those games.
jonny_bolton
Also, what the hell is “The Baconing”? If it’s a game about Kevin Bacon then I am interested.
Kovacs
Third part of the DeathSpank series.
Person678
The Baconing is the third DeathSpank title. They dropped the DeathSpank name for some reason.
jonny_bolton
Sooooooo, no Kevin Bacon?
Forrest_01
If it was Roger from American Dad & his adventures as Kevin Bacon, i would be interested.
Alas, it is not.
CNWLshadow
Looking though the list the only game that slightly interests me is PayDay. Chances are most of the games will appear even cheaper in the future with PSN+.
wuntunzee
Maybe, but I think 20% off straight away is better than two in the bush, yuh feel me?
Lord_Gremlin
Fascinating. I mean, all different games, but I don’t want any of them. Even for free. PS Store. Store. Store never changes.
flatspikes
Great idea, not so sure on the titles featured though… The games all seem to be £7.99+ too. Perhaps next time
scavenga
Looks like I’ll be paying full price for PayDay: The Heist, then. Unfortunately not interested in any of the four Store games.
Nice concept, though.
Youles
Definately getting Renegade Ops – 4-player Co-op? Yes please! With extra DLC, Theme and 20% discount too…good job!
Jim H [Teabags]
Renegade Ops is the only one I’m considering. I will be picking up Payday straight away however.