As many of us are in the midst of dealing with life-changing circumstances thanks to COVID-19, not the least of which may include furloughs and lay-offs, Sony, it seems, is doing its part to give back a little. Yesterday Sony released on its blog information about a new venture called Play At Home. And its two goals are pretty straightforward: give people free games to play and help support small, independent studios that may be struggling at this time. 

On the player’s side of things, from now through May 5, 2020, PlayStation exclusives Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (or, Knack 2 if you happen to be in Germany or China) and Journey will be free to play (and keep) through digital download — no PS Plus subscription appears to be required. (Or, at least, the post didn’t directly say that it was.) And on the developer’s side, Sony indicated that it has “earmarked $10 million to support our independent development partners.” Information on accessing those funds is forthcoming.

All in all, these are pretty nice gestures on Sony’s part, especially in a time when every little bit of happiness counts tremendously. For some developers, have extra funding in a time of need is nothing less than a boon, for them and for the fans. If anything, we all need the creativity in game creation to keep flowing, and flowing harder than ever right now. Video games are playing a huge role in helping many of us deal with and get through this crisis, and the more open and accessible they are to everyone, the better. And hey, who can argue with four games for the price of zero?

You can read the full post from Sony about its Play At Home initiative here. Stay safe and play safe, friends.

Video from YouTube user PlayStation

Video from YouTube user PlayStation

Lede image © Sony Interactive Entertainment.