Reminder: Horizon Zero Dawn is free on PS4 and PS5 today
Sony’s Play at Home initiative sees another game added to its free library
Sony will make Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn free for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 console owners today.
As part of Sony’s Play at Home initiative, the first-party title will be available for free download between April 19 at 8:00pm PT / April 20 04:00 BST / 05:00 CEST and May 14 at 8:00pm Pacific Time / May 15 04:00 BST / 05:00 CEST.
The free version is the Complete Edition of Horizon, which includes the Frozen Wilds expansion, various weapon and outfit packs, a digital art book and PS4 theme.
As part of the Play At Home initiative, PS4 and PS5 owners can currently claim a selection of ten PS4 indie games and PS VR titles, including Rez Infinite, Subnautica and Astro Bot Rescue Mission.
The free games are:
- Abzû
- Enter the Gungeon
- Rez Infinite
- Subnautica
- The Witness
- Astro Bot Rescue Mission
- Moss
- Thumper
- Paper Beast
A trial of anime-focused subscription service Funimation (Wakanim in Europe) is also being offered to PlayStation users between March 25 and April 22.
Announcing the latest giveaways in a PlayStation Blog post last month, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said: “We’ll have more to share soon. We appreciate the support from the PlayStation community, and hope you enjoy our latest content drop – please stay safe and thanks for playing!”
In November 2020, Ryan suggested Sony may have an ace up its sleeve in terms of replying to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, which could have been a nod to its plans to expand the Play At Home initiative.
Play At Home was revealed in April 2020, when Sony said it had been designed to promote social distancing and aid indie game developers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey were given away free, while a $10 million indie support fund was announced to help struggling creators.
As part of the Play At Home initiative, PS4 and PS5 owners could also claim a free digital copy of 2016’s Ratchet & Clank before March 31.
The PlayStation Plus Collection arrived in late 2020, offering a library of 20 PS4 games which PlayStation Plus subscribers can play on PS5.
Asked in November if there were plans to grow the collection, which currently consists of 10 first-party games and 10 third-party ones, Ryan told GQ Sony is taking a wait and see approach.
“Well, we’re going to wait and see how the world receives the Plus Collection,” he said. “You know, which games are played how much they’re played before we make any decisions about that.
“We think it’s potentially going to be a great user acquisition tool. Arguably if you never had a PS4 and you choose to buy a PS5 you basically get a PS4, right?”