A long-running issue with Sony’s PlayStation Plus and Now subscriptions has finally been fixed, and it only took 10 years.
For those not aware of how the feature works, PS Plus, unlike Microsoft’s Games With Gold subscription, doesn’t allow users who download each month’s free games to continue playing if their membership lapses. Naturally, these licences are subsequently renewed, should PS Plus be reactivated, though in instances where the license was not renewed, problems began to arise.
Chief among these apparent oversights was the inability for any lapsed Plus or Now user to purchase a game that had previously been downloaded as part of either. Attempting to purchase Call of Duty: WWII after downloading it through the former and without renewal, for example, would simply not work, as the PlayStation Store would wrongly flag your account as already owning it.
As of a recent update deployed by Sony, however, that’s no longer the case. As noted by Sh3si over on Reddit, games claimed through this method can now be purchased in full without first having an active subscription, with the store now seemingly being able to differentiate between all three licenses.
In regards to why Sony has only now deigned it necessary to fix the issue is anyone’s guess, though better late than never, right? A welcome fix, then, but Microsoft – while lacking in the first-party department this generation – still remains leagues ahead of its competitor in terms of accessibility and the all-important customer experience. Game Pass continues to provide unparalleled value for money to all Xbox owners, to the extent that many believed the software giant would soon be phasing out the paywall for online play as a means of enticing more potential Xbox owners into the fold.
That now appears not to be the case, at least not for the foreseeable future, though who’s to say when or if that will change?
