A number of PS Store pages have been pulled after players discovered a way to download entire games from their demo pages.
Earlier this week, Resetera user nolifebr highlighted a bug allowing PS4 users to download games included in the PS Plus Collection, which is only available to PS5 players. While the original post stemmed from a Brazilian user, other posters said they'd managed to use the tool in locations across Europe and North America.
Nolifebr said that they uncovered the trick by downloading the Resident Evil 7 demo on the PS Store. After opening the demo, they could choose to buy the game, heading to the PS Store, and picking the second version on the list. With an active PS Plus subscription in place, the Store would then grant a full version of the game, via the PS Plus Collection.
While the bug was live, players discovered that the trick could be replicated for any game in the collection with a demo available for PS4, downloading full versions of Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition, Battlefield 1, and Monster Hunter: World. It now seems, however, that Sony has grown wise to the scheme and taken action.
When I attempted to replicate the process outlined by nolifebr on my PS4, I was unable to find the demo pages on the PS Store. Searching via Google on my desktop did bring up the pages, but navigating through to them resulted in an error message. Sony doesn't appear to have publicly acknowledged the bug, but it does seem to have taken action to prevent more players getting their hands on free games.
It's not clear what will happen to the games that have already been downloaded - while they were originally playable, Sony may have revoked access. There's also been some speculation that this could mean the PS Plus Collection is heading to PS4, but that's just community guesswork at this point. We reached out to Sony for more information, but did not receive a reply prior to publication.
For a closer look at the future of PlayStation, here's our list of upcoming PS5 games.
