According to Gamasutra, PlayStation Network users are now one step closer to claiming that “Welcome Back” package they’ve been promised. Assuming Sony doesn’t run into any more problems, they’re expected to launch the PlayStation Store on May 24th. Being that the storefront has been down for almost a month, Sony has a lot of catching up to do; and they’ve got an ambitious schedule to get things back on track.
To get everything back in order, Sony plans on pushing out new content twice a week for the next two weeks following the return. That may sound appealing, but what it really means is that gamers will have to wait even longer for content that should have already been available. All content that was originally set to release on April 26th will now be the first batch of releases available opening day, May 24th. Just three days later, Sony will make another large push releasing everything that had an original set date of May 3rd. After that, the next batch will be saved for the following week with releases scheduled May 31st and June 1st, in order to release everything else that was spread over the three-week downtime. Nothing is set in stone though, and content that is deemed more “urgent” may be pushed up. It’s likely this will be content that has been available on other platforms and was delayed for the PS3 because of the PSN downtime; however, any developer has the chance to argue their case.
There was no mention, though, if Sony was going to be offering any assistance to developers. After all, users are getting free content and subscriptions for their ‘troubles’, but when you think about it, the users were really the ones who were affected the least. Although it may have been tough, all you were really missing out on was game time, let’s be honest. To game developers though, you’re messing with their pay checks. These people are trying to make a living off their work, and if their content isn’t available to be purchased, they can’t make any money. Capcom corporate officer and SVP Christian Svensson estimated that their companies lost revenue could be in the “hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars”. That’s some pretty substantial cash flow. With that in mind, you might want to consider finding ways to support your favorite local developer if at all possible. Times are hard for everyone, especially the smaller studios, as can be seen by local Iowa City based studio BudCat Games which was recently closed by Activision in the Guitar Hero fiasco. So with that in mind, buy one of their games to tide you over, since you’re not getting your free games quite yet. Sony has stated that the “Welcome Back” package will not be available until the network has been ‘fully restored’.