Sony adds Game Trials feature to PS5

Publish date: 2022-03-27

Sony has added a new Game Trials feature to PlayStation 5.

The feature is live now on PS5 - apparently in the UK only - for just two games: Death Stranding Director's Cut and Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

The Digital Foundry video breakdown of Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PlayStation 5.

Head to the PlayStation Store listing for either game and you'll see the option to download a free trial.

The Death Stranding trial offers six hours of playtime, whereas the Sackboy trial offers five hours. There's a catch, though - and a pretty big one at that: according to the small print, the timer begins from the moment you hit "download trial" via console, or "add to library" via web.

This is a maddening decision on Sony's part - I'm downloading the Death Stranding trial now and my PS5 tells me it'll be nearly two hours before I've downloaded enough data to start playing, and three hours until all data is downloaded. That means I'll have just a few hours of my trial left to play the game.

The small print also mentions one trial per account per game, and Game Trial only applies to the PS5 versions of games. The trials are only available until 11:59pm on 28th October, the fine print continues.

Also of note: game add-ons/DLC bought during the trial can only be used with the full version of the game, if purchased. And saved game data and trophies carry forward to the full version of the game if purchased.

It's a cool new feature for PS5, and I hope it's extended to more games. But the decision to start the timer from the moment you hit download is horrible, and I hope Sony has a change of heart on that.

Until then, redditor jsnals suggests a workaround I wish I'd seen before I started downloading the Death Stranding trial:

  • Make a new account with same region with your main account
  • Click Download Trial on new account
  • After download, go to main account and click on Download Trial
  • Because you downloaded before, you don't need download again and can play
  • Enjoy

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