Now that certain PSN services have been restored and you’re once again enjoying online gaming, it seems a good time to confirm what is being offered as part of the Welcome Back programme.

Once we restore PlayStation Store, which will be just a little while longer, you will have the opportunity to claim your Welcome Back gifts. Please note that the Welcome Back programme is only available for those countries with access to PlayStation Store*.

All existing PlayStation Network members will be able to access the following from PlayStation Store*:

Two PS3 games from the following list:

• LittleBigPlanet
• Infamous*
• Wipeout HD/Fury
• Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty
• Dead Nation*

For those with PSP accounts, you will also be eligible to download two PSP games from the following list:

• LittleBigPlanet PSP
• ModNation PSP
• Pursuit Force
• Killzone Liberation*

- 30 days free PlayStation Plus membership for non PS Plus subscribers*

- Existing PlayStation Plus subscribers will be given 60 days free subscription.

- For existing Music Unlimited subscribers, you will be given 30 days free subscription.

- We are working on a Welcome Back offer in PlayStation Home and will share that when it is confirmed.

I would like to thank all of the developers and publishers involved in this programme for their support in making this happen. We certainly couldn’t have done it without you.

You will be able to access this content once PlayStation Store comes back online and we are doing everything we can to make that happen as soon as possible.

Thank you for your support and keep checking back on the blog for more information.

1. For eligibility for the welcome back programme consumers must be an account holder on 20 April 2011. Specific details about these offers and eligibility requirements will be posted as the services go live. All existing PSN registrants have 30 days from when the welcome back programme goes live to redeem their content.
2. For the German market, InFamous and Dead Nation will be replace with Super Stardust HD and Hustle Kings in the selection of PS3 games.
3. For the German market, Pursuit Force and Killzone Liberation will be replaced with Everybody’s Golf 2 and Buzz Junior Jungle Party in the selection of PSP games. Killzone Liberation will not offer online gameplay functionality.
4. Access to the 30 days free PS Plus subscription is only available for those countries where PS Plus is offered. You will have access to the PS Plus content planned for May for 30 days. Access to the free games and exclusive features finishes at the end of the 30-day subscription period. Anything you buy with exclusive discounts, dynamic themes and premium avatars are yours to keep forever.

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Now that PlayStation Network is once again operational, a great many of you are once again enjoying playing games online. Of course, that’s only part of the Network’s offerings – and you’ve got some questions about how the downtime affected planned releases and online events. Here are answers to some of the more pressing queries:

Q: So what exactly is working right now?
A: Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity (including the resetting of passwords), online gameplay for PS3 and PSP, playback of rental video content on PS3 (if within rental period), Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity on PS3 (for current subscribers), access to services such as Mubi and Vidzone, “Friends” category on PS3 (including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc), and PlayStation Home.

Q: I’m having trouble changing my password/I forgot which email I used on my account/I used a fake email to set up my account.
A: Visit eu.playstation.com/ps3psn for a set of tips on resetting your password. If you’ve gone through the process and are waiting for an email from us, please note that the very large number of requests has caused certain ISPs to slow the rate at which recipients get emails from us. Please be patient as the systems work through the backlog.

Q: The PlayStation Store hasn’t updated since April 19th. When can I download digital games that were planned to be released since then?
A: To date, three Wednesday publishes were missed and rest assured that you won’t miss any of this great content. To catch up on the large amount of material, we’ll be publishing to the PlayStation Store multiple times per week once commerce functionality is restored. We will update the PlayStation.Blog with information on timing of the Store restoration, as well as the full list of new content as each publish occurs.

Q: How will PlayStation Plus members be affected by the PSN downtime? A number of games/items were slated to go live or come down on April 26th.
A: We will be picking back up with the PlayStation Plus content calendar right where we left off, to ensure that you won’t miss out on anything.

Q: Sucker Punch has indicated that they will extend the inFAMOUS 2 beta. Any details?
A: Sucker Punch is evaluating extending the inFAMOUS 2 beta, as well as expanding its scope. Stay tuned for more details here in the coming days.

Q: Is anything special planned for the SOCOM: Special Forces multiplayer community?
A: Zipper will announce details on activities to re-engage fans of SOCOM: Special Forces who have patiently waited to play online.

Q: How can I redeem the Welcome Back offer that was mentioned by Kazuo Hirai? What’s in it?
A: Hang tight – we’ll be announcing all the details soon.

Q: When will the PlayStation.Blog start talking about games again?
A: Tomorrow! Thank you for bearing with us as our role changed over the past few weeks. James will be back tomorrow and will be talking games every day leading up to E3, which is just a few short weeks away.

If you’ve got a PSN-related question that remains to be answered, please ask below, and we’ll do our best to answer.

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Some of you have mentioned that you have not received your password reset emails. With the huge number of people coming back online at the same time and resetting their passwords, it is creating significant email traffic to ISPs. The consequence is that some of the ISPs are throttling the emails.

We are currently trying to resolve this, but in the meantime please be patient and refrain from submitting multiple requests. You will receive you reset email and be able to get back to enjoying your online gaming.

Update:
We’re currently experiencing an extremely heavy load of password resets, so we recently had to turn off services for approximately 30 minutes to clear the queue.

If you’ve requested your password reset, please give it a bit of time to reach your email.

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We have been working on a new PS3 system software update that requires all PSN users to change their password once PlayStation Network is restored. The update (v3.61) is mandatory and is available now.

If using a PS3, your password can only be changed on your own PS3 (or a PS3 on which your PSN account was activated), as an added layer of security. If you have never downloaded any content using your account on the system, an email will be sent to the registered sign-in ID (email address) associated with your account when you first attempt to sign-in to PSN. This e-mail will contain a link that will enable you to change your password. In this email, click on the link and follow the instructions to change your password. Once you have changed your password you can sign-in to your account using your new password.

We strongly recommend that all PSN account holders with PS3s update their systems to prepare for when PlayStation Network is back online. The release of this update is a critical step as we work to make PlayStation Network significantly more secure. Thank you for your continued support and patience.

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