PlayStation Taking Back Free Game It Accidentally Gave Away

PlayStation has taken back a game that it had previously offered for free in October, restricting access to players who managed to add it to their libraries without paying for it. The withdrawal of access appears to be a corrective move by PlayStation to cover up a pricing mistake that was only on the PlayStation Store for a short period of time.

The game that’s currently causing the stir is Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, which was developed by Mimimi Productions and first made the jump to PlayStation 4 in 2017. Set after the unification of war-torn Japan, the game puts players in control of a small team of stealthy characters as they use their skills to sneak around, sabotage, and assassinate targets, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the current shogun. While its initial arrival didn’t include a ton of fanfare, it has impressed professional critics and players alike, as its approval rating of 94 percent on Steam can attest.

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PlayStation Takes Back a Free Game it Offered in October

But some players who had received Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun for free a few months ago are realizing that it’s no longer accessible in their libraries, which appears to be an intentional move by PlayStation to correct a mistake on the PlayStation Store. Back on October 17, the game had reportedly gone free on PlayStation, which appeared to have been done in error, since the window of time for claiming the free game was not officially announced, and players had only a couple of hours to claim it before its price went back up again. While no moves were made at the time to take back the game from any players who had snagged it inside that short timeframe, new reports are showing that Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is no longer playable for players who erroneously got it for free.

There doesn’t seem to be an official public announcement from PlayStation regarding the game being taken back from players who got it for free in October, and there’s no real clear indication of how many players are being affected by the apparent mistake. However, some players of the feudal Japan-based strategy game may already be aware that they’ve lost access to Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, as there are reports of them having received unsolicited refund requests from PlayStation bearing the game’s name and showing a refund amount of $0.00.

Fortunately for those who have lost access, PlayStation’s reversal of the free game comes at an opportune time, as the PlayStation Holiday Sale is currently offering deals on more than 6,000 different products, including games and add-ons. With Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is normally priced at $39.99, PlayStation’s annual sale is currently offering the game at a 90 percent discount, dropping its price down to just $3.99. This discounted offer will be good through January 22, 2026, at 3 a.m. EST, so anyone who had picked up the game for free in October still has plenty of time to scrape together a few bucks if they want to keep it in their personal libraries.

This isn’t the first time in history that a game has been taken back by a seller after it was previously given away for free, but the two-month-long gap between the mistake and the correction does make it stand out a little bit more. Previous related incidents in recent history include one from about a year ago, in which Humble Bundle revoked free keys it apparently shouldn’t have released for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, as well as an incident from September in which Silent Hill f buyers on Steam got accidentally upgraded to the Deluxe Edition for free.