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| Two PS4-era games are up for grabs on the PlayStation Store, but there seems to be a catch |
Two major PS4 games have suddenly appeared with a very tempting price on some PlayStation Store storefronts: free. Call of Duty: WWII and Mafia III are currently listed as free in certain regions, and neither requires an active PlayStation Plus subscription. But if that sounds too good to be true, the messy rollout suggests it might be.
At the time of writing, the standard edition of Call of Duty: WWII is listed as “Free” on the UK PlayStation Store, complete with an “Add to Library” button. The Gold Edition remains priced at £54.99, while the Digital Deluxe Edition is discounted separately. The same free offer is also live in Poland, where the standard game can be added to a PlayStation account at no cost.
Mafia III is showing similarly strange behaviour. Its UK PlayStation Store page lists the full base game as free, while Mafia III: Definitive Edition remains a paid product. Several pieces of DLC are also listed at no cost. On paper, that makes it look like a generous stealth giveaway — or at least a very good deal for anyone who never picked up the game.
Mafia III and Call of Duty: WWII Free — But Checkout Errors Are Everywhere
Actually claiming either game, however, appears to be something of a lottery. Over on the FreeGameFindings subreddit, users are reporting wildly inconsistent results. Some are able to add Mafia III successfully, including one user who claimed it through the PlayStation App on an EU account and another who confirmed it worked in Portugal. Others are being met with the generic “Something went wrong. Try again later” message.
One user inspecting a failed transaction found a PlayStation checkout error explicitly stating “Pricing: SKU is invalid,” which suggests a mismatch between the storefront price and Sony’s backend. In other words, the page may say “Free,” but the checkout system does not always agree. Even checking the UK PlayStation Store’s latest page can produce different results depending on the account, region, and platform being used.
That inconsistency is important. A normal PlayStation Store giveaway usually rolls out cleanly across supported regions, with a clear promotional banner or an official blog post. Here, there has been no such announcement. The listings simply appeared, and the checkout process is failing for a significant number of users. That points far more toward a pricing glitch than an intentional Sony promotion.
Is This an Official PlayStation Giveaway?
There is currently no evidence that Sony intended to give away Call of Duty: WWII or Mafia III for free. Neither game is being promoted as a PlayStation Plus monthly title, and neither requires the subscription to claim. The standard editions are the ones showing as free, while premium versions such as Call of Duty: WWII Gold Edition and Mafia III: Definitive Edition remain paid products. That split is another clue that something has gone wrong behind the scenes.
PlayStation owners in regions where either game appears as free may therefore want to try adding it to their libraries while they still can. If the “Add to Library” button works and the checkout total comes to £0.00 or the local equivalent, the game may be permanently attached to the account — at least for now.
But there are no guarantees. Whether Sony will leave the listings untouched, correct the prices, or potentially revoke licences obtained through an erroneous offer remains unknown. Historically, digital storefronts have handled pricing mistakes in different ways. Sometimes the company honours the purchase. Sometimes it cancels orders, refunds customers, or removes the licence from the account. Sony has not commented on this situation, and it may not comment at all if it is simply a backend error.
What to Do If You See the Free Listing
If you want to try your luck, the safest approach is to use the official PlayStation App or your console and check the final checkout screen carefully. Make sure the total is actually zero before confirming. If you see an error message, it may be worth trying again later or checking a different region — but be aware that region switching can violate PlayStation’s terms and may cause account issues. It is also worth keeping any confirmation email or receipt if the claim goes through, just in case Sony later reviews the transaction.
For now, the situation remains fluid. Call of Duty: WWII and Mafia III are listed as free in some regions, but claiming them is far from guaranteed. Some players are adding both games to their libraries without issue, while others are hitting checkout errors that suggest the offer is not supposed to exist. Until Sony makes an official statement, treat this as a possible glitch rather than a confirmed giveaway — and if you do manage to claim either game, consider it a bonus rather than a certainty.