After a strange delay that held back the normally scheduled PlayStation Store update on Tuesday, gaming sites MP1ST and PSNStores (via VG247) are reporting that a possibly unintended feature has wiggled through and been exposed. Based on screenshots captured by MP1ST, a select batch of PlayStation 3 games have become eligible for renting.
Users are reporting that users have been given the option to add games to their PlayStation Store carts as a Buy, 1 Day Rental, or 7 Day Rental. As seen in the captured images of Atlus' Catherine, the full price of the game is $9.99 but it can be rented for one or seven days for absolutely free. The rentals do not work as of yet, but the rentals appear under PlayStation accounts as “PS Now” titles.
Playstation Now Price Point: Possibly $5-$6 for PS3 Game Rentals
PlayStation Now is Sony's upcoming rental and streaming service that came from their acquisition of gaming streaming service Gaikai. Announced at CES 2014, the service is said to connect PlayStation devices, phones, tablets, computers, and televisions to the PlayStation library. The full service is launching in the summer, but a closed beta has been underway since January.
It's hard to tell if download-based rentals will also be coming to the PlayStation 3, or if features from the PlayStation Now closed beta accidentally slipped through with the latest store update, but we do know that the rentals are not currently functioning.
If the price points stick, suggesting that PlayStation Plus subscribers will have up to 7 days to rent a game for free, then the Plus service has just become far more valuable. Sony has yet to comment on the rental feature appearing on the PlayStation 3 Store, but it's still pretty early in the morning and for all we know it will be fixed very soon.
