The yellow PlayStation Plus logo against a blue background.
By
Austin King
Published 26 minutes ago
Austin King is the Senior Editor of Gaming at ScreenRant and has been with the site since 2020 with a focus on RPGs and tabletop games. He previously managed content for Geek to Geek Media, and has served as a writer for sites like Nintendad, Geek Fitness, and more.
In addition to his work at ScreenRant, he also hosts the Dragon Quest FM podcast and is the author of several books, including co-writing Nimbus (a #1 bestseller in 2013). His latest is the nonfiction The Dragon Quest Book, available now.
He's written about pop culture, video games, and genre studies over the course of his career. You can find him on BlueSky, X, and at Dragonquestaustin.com
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PlayStation Plus is handing out refunds for one of the most popular games of the past decade. If that seems like quite the unexpected twist, you can chalk it up to what is essentially Sony not wanting its PS Plus members to own cross-buy games without being subscribed to its service. Those who are eligible for a refund will be notified via email.
As seen via Wario64 on X, Sony has seemingly sent out refunds for Stardew Valley, which was available on PS Plus as a monthly free game in September 2025.
According to the post, this apparently stems from Sony not wanting people to own Stardew Valley via cross-buy, but rather by subscribing to PS Plus. If you acquired Stardew Valley in this manner, then you'll get a refund of a whopping $0.00, as Wario64 did here.
Stardew Valley Cross-Buy Ownership Removed For PS Plus Users
If you had cross-buy ownership of Stardew Valley, you'll seemingly need to subscribe to PS Plus again in order to play it. For those who've been playing the game because it came to PlayStation Plus, this is quite a blow. Stardew Valley is extremely popular, selling over 500,000 copies in June alone on Steam, despite originally releasing in 2016.
Reactions to the news on X were pretty negative: "Damn that's evil," said John Martin; "Common Sony L," said Zack; and "That's messed up," said MegaManNG. The thread is full of similar sentiments, with various users venting their frustrations at Sony for the way the company handled this surprise refund.
Refund Emails Have Been Sent To Those Affected
The yellow PlayStation Plus logo Free emerges from a silver surface.
If you were affected, you'll get an email. Even though you may have not initiated the refund, the email will read as if you have. As seen in Wario64's post, if you got it for free via PS Plus' September 2025 games, your refund will show as $0.00.
This is just the latest in a long saga over ownership of games, especially those tied to services like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. Many fans feel like they should own the games since they were subscribed when it was made available, while others see it more as "borrowing" a game for a short time. Other issues, such as games being removed from digital storefronts entirely, have been criticized as anti-preservation and anti-consumerism.
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June 29, 2010
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$59.99 (Essential), $99.99 (Extra), $119.99 (Premium) - Per Year
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