PlayStation Plus Subscribers Hit With Unexpected Refunds

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.

Nor seen via Wario64 on X, Sony has seemingly sent out refunds for Stardew Valleywhich 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 Valleyyou’ll seemingly need to subscribe to PS Plus again in order to play it. For those who have 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,” they 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

If you were affected, you’ll get an email. Even though you may not have 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.