Sony has made a notable change to how PlayStation Plus free game purchases work that should alleviate a frustrating part of the process. Going forward, acquiring one of each month's unlocked PlayStation Plus titles will no longer result in an email stating, "Thank you for your purchase." Since PlayStation Plus subscribers technically never made a purchase, however, these emails often came off as confusing or even alarming. It's taken some time, but Sony appears to have ended the practice.PlayStation Plus is a subscription service that grants PlayStation console gamers certain benefits that are otherwise not given to those without a subscription. For example, multiplayer features for premium games are not available for those without a subscription. The base level of PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Plus Essential, also provides free monthly games for subscribers to download and play. To get them, subscribers have to first "purchase" them from the PlayStation Store, though they are listed with a price of $0.Given the way PlayStation Plus free monthly games are given out, receiving an email stating, "Thank you for your purchase," has been understandable. It's technically a purchase, after all. The price has just been changed to free. The email is annoying though because subscribers haven't really made a purchase. They spent no money on the transaction. And the email could make subscribers think they did spend money accidentally. Sony apparently agrees and could have stopped the practice permanently.
While Sony has not made an official statement regarding these PlayStation Plus purchase emails, subscribers have noticed that the emails have stopped being sent. April's free PlayStation Plus games, including Meet Your Maker, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Tails of Iron, are not sending emails to subscribers after being acquired through the PlayStation Store. This is the first month that PlayStation Plus subscribers have noticed a change.
It's possible that the emails could return in the future. The emails disappearing may be a bug, or some other technical issue tied to the PlayStation Store. Since PlayStation Plus subscribers want these emails to stop, they're hopeful that Sony's now changed its policies. Only time will tell, however.
There are some skeptics regarding the situation, though. Without an email, some PlayStation Plus subscribers worry that they have no receipt for acquiring the game. Even if it's tied to their PlayStation Plus account, some subscribers want evidence on hand so that Sony can't simply revoke a game's license with no recourse. There's no evidence that Sony would ever do that, but it's true that with no email receipt something like that might be possible. Perhaps Sony will bring back PlayStation Plus game acquisition emails with a more accurate message in the future.
Source: PlayStation Lifestyle