Sony is refunding PS Plus players who permanently claimed Stardew Valley via a September cross-buy glitch, restoring them to subscription-only access.

September is a big month for farming life simulation fans. Stardew Valley, one of the genre’s most beloved and highly rated games, is included in PlayStation Plus’ monthly lineup. During this time, customers can also claim it for free and keep it permanently via cross-buy, which is not common with regular PS Plus offers. Turns out, that was actually a mistake.

Stardew Valley Refund PS Store Cross-Buy Error

Sony has started sending emails to PS Plus members securing Stardew Valley through a cross-buy loophole, issuing “refunds” and canceling the license. The situation started in September, when Stardew Valley became part of the Essential lineup. Once players claim it through PS Plus, the PS Store still lets them “purchase” it for free via cross-buy, effectively providing separate ownership of the subscription.

It was strange at the time, but after many successful exchanges, many thought it was just a novelty. October has passed and there’s still no word from Sony so gamers assume this is an intentional perk and could offer more in the future.

However, several people including X user Wario64 reported yesterday that they got an email from Sony issuing a “refund” for Stardew Valley which was claimed to be this way all along.

It seems like Sony didn’t want us to have Stardew Valley via cross-buy when it was still on PS+ Essential some time ago. An email was sent for a “refund request”. Games now appear to be tied to PS+ subscriptions instead of having them digitally pic.twitter.com/7Da79swagL

— Wario64 (@Wario64) November 20, 2025

With the move, the game is now tied back to PS Plus access, rather than permanent ownership. When this article was written, many gamers still saw Stardew Valley in their download history and some were still able to play it on the PS Vista used to download the game.

Sony is clearly not used to giving away games, especially fan favorites. So even though it was still in the library, it didn’t take long before people started losing access unless they subscribed to PS Plus.

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