PlayStation Plus Members Get Free Battlefield 4 on PS3 for a Week

PlayStation 3 owners with a PlayStation Plus membership will be able to get more than a sampling of Battlefield 4 starting later today, when a free trial version of the game is being launched.

It's not explained exactly when the timer begins, but you'll have a week during which to play as much Battlefield 4 as you want. That works out to 168 hours of potential time with the full version of the game, provided you're willing to forgo sleep, food, and time with a shadow in Mordor.

Once today's weekly PlayStation Store update goes live, you'll find a full game trial of Battlefield 4 available for download. If you don't want to navigate the Store yourself, you can follow these steps to locate it:

• Open the PS3's PlayStation Store.
• Search for "Battlefield 4" and select Battlefield 4 Game.
• Select "Full Game Trial."
• Select "Download."
• Download and install the trial.

Battlefield 4 is a large game that's gotten some big updates, so that download and installation process is likely to be a lengthy one. Battlefield community manager Jonas Elfving acknowledged this in a PlayStation Blog post: "Please give it some time as Battlefield 4 is a big game with a lot of updates being constantly added."

One such update went live today, bringing with it movement that more closely resembles that of Battlefield 3, as well as other improvements and fixes.

Battlefield 4 was plagued with issues when it launched last year, and both DICE and EA have subsequently spent months trying to improve and fix the game's myriad issues. This is not the first time EA has offered a free trial of the game (it's done so on PS3 and PC), likely signalling its interest in showing players what the game has become. Going forward, we know EA says it's doing all it can to ensure things go more smoothly.