Sony Offers 250 Free PSP Games to PS Plus subscribers in Japan

Update: While PlayStation plus members in Japan will have access to a large library of PSP games, there is one important caveat: they'll also need to have owned them on UMD. The offer below is an extension of the UMD passport program (which never came to the West, meaning this deal probably won't either), which allowed players to transfer over their PSP games to Vita for a small charge.

The original story appears below.

PlayStation Plus subscribers in Japan will be granted free access to some 250 PSP games for the PS Vita handheld, Sony has announced.

The offer, which runs from September 17 until the end of the year, gives PS Plus subscribers unlimited access to an extensive library of digital PSP games such as Gran Turismo and LocoRoco.

Currently, the PS Vita can access an entire library of PSP games within the PS Store, each of which can be downloaded at a cost. The new PS Plus offer means that many of these games can be downloaded for free, and kept for as long as the PS Plus subscription lasts.

Sony announced the new offer during its pre-TGS press conference on Monday, where it also revealed that developer Atlus is developing Persona 5 for PS4.

It is unclear whether the free PSP games offer will be extended to the US or Europe. Gamespot has contacted Sony for clarification.

Also unclear is which games will be offered for free. The Japanese PSP catalogue on the PS Store consists of more than 370 games, meaning that about two thirds will be available.