One Year of PS Plus Value In Free Games: $1854.86

GR: Sony is celebrating one full year of PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection, and posted the image above showcasing all 64 free games offered since Instant Game Collection launched.

That's a lot of games for subscribing to PlayStation Plus for just $49.99 a year. This got me wondering... just how much does that $49.99 get you in value? Now that I had all of the free games offered right before my very eyes, a little bit of lazy Googling and lazier mathematics through an Excel spreadsheet I whipped up gave me the answer I was looking for.

[Nes_Daze]

Amazing...

[Nitrowolf2]

Indeed, and even factoring in used games, if every game on the list cost $1 it would still be $64 total.

[TrendyGamers]

Taking that one step further, if each was $10, it'd be $640.

[badboy776]

My PS Plus Subscription just expired last week. I purchased it last year after Sony's E3 Press Conference. My question is should I renew it now or wait until the PS4 releases?

[majiebeast]

August of Europe there was a leaked list that said we are getting DMC and little kings story. That list has been spot on so far. Its worth it just for the ps3 games its still getting.

[Roper316]

@ badboy I would renew now this way any new IGC games that may expire by the time the PS4 releases you will have access to them once the Gaikai streaming kicks in with the PS3 games. jmo

[ExPresident]

@Badboy776

Just renew it. It compounds and will still work on PS4, plus like Roper316 said, you'll still have it when they start using Gakai to stream PS3 titles.

[PeaSFor]

meanwhile on 360.....Cricket sounds.

[MajorLazer]

I am in love with PS+. Best service in history, hands down. A mere £12 or £40 for a onslaught of AAA games = one happy gamer :D I have stuck with Sony since the birth of the PlayStation brand and not one day have I regretted that decision. PS4 looks to be the greatest ever launch of a console :'D

[The_Con-Sept]

Xbox live is looking more and more like a whaleshark.

[Sitdown]

@roper316
Can you explain this further? I just bought a subscription card, and was going to sit on it until November. I don't have much hdd space on my ps3, as I never upgraded the 60gb.

[slapedurmomsace]

@sitdown. Aww man you're screwed. You can't have a 60 gig with ps+. You'll miss way to much. I have the 160 gig and I'm frustrated to the point I'm ordering a 750 gig next Friday.

[Ritsujun]

PS+, at the moment, offers 5 to 6 free games per month. That's 60+ free games per year.
Lots of discounts.
1GB cloud storage for PS3, 1GB cloud storage for PSVITA.
Auto firmware/gamepatch update. Auto gamesave upload.
Free themes, free avatars.
Access to closed betas and early demos.
Full game trials.

It seems that PS+ will be offering 3 PS4 games for free on PS+ at PS4 launch.
I'm expecting 7 to 8 free games per month after the launch of PS+ on PS4.

[ravenl0rd]

@Sitdown
PS Plus is still a great service for a 60GB. You can "buy" the games when they are free and you can download them whenever. Just clear out the space for each game you want to play and download them. Wash and repeat.

[dbjj12088]

So worth it.

[t0mmyb0y]

I'm on my second subscription already. Def worth it.

[ZodTheRipper]

^I'm starting my third year this septemberr. It's the only subscription I'm happy to pay because there is something interesting every week.

[medman]

I'm struggling to understand why, if you only have the money for one console, anybody would touch the Xbox One. There is absolutely no comparison. Better hardware, better first party developers, full indie support, reasonable next gen pricing, PsPlus, all from a company that seems to be doing everything possible to show gamers it understands what we want. PS4. There is no other.

[komp]

No one can complain about that. Even if you only got 2 AAA games a year for free makes it worth while.

[sdozzo]

I like it but you're renting not getting.

[2pacalypsenow]

Thats the same for everything , You rent the internet, you rent cable television, your rent food and drinks :-b

[Monkeysmarts]

That's a long ass rental period then.

[brave27heart]

How exactly are you renting food and drink?!?

I buy it. Its mine. I can do what I want with it. It isnt taken away from me at any point.

Internet and cable tv subscriptions are rentals but food and drink? You're doing something wrong mate.

[Major_Glitch]

@brave27 He was joking about the food and drink part.
OT: Speaking of jokes, Xbox Live is a joke. How do I know this? My subscription is still active.:-S Time to cancel Live, and put that money towards a Plus account.

[Foliage]

You also rent any game that relies on "the cloud".

[badboy776]

Best service Ever!

[Anon1974]

No one complaining yet that you don't actually "own" the games, you're just renting. I'm impressed.

I've got a tonne of great games on my harddrive (and on my Vita) I can play anytime and all it costs me is $50 a year. That's what it boils down to I don't own the TV shows and Movies on Netflix either, but it doesn't mean it isn't worth every penny to me. PSN+ is an amazing service.

[clrlite]

At lest they are on your own HD in this case.

Though I prefer owning physical copies of many games, I still think PS+ is a great value.

Lets not forget the discounts on games you purchase and all the other bonuses.

[chrismichaels04]

That is pretty damn impressive. Sony once again proved the haters wrong and turned the PS Plus program into the most successful gaming content service available today. I've been a satisfied PS Plus member since day #1 and I look forward to continuing enjoying this great service through the next generation and beyond.

[Automatic79]

Impressive indeed in terms of games. Just sucks that many sony gamers out there are clueless about online multiplayer gaming fees coming to the new generation. Which are hidden behind the psn plus. I have already encountered a few who were caught off guard.

[chrismichaels04]

@MichaelLito - How is the multipayer "hidden" behind PSPlus? Jack Tretton made a point to highlight it during the Sony E3 show. And during all the post E3 interviews, Jack never beat around the bush and directly answered all questions in regards to adding MP to the Plus service. I personally don't agree with it, but I certainly can't say Sony is trying to hide or deceive anyone like you are trying to imply.

I can understand after a fantastic E3, many Sony gamers were so excited that some of them didn't have a chance to process all of the exciting information Sony bombarded us with. But like you mentioned in an earlier conversation, when you do remind them about the MP feature in PSPlus, their reactions are usually "oh, ok....no big deal. PSPlus is a great service worth getting anyway".

PSPlus has already proven itself to be a popular and successful service...even without the addition of MP. $1900 worth of free games alone justifies being a Plus member. That's why the majority of gamers were already planning on continuing PSplus through the PS3, Vita and PS4. This is something to be excited about. Sorry bud, but If your looking for an excuse to nitpick and criticize Sony, your going to have to come up with a better reason.

[Foliage]

Yeah, Sony was up front about the paywall (unlike the Xbox; only the case for paid to play multiplayer games; versus Xbox having even netflix behind the paywall).

Contrast that with Microsoft making no reference to their 24 hour check-in, no used games; always needing to be connected Kinect.

At E3 those policies were still their plan; but they did not mention it.

[first1NFANTRY]

Isn't it!? This is real value for money. I love free stuff but I'm down to subscribe when the ps4 launches.

[hellzsupernova]

Love plus I love it too much! Upgrading my ps3 hdd to one terabyte! Upgrading my ps4 hdd to a terabyte straight out of the box

[LackTrue4K]

I wonder if this will be mark as off topic....but.

With all the downloading of great and free games, can they be send/saved to an external hard drive?! And that way, I can travel to a friends/family house with it and play my games off that hard drive after I only log in on his ps3/4? I would love that Convenience.

[jamz4]

Not on ps3 at least - I tried to do it when I was running low on free space

[Groo]

you can log on to your psn account on your friends PS3 buy creating your PSN ID on your friends PS3 and download all your PS+ games onto your friends PS3 and play them. No need to toat around your hardrive, I've done this on my daughters PS3

If he has the Hardrive space that is.. you can log on to your PSN account on any PS3 and download anything game you've already downloaded onto a different PS3. Im not sure if PS+ games require an internet connection or not for some, I can play Xcom offline (thank God) but some titles I can not, Vanquished being one of them.

[MizTv]

Well you get what you pay for

[BitByter]

Who the fuck is disagreeing with that statement? Oh yeah, the same people who think Xbox Live Gold is a value.

[imdaboss1]

renew it to get more free games..when the ps4 comes just transfer it..i love my playstation plus

[fardan85]

absolutely amazing, I'm stuffed with games on vita + ps3, I can't play everything I get. PS+ is the best service a gamer can get.

I wonder how many "but you only play the game while your subscription is valid" comment will be posted in this article.

Well, fanboys can hate and disagree as much as they want. I, and the rest of ps+ subscribers will enjoy our "rental" games.

[CalvinKlein]

HOw much is halo 3, fable 3, and Assassin's creed 2 worth?

I got PS+ for just for the vita games when they started doing that. I eventually started looking at the ps3 games too and my favorite one i got for ps3 has been sleeping dogs. I got it a while ago and it is a recent game and really good.

[IAmLee]

and yet xbox 'fanboys' still say it isn't worth it.. Geniuses. :')

[Groo]

I've been hearing Xbox fanboys also claiming recently that the Hardware and specs don't matter as well.. all Delusions..

[RedHawkX]

xbox live sucks ars. sorry guys but ps3 and ps4 ps plus is the way to go if you are a gamer with a brain

[Oh_Yeah]

As close as you can get to pirating without pirating... Sony I lub yew.

[Sev]

PlayStation Plus pays for itself, with $1800 left in change coming back to you.

[dbjj12088]

If only everything worked like this.

[Majin-vegeta]

Thats $1854 i can blow on strip clubs and beer ;D.
PS+ is the besf deal on consoles anywhere.

[Snookies12]

You know what? I'm going to crack open a beer and purchase another 3 months of PS+ right now.

[RedHawkX]

yep you can make some insurance payments etc and go on a vacation with that money. to bad xbox fanboys dont get this value and only go deeper in dept because they refuse to get the best console ps4 and ps3

[Godmars290]

That price is based on day-one release, not what those games are worth now. So its invalid.

Still, if they were all $10, $680 worth of game is still a bargain at $49.

[WildArmed]

Exactly, the price for each game was very forgiving. 60$ for every retail game? What? Most of the games weren't 60$.

But none of that will undermine the value PS+ gives thou, you will easily exceed your initial invest. The games you get (as long as your are a PS+ member)are easily 3x-5x times the initial investment.

[PurpHerbison]

I agree.

[kingPoS]

Heh heh I keep forgetting that not everybody's been on + since 2010. (November for me) PS+ literally overtook my HDD. I've had to upgrade on multiple occasions. lol

[OC_MurphysLaw]

PSN+ does offer some tremendous value.

[SeraphimBlade]

And Xbox One supporters wonder why Playstation fans are okay with Sony requiring PS+ for online play...

[Kaneda]

I am not Xbox one supporters, I am not okay with it paying to play online....

[stage88]

Exactly, PS+ is the best service out there.

[Majin-vegeta]

Exactly Sony is basically saying Hey guys if you pay to play online we'll reward you in exchange.

[Godmars290]

I own a PS3 and don't like that PS+ is mandatory for multiplayer on PS4, but the point is that its only needed for online multiplayer.

And then there are all the discounts it offers.

[MartinB105]

This is why it's so amusing to me when people argue that you're "only renting" the games... as if they seriously think that Sony should just hand over almost $2,000 of games for just fifty bucks.

Plus is awesome. :)

[Relientk77]

That is just crazy

PS+ is fantastic

[Wedge19]

Wow impressive. Props on being the ones to finally do the math.

[ZBlacktt]

PS gamers have been saying this for a long time now. Nice to see everyone is getting it now. :)

[Sarobi]

The value is unbeatable.

[shinrock]

Yes, for people who want to play those titles.

[_QQ_]

LOL This guy is adding it up as if every game was at full retail price, when they arrive to ps plus you can pick them up for 7-10$ at a bargain bin,Want a good deal, take gamefly, Any game you want, whenever you want even if it is 60$.

rent 4 new games every month with GF and that is 2500$ saved as opposed to the actual number of 500$ with ps plus Gamefly>Steam>Redbox> PS Plus. Not everyone wants to pay to play onlie even with the ps plus deals,Sony made a mistake,stop trying to justify it and get over it.

[PIayStation]

Face it, times are changing and everything cost money. The idea of free multiplayer on consoles is dead.

[_QQ_]

Yet PC and WiiU does it....

[Shadowolf]

When Sony is giving users this much value with Plus+, offering free multiplayer just isn't smart or fair for Sony.

[MysticStrummer]

@lopez - Maybe if WiiU greatly outsells PS4 and One, Sony and MS will go back to the old free multiplayer days.

I don't see either one of those things happening.

[kingPoS]

Since when has Nintendo been known for their stellar online presence???

PC's don't need dev kits - they are the dev kits. Or rather development of multiplayer for consoles require dev kits and a online infrastructure, All that costs money for the developers, publishers & console platforms alike.

[Baka-akaB]

So far all i've seen from Nintendo's online rpesence are multiplayer moderemoved from the monster hunter 3 remaster ... so ...

[Baka-akaB]

That whole "it's not the real price" argument makes no sense to begin with . Even counting every at 1 dollars , the value still exceed the cost of the yearly sub .

[_QQ_]

It doesn't matter, Not everyone Wants The PS plus, i know i don't,i have gamefly which is 10x better, i don't need PS plus,i don't care about PS plus.I just want online.

Same goes for allot of people,Not everyone has time to or even wants to play a bunch of PSN games.The AAA games on plus, most people played already or are 10$ by then.

[snake-OO]

I've saved over a £100 on buying through PS plus discounts so in reality PS plus is a free service for me. In fact me saving over hundred has made my next subscription free also.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

I would drop Netflix, before plus,.... way better deal.

[Shadowolf]

Great article, making it completely understandable why Sony would now charge for online multiplayer on the PS4. With an insane amount of value attached to Plus+, no one should complain with this kind of gaming advantage.

[thebudgetgamer]

I hate PS+, For filling my hard drive with so many games that I have to upgrade.

[josephayal]

amazing AAA service just like xbox live

[wtopez]

HOW DARE YOU!?

[GABRIEL1030]

PS PLUS IS AMAZING...

[sincitysir1]

I love love love ps+. It's especially beautiful when I'm broke but the only thing I don't like is u need to verify the game every month. It's not a big deal but I get sad when I play offline and I want to play spec ops or another free game and I can't because it's been a month since I last played it while being connected to the Internet!

I work graveyard and I play at work so thAts why I don't always connect to the Internet!

[mochachino]

There no question Plus is a far better value than Live has ever been.

Next-gen all Lives superiority (faster, more functional) will vanish and it will only be a pay wall to things you've already paid for or get free everywhere else.

[Tyre]

Well said, Mochachino! PS+ IS amazing and real value for money. Not like rip off XBL were digital versions games (even from 2006) never go below $20 and most DLC remains expensive even years after release...On XBL all services are behind a paywall and your loaded with BS ads. PS+ crushes XBL and it will certainly beat XBL nextgen (PSN will feature all chat & online MP features that were good about XBL plus PS+ gives you a huge amount of good discounts too). There will be no more advantages to XBL nextgen.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

I hope they'll introduce new subscriptions
I know it sounds redundant, but i wish there was also like a 2 year subscription for 100 or maybe even a 3 year subscription for a discounted 130!
Still, dont care that ps4 needs ps plus for online gaming (besides F2P games). PS Plus is just value for your money and this article shows it.

[SpinalRemains138]

All those games and the power of the cloud.

[drsfinest72]

Have fun borrowing those games.

[Hicken]

Have fun not having them at all.

[SpinalRemains138]

Lol!

Lend a free game. That's so retarded that I'm sure you'll never return to this thread once you've realized it, and I hope to the dear lord you do realize it.

[admiralvic]

Considering the PSN supports game sharing by simply giving your account info to another person, your point is moot.

[STEWIE_PLAY_PS4]

Plus if go to $million free XD

[Gamesgbkiller]

Sad, I didn't got to subscribe to Plus until last September.

But I got tons of games.

Thanks Sony :)

[baodeus]

im trying to get how this math work for Sony according to this article:

So for every $50 u put in, sony will give you $1850 back? How many people have sign up to PS+?

($50 - $1850) x n (# of ps+ members)

let just assumes there are 1 million members, that mean sony is losing $1800000000 a year? what if sony have at least 30 million ps+ members or more? I haven't even mention about Sony is planning to keep giving out really high value contents, brand new contents even, for FREE to get more gamers sign up for ps+.

Can someone verify because according to the math deducted from this article, I don't see how Sony gonna stay in the console business for long. any ideas?

[Fakdafakinfakerz]

LOL

[Baka-akaB]

Your math assume they are paying publishers to offer those games to begin with . Some probably just offer those in the hopes of selling more dlc content for those titles

[shinrock]

They don't give you anything. The games are on a on demand type model.when you cancel or or lose ur sub the games go with it. THEY GIVE YOU NOTHING!

[SegaSaturn669]

So, what is the the calculated value of xbox live gold?

[shysun]

we know this MAN!!!

[Fatal Blow]

Once your PS Plus runs out you cant play the games you downloaded when you had the PS Plus. That's one of the downside to it

[worldwidegaming]

indeed. Thats why I play those games first.

[Kos-Mos]

Renting then...

[BillytheBarbarian]

Would be nice to own them. Also mine don't work unless I'm always online. Ihate the future of gaming. Eventually they're going to do away with boxed games that I like to collect. Nice rental service though...

[RedHawkX]

i hate microsoft. the only thing i hate more are the retards that support them by giving them money. its like supporting terrorists or something you just dont do that. support the terrorist of gaming just so you can get an extra achievement.

[BillytheBarbarian]

Thing is though, when my Live runs out I can still play my free downloads...Gears, Carcassonne, Fable 3, Fallout 3, Sega Tennis, Vanquish, and others I picked up along the way during giveaways or promotions. Now they're giving two away a month. No renting.

[maan47]

Sony rules!

[shinrock]

I knew I'm going to get flak for this but, I only see one or two games that I would want from that list. Just cus it's free(loaner) dosn't mean I'm gonna want it. Now being able to pick any game from the library would make it a no brainer. Also being able to actually KEEP those games if you no longer have + would go along way for me as well.if you like those game on that list then enjoy.

[BillytheBarbarian]

Gamefly is $100 a year. Rent anything you want. Ps plus is $50 a year to rent old games. Doesn't seem all that awesome when you look at it like that.

[ACEMANWISE]

There is a flaw in the mathematical evaluation. The value of the games should be based on rental prices, not purchase prices. The reason behind this error is due to the fact the digital games are never "yours" from an ownership standpoint.

As a matter of fact no digital games should be priced like a disc due to the involvement of a service with accompanying terms. PS Plus, including any other service, is subsription-based and should be treated as such.

[IQUITN4G]

Sounds incredible this is surely just rental right?. I'm not keen on the idea of staying signed up to PS+. Can you play your games disconnected and do you have to be signed up to keep access to them? if so isn't that just the same nonsense ms were doing too

It doesn't sound all that great if you factor in that you don't actually own these in the sense you can play them under your conditions

You can at least buy them outright though which makes this a very good rental service

[truthteller]

IF YOU'RE A PS+ SUBSCRIBER AND DON'T KNOW WHICH GAME IS GONNA COME TO IT NEXT GO TO NORTH AMERICAN PS BLOG OR EUROPEAN AND ASK. YOU'RE WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!

[despair]

Misleading as they are using the original retail price of the games (which would not really apply when they appeared on PS+) but still its a massive saving, I'm still wondering how I will get through the backlog I have from PS+. One of those good problems to have.