PlayStation Plus’ free games in 2021: A bargain at any suggested retail price

The number sticks out. Unlike Microsoft, Sony doesn’t mention the PlayStation Store’s retail price for the free games it doles out every month in the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection. When we build this year-end analysis, we’re adding up the game’s listed, non-sale prices at the end of the year. And this year, PlayStation Plus gave subscribers more than $1,400 worth of video games.

[Orchard]

I mean I can’t say I’m surprised by those numbers - PS+ has had some very good games this year while GWG is basically dead at this point, and aside from being required for online play (which shouldn’t be a thing in 2021/2, nor should paid cloud saves - looking at you Sony), Gold is basically trash.

PS+ content kinda pales in comparison to GP though but from the recent rumors, Sony are planning on creating a GP competitor in early 2022 - and I’ll very likely be a subscriber day 1.

[ColtPSSX]

Depends really, I’m a big fan of Gamepass but can you imagine how many games you got the moment you had ps plus. I’m not sure how long they’ve been giving away games on ps plus but I started last year and I have a pretty good chunk of games.

And from what I’m aware of, they don’t disappear.

[Orchard]

Sort of. PS+ has given a great catalog of games over the years, with some caveats though: Someone subscribing to PS today won’t get the back catalog (they will get the PS+ collection if they get a PS5 though), also games are inaccessible if you stop subscribing (but do return if you re-subscribe - I believe GWG does this too), also most games are one and done games so whether they stick around or get rotated out (like Game Pass does) doesn’t really matter.

I do hope the long running rumors of a Sony GamePass are true though, it’ll be immense.

[MajorLazer]

I started subbing in 2011, been on and off since. The amount and quality of games has been incredible, especially on the PS3 because it was released quite late in the gen, so once they opened the floodgates it was just constantly quality game after quality game.

[Teflon02]

Orchard.
Here's the thing. With GP you only have what's available. You lose what they decide to remove. PS plus. I have plenty on amazing AAA PS3, and PS4 games. Got a bunch of PSOne classics for ps3 and vita, almost all of them tbh, almost all Sony ps vita games plus a bunch of other good ones. PS4 I've been getting games since day 1. Maybe missed half a year from when I was only playing on PC. Now ps5. Sure it doesn't have the newest halo or forza (personally dgaf bout halo but that forza is butter) but it has alot if great titles. The fact on ps5 you legit get 20 top tier ps4 games by default makes its value jump so much. You also generally want to keep plus up like you want to keep gamepass up so referring to whether you keep the games after is a shrug as gamepass you're not keeping anything anyways. GwG is just trash compared to plus and this has been known.

Plus becomes the best once you've had for about 2 years tbh.

Also here's my problem with gamepass vs say Now. I don't value a service that gives me the popular games for a period of time and they disappear. I HATE being limited on time. PSNow seems to be alot better with licensing deals. MS seems to just try grab everything cool. While Sony looks to fill out with the best deals they can get. I like that 80 to 90 percent of downloadable ps now games don't disappear in like 3 months. Also the fact that nowgenerally has the games I'm interested in but didn't want to buy as opposed to what I'm okay with buying as I like owning my games. So it disappearing off the service is not an okay for me when it comes to say scarlet nexus. I seen GP fans flexing and laughing at ps5 owners for buying whT they got free 6 months later despite mS wasting money on an exclusive that still was outsold on a unadvertised competitor lol. But for me I don't want that game temporarily. Tf I care about it being on gamepass for a few months lol. I'd rather take Fairy Fencer F Dark Advent on now, which has been there for years as I'm not buying that game but like studios nep titles lol.
If now had all first party ps4 titles on it. I wouldn't have a single extra game to play today because I bought every one I had interest in

[ElvisHuxley]

GP is great...if you like mediocre games. Compared to PSNow, the library is on GP is a joke, and YES, most every game on PSNow is downloadable. It's almost as if MS have conscripted and deluded a large segment of gamers into marketing GP for them. Apart from the constant introductory prices, GP really doesn't compare to the competition. The games on PSNow are just BETTER, and yes, downloadable (many still pretend like PSNow is exclusively streaming, hasn't been that way for a long time).

[XbladeTeddy]

The library on GP is hardly a joke or mediocre. Got solid games on there but you know best though.

Every who uses GP you are deluded fools conscripted by Microsoft because Elvis said so so please listen.

[Orchard]

@ElvisHuxley GP this year had games like Halo, FH5, Psychonauts etc day 1.

Which big AAA’s or first party games came to PSNow day 1? I’ll hold.

[x_xavier_x]

You're delusional.

[KillBill]

Every 1st party exclusive now and in the future is a permanent fixture of Game Pass. That is hardly mediocre. Day 1 access to said games is the game breaker that allowed Game Pass to do as well as it has. PS Now does not offer this and won't do so when it is renamed as Spartacus with PS+ added.

[DOMination-]

In the UK GPU is 3 quid more and you get Xbox Live, PC Game Pass, GWG, xCloud, EA Access and of course hundreds of Xbox Games.

So you may be right when making that direct comparison but hardly any xbox gamer is paying for just XBL these days. And in comparison, PS+ is a bad deal compared to GPU (in myopinion) and Sony seemingly agrees as we all know now their own version is coming in April/May

[MrNinosan]

And with PSNow you get almost double amount of games for half the price compared to GPU.
Just sayin'

[Orchard]

@MrNinosan Sorry but the PSNow library is no where near as good as GP. Lacking big hitters and day 1 titles for starters.

Luckily, Sony have identified this and are working on a subscription to better compete with / match what is offered by GP.

[KillBill]

@Orchard - Spartacus (Code name for new service) will not offer day 1 first party exclusive as Game Pass does. It currently is showing no plan other then simply phasing out PS Now and marrying it to a PS+ only option. PS+ will still be available as a solo subscription but PS Now subscribers will need to upgrade to Spartacus to continue receiving the service they had before.

It is a way for Sony to remarket PS Now and force subscribers not partaking into PS+ to buy into the new plan. This will help them to try and grow that poor less than 3% subscriber number to hopefully something larger.

[rob-GP]

It's not £3 more... If you're paying monthly, it's £4 more a month (6.99 vs 10.99) but, there's not yearly version so it's around £130 a year for GPU and you can pick up PS Plus for about £35 a year - that's £95 cheaper, or £7.90 a month less.

Even if you add EA Access, which is £20 a year, and PS Now for the often sale price of £35, that's £90 for PS Plus, EA Access and over 900 games on PS Now - still less than Game Pass Ultimate (unless you've abused one of the sales and got it for a quid - which will be the death of the service as it clearly needs funds to continue running)

[DOMination-]

Well if you're going to compare with discounts then GPU can be had for £1/month. N4G likes to mention this a lot to show how MS make such a loss on it. But now in this argument its conveniently forgotten :)

Remindme! 6 months

[Orchard]

@Rob-gp Those numbers don’t add up.

Xbox game pass ultimate is £132/yr
PS+ is £50/yr
PSNow is £50/yr
EA Play is £20/yr

So you’d be £120 a year for a somewhat equivalent service to GPU - £10 cheaper - and even then you’d still be missing the huge day 1 exclusives and no PC games, and no EA play for PC.

That’s quite a lot of value for £10 more per year.

[KillBill]

PS+ and Game Pass are not comparables. The comparable to PS+ would be XBL Gold (GWG). The Game Pass like PlayStation competitor is already in existence and is PS Now.

What you might be referring to is the Ultimate Game Pass like move with PS Now where it will be now combined with PS+ under a single name... Code-named Spartacus. https://www.bloomberg.com/n...

This Spartacus plan is simply a phase out of PS Now which has not resulted in any real support from PlayStation users. (with less than 3% of user base buying into it) It will open up a new marketing approach and likely see a PC additive to it at a later time? There will not be day 1 first party exclusives for Spartacus as we see in Game Pass. Though you might see a push to the 3rd party support of such day 1 offerings? (this has not though been hinted by Sony)

Note PS+ will still exist in its current form as an option for subscribers. The Spartacus rebranding is simply for capturing a potential of the PS+ audience into the added gaming subscription offer.

[Takwin]

As a subscriber to both, GamePass is far better value with all the games I get to play and love, and others that I get to play and remove from my Steam wish list, saving me money. I also get to play a lot of games I would not have gotten otherwise.

[Ethereal]

@Orchard I like that a well thought out comment gets downvoted to high hell.

[Terry_B]

As someone who has PS+ now since 2013, I am damn happy with my online ps+ libraries on ps 3-5. I have still around 40 PS+ games installed on the ps3, another 200+ on ps4 always downloadable and another 15? games on the PS5 already while I don't even have a PS5 yet. That all while I always bought 12-month subscriptions when they were reduced.

[JackBNimble]

I add ps+ games to my library every month but there are very few that I actually have played. If ps+ wasn't a requirement to play online, I wouldn't subscribe.

I had ps+ on the ps3 for awhile but it just wasn't worth it in my opinion.

[GhostofHorizon]

I've been subscribed since day 1, I've looked up the list and we're now at 720 games.

[Hawk198666]

Sony doesn't mention the price? Errm yes they do most of the time. 1400 worth.... Lol.give over.

[Teflon02]

Yeah I swear this was part of the earlier marketing. They'd tell you the exact value every month. They did stop more recent. But this is like going into the past lol

[ElvisHuxley]

I mean, compared to the competition, well...it's almost comical to compare them. I don't play online, at all, but I've subbed to PS+ for years, just for the free games. Zero regrets.

[Gamer79]

Subscribing to an online gaming service and not play online makes no sense. You also could have got them games cheaper physically, and you would own them. As soon as you're subscription ends you lose everything.

[Nacho_Z]

If you can afford to consistently keep the subscription up, which isn't expensive, then it's a good deal. It just takes a few ok months out of 12 for you to break even then everything on top of that is a bonus.

[Teflon02]

You do realize PS Plus was originally a games service... they only ADDED the online service on ps4 and ps5. If you played ps3 or vita this was all about games only. For them to keep that service for the games makes alot of sense.

[Gamer79]

@againx13
So subscribing to a service and not using it makes sense to you, for games that you can will never own. And no regrets means nothing. You missed the part where I read all the comment.

@ nacho
And this service can be taken away at any time.

[JonTheGod]

PS+ isn't solely about online gaming; there are many other benefits.
- Free monthly games
- Cloud storage
- Huge discounts on PS Store
I made my subscription costs back many times over just from the savings I made on the PS+ discounts on the Store.

[Gamer79]

@againx13
Trying to be clever throwing words around he doesn't understand.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

After having PS+ and buying so many games over the years, I just don't have a reason to get Game Pass or an equivalent competitor, I have more games than I have time for.

[Chevalier]

That's the thing I find weird. Just look at the idiots propping up GP and comparing it to Plus when they're not comparable services price or otherwise. My own library craps all over Gamepass and you know how much it cost to play my library of GP? Zero. I can just play the games I own for free over GP. Add in Plus and its absolutely a massive difference in quality and quantity.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@Chevalier

I suppose if I throw all of the Steam, Epic and GOG games I've gotten for free over the years, Game Pass doesn't make sense for me, I don't think Sony or Microsoft could ever come up with a Game Pass service or equivalent that would interest me. Especially when sales are so cheap and so frequent now, it's just easier for me to own the game outright and play it when I ever get around to it.

[SegaSaturn669]

It grinds my gears when the games show up on the EGS for free.

[phoenixwing]

don't let it grind your gears. half the time egs doesn't work like it should. the only reason people bother with it is they hold you hostage with free games. Sony's offering at least works as intended and runs smooth.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Strange, it works flawlessly for me, I also run the games through Steam so I can use Steam features like custom controller setups (for some reasons The Messenger doesn't have native controller support on PC).

[OMNlPOTENT]

Way better than GWG, but not as good as Gamepass. Sony has better first party titles though, so if they do come out with a Gamepass competitor it could be far better.

[BLow]

PS+ is not a competitor to Gamepass. PS Now is lol. Hello? PS Now has close to a 1000 games and is cheaper per year than Gamepass. If you combine Plus and Now, it cheaper than Gamepass and Live. Both are good deals. I like to own my games so this is just icing on the cake. PS Plus discounts are awesome as well..

[Bronbron92]

Ps+ has been a great service site every month may not have the game that you’ll want but he’ll add that shit to the library anyways and try it, comparing gamepass all anyone can say is new games come day and date and sure it has a ton more games I wonder how many are actually played and how many aren’t played

[YoungKingDoran]

Totally over the PS+ shit they wanna push sometimes, a few decent games per year sure, but i wish they had online pass for less $ per year

[lnfiniteLoop]

funny how PS+ DriveClub is no longer available in your library... thought they remaind in your collection while subscribed...

[IamFrasierCrane]

Games do stay in your library, unless noted otherwise. They announced they were removing Driveclub PS+ edition from the Plus library 6 years ago….

[lnfiniteLoop]

shouldn't remove it at all

[northpaws]

Started my gamepass subscription in Black Friday, bought 3 years of Xbox live to convert, got an Xbox series x after trading in my PS4 pro in a recent deal (already has PS5 since day 1)... but honestly it has been very disappointing so far. The only game that I am enjoying a lot at the moment right now is Psychonauts 2... and playing Gears 5 with my brother, (which we debating if we should just stop each time, very boring for some reasons, we enjoyed the first one a lot), after that 2, there are nothing else that I want to play on Gamepass until more games are released in the future.

Gamepass is a decent value for sure, just not very interesting to me personally.

[Teflon02]

Wasn't this what ps plus was always advertised as anyways? Pretty sure on ps3 that's what it was always pushed as. So this being an article like what? 10 years later is a headscratch to me. Slow news day?

[LoveSpuds]

Don't sleep on The Artful Escape duder, it'll only take you 5 hours or so, but you'll have a grin on you fave the whole time, such a cool game.