The new PlayStation Plus subscription service is here in the US and some other regions (but not yet in the UK or Australia). The service has a few different tiers with various offerings depending on what you’re willing to spend. The initial catalog for the Extra tier — the service’s best competition to Xbox Game Pass — has about 400 games right now, but only a handful of what you’d consider top-shelf games.
The most notable PlayStation Plus inclusions so far include:
- Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
- NBA 2K22
- Returnal
- Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Fallout 76
- Red Dead Redemption 2
There are some notable games on that list, but it also lacks the blockbuster Day 1 vibe of Xbox Game Pass, which has big debuts like Halo Infinite. Extra costs $15 a month, $40 for three months or $100 for a year.
The more expensive Premium tier ($18 a month) also includes download and streaming access to about 500 older games, mostly from pre-PS4 consoles, most of which will run at 60Hz (essentially playing at 60 frames per second). It also includes access to game demos, which allow access to new or high-profile games for a limited time, between 1 and 5 hours, depending on the game. You can try games including Horizon: Forbidden West, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Hot Wheels Unleashed.
One of the better aspects of the new PS Plus is that there are plenty of cult and indie favorites in the Extra/Premium tier. I’m listing a handful of what I think are notable PS4/PS5 games, and I’m soliciting similar suggestions from my colleagues for an update.
Here are my older or lesser-known picks so far:
- Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories
- XCOM 2
- Greedfall
- Uncharted: the Lost Legacy
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker
- Pillars of Eternity
- Tetris Effect
- Outer Wilds
And one odd but interesting thing I noticed is that there are a lot of Warhammer games included. I know next to nothing about Warhammer lore, but appreciate that it’s so deep and wide-ranging. And I’ve enjoyed games like Inquisitor (like a sci-fi Diablo) and the recent Chaos Gate (like XCOM with space marines). If you’re interested, the PS Plus list includes:
- Chaosbane
- Space Hulk: Deathwing
- Inquisitor
- Necromunda: Underhive Wars
- Space Hulk Tactics
I’ll update this list as more games are added, and as my colleagues remind me of top-tier classics I’ve missed.