PS Plus games - Is there evidence of a new trend?

[ZitMeatloaf]

When Sony stopped offering PS3 and Vita games as part of PlayStation Plus in March, there was a lot of speculation (most of it baseless at the time, really) that we'd be getting an additional PS4 game to make up for the removal of those games. For the first three months, that didn't happen and we only got two PS4 games. But since June, we've really been getting three games a month:

 

June 2019: Sonic Mania and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection, which is comprised of two games.

July 2019: Horizon Chase Turbo and Detroit: Become Human Digital Deluxe Edition, which also includes Heavy Rain (admittedly previously a PS+ game on its own)

August 2019: Sniper Elite 4 and WipEout Omega Collection, which is comprised of two games.

 

July was originally supposed to be PES 2019 and Horizon Chase Turbo, but at the very last minute Sony switched out PES for Detroit Deluxe. At the time many people assumed the switch was due to negative feedback regarding PES, or maybe because of some weird licensing issues or something. But looking back now, I wonder if Sony made the switch to include 3 games instead of just 2.

 

What do you think? Is Sony listening to feedback and the demand for more games since PS3 and Vita were removed? Are they actually responding and giving us more value for the service by including multi-game editions? Or is this just a coincidence?

 

I don't know if three consecutive months is long enough to show a new trend; we'll see if it happens again next month. If it does, I don't think it can be considered just a coincidence.

[RevengeancePrime]

I'd be more inclined to believe that if they begin offering three different games.

[Thrintus]

3 minutes ago, ObliviousSenpai said:

I'd be more inclined to believe that if they begin offering three different games.

 

This.

 

AFAIC it is a purely coincidental matter. Like you said, Detroit was a last-minute addition as we were supposed to be getting PES. I'd very much appreciate 3 titles a month but I think it's a bit of a reach. At least so far, we'll see how it all pans out.

[nyonmyan]

If Sony gave a shit about you, they wouldn't have cancelled PS3 and Vita offers in the first place.

 

Wipeout Omega cost $6 on sale. It may contain 6 million games, its value is the same $6 regardless.

[Dragon-Archon]

They've offered collections before (Zone of the Enders, Jak & Daxter, Hitman, Metal Gear Solid 2 + 3, ICO + Shadow of the Colossus to name a few). IMO Sony offered collections in June, July, and August in hopes of reducing the backlash of complaints, like they did last year: when the announcement came that PS3 and Vita games would be dropped from PS+, the lineup that month contained Ratchet & Clank and Bloodborne in hopes that people would assume future lineups continued to offer better games. I still think Sony did the last minute switch due to the hornet's nest it stirred up. 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Dragon-Archon

[sephiroth4424]

I would settle with one game as long as it was good. Two, three or four mediocre games it's all the same. Would it kill them to throw us an AAA title from 2017?

[Sanetsuken]

Shit i'd take one game if they could make it consistently good.

But they won't. They won't.

ps+ is officially a paywall for internet, and the only "bonus" you have is the cloud. It's like 2008 again with xbox live gold mockery. Except they're used to getting reamed while we're still going through the butthurt stage.

 

[AK-1138]

If they were indeed doing this intentionally, they would, when you compare all the other weird and seemingly random criteria involved, run out of feasible options for this kind of game choice within, what, five months?

[sepheroithisgod]

I am a big fan of them offering collections, but I do think this is a coincidence. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Nathan Drake collection popup soon.

[ZitMeatloaf]

5 minutes ago, AK-1138 said:

If they were indeed doing this intentionally, they would, when you compare all the other weird and seemingly random criteria involved, run out of feasible options for this kind of game choice within, what, five months?

Longer than that, certainly; there's a ton of game collections available (of varying quality, of course). They'd really only need to keep it up until the PS5 launches, which is probably 16 months away.

 

I tend to agree that three months isn't long enough to show a trend, and I'd certainly prefer three separate games as others have mentioned. But if it keeps up for 4 or 5 months in a row, then it probably shows what Sony's strategy is to stave off some of the criticism.

[diskdocx]

The only trend is that if a game has lots of paid DLC, there is a higher probability of it becoming a Plus “freebie” at some point.

 

This represents an easy way to generate more DLC sales, and since you can typically get the complete digital editions cheaper than the season pass for the free Plus base game, it actually is a great way for Sony to generate more income while fooling people into thinking they are getting something of value.

[IntroPhenom]

If what you propose is true (and maybe Sony is listening) I'd take one of those Batman Arkham collections as a freebie any month.  

[xAmaezingx]

I don't see how July offered Heavy Rain has a "bonus freebie" when I know Heavy Rain was a previous PS+ game. I can see this being a "trend" if it keeps up, but I gotta agree with what everyone said.. I'd be more happy if Sony gave us three separate games and/or having them give us either a PS3 and Vita game, just one a Vita or PS3 game, or a Vita game that's crossbuy with the PS4 so that it still counts as a "PS4 title."

[DaikichiKawachi]

I don't think so. I have very little inside information but I doubt that they pick titles on a month to month basis. The games that are offered are probably negotiated well in advance with the publisher.

 

Also, they have made no fanfare at all about it I being three titles. With all the negative publicity that PS Plus has received in the past 6 months you would think they would say if something changed to increase value in the service. They certainly let everybody know about the increase in cloud saving, which benefited hardly anyone. I expect it to revert back to four games each month when the PS5 is released, but until then we are stuck with two.

[ZitMeatloaf]

37 minutes ago, diskdocx said:

The only trend is that if a game has lots of paid DLC, there is a higher probability of it becoming a Plus “freebie” at some point.

 

This represents an easy way to generate more DLC sales, and since you can typically get the complete digital editions cheaper than the season pass for the free Plus base game, it actually is a great way for Sony to generate more income while fooling people into thinking they are getting something of value.

Agree with this, although on one occasion I did buy a season pass for a PS+ game (Trials Fusion) on sale, so I still felt like I was getting a pretty good deal.

[Astray404]

2 hours ago, sephiroth4424 said:

I would settle with one game as long as it was good. Two, three or four mediocre games it's all the same. Would it kill them to throw us an AAA title from 2017?

Agree. I only played Hitman and Detroit this year, other titles are just... not that appealing

[djb5f]

 

48 minutes ago, diskdocx said:

The only trend is that if a game has lots of paid DLC, there is a higher probability of it becoming a Plus “freebie” at some point.

 

This represents an easy way to generate more DLC sales, and since you can typically get the complete digital editions cheaper than the season pass for the free Plus base game, it actually is a great way for Sony to generate more income while fooling people into thinking they are getting something of value.

 

Not sure I see a trend with games being offered that have DLC content.

 

Detroit, Heavy Rain, and Horizon Chase Turbo don’t although it is rumored the last of these might get some.  PES 2019 would not have either.

 

But by percentages, I think PS Plus games that have DLC trophies is fairly close to all games that have DLC trophies.  It is fairly prevalent in gaming.

[Chocolat_GiddyUp]

One day PS plus gonna be so bad they gonna give Fortnite and Warframe as monthly offering lolz

Edited August 1, 2019 by Chocolate GiddyUp

[killerlightning]

Sony needs to do what Xbox is doing and offer an Ultimate package with PS Now along with having a better Sony Rewards now that they are discontinuing the trophy passes.  Just doing Game Pass Quests and bing searches each day I was able to  get Ultimate for three years without ever having to spend a dime.

Edited August 1, 2019 by killerlightning

[Vergil]

Nope. Its just Sony is in your head! 

[kanzenchaos]

1 hour ago, Chocolate GiddyUp said:

One day PS plus gonna be so bad they gonna offer Fortnite and Warframe as monthly offering lolz

I'm pretty sure Xbox once offered a Smite dlc in GWG lol

[Aecesaje_]

18 minutes ago, kanzenchaos said:

I'm pretty sure Xbox once offered a Smite dlc in GWG lol

June 2018,here it is

[TheLakota]

5 hours ago, nyonmyan said:

Wipeout Omega cost $6 on sale. It may contain 6 million games, its value is the same $6 regardless.

 

I don't determine something's value solely by its price; rather, I determine something's value by how much it means to me. 

 

I have a Michael Jordan basketball card I pulled from a pack that at the time was considered uncommon, but not rare. It's my most prized card not because of its monetary value, but because of the memory tied to it.

[Happy]

I would agree that this development is more of a coincidence than a deliberate move from Sonys end. Borderlands was quite clearly a move initiated by Gearbox to promote the new free DLC and Borderlands 3. Heavy Rain was already a Plus title quite recently so i don’t think counting it is fair.

 

On top of that, i don’t think that starting to include more collection-type titles would do much to help PS+. I don’t think it’s necessarily an issue that we’re only getting 2 games. It’s just that with only 2 games, the likelihood that neither will appeal to any individual is much higher than it was back when we were getting 6 games. What i mean to say is you could include the entire Assassins Creed series and you still wouldn’t appeal to those who don’t care for Assassins Creed. Variety is the spice of life and i don’t think it’s possible for PS+ to provide a lineup that actually pleases the majority of its userbase with its current system.

[Dr_Mayus]

I kind of wish they would go back to offering indy games. There are some fun games i have gotten to play due to them being free that I would never have considered paying money for.