Sony has outlined plans for its new PlayStation Plus subscription, which will essentially combine the existing PS Plus and PlayStation Now services. This summer, PlayStation Plus will split into three separate tiers: Essential, Extra and Premium. While Essential will keep the current suite of PS Plus features, Extra and Premium will add a whole library of games to download and/or stream.
If you want a detailed description of what each tier will offer, check out our guide on PlayStation Plus Essential vs. Extra vs. Premium for more information. For the purposes of this article, though, just remember this:
- PlayStation Plus Essential will offer two downloadable games each month
- PlayStation Plus Extra will offer about 400 downloadable PS4 and PS5 games, plus the Essential games
- PlayStation Plus Premium will offer about 340 PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games to download and/or stream, in addition to the Extra and Essential games
As such, Premium will offer the biggest library of the three. While Sony hasn’t commented much on which games we can expect in the Extra and Premium tiers, it has confirmed six titles, as well as hinted at what we could expect on the streaming side.
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium: Confirmed games
So far, Sony has confirmed six games for the PlayStation Plus Extra and premium tiers:
- Death Stranding
- God of War (2018)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Returnal
The company has promised to provide more information between now and late May, when the service is due to start rolling out in Asia, followed by North America and Europe. However, we can take a few educated guesses about what other games we might see.
The PlayStation Plus Collection
Right now, PS Plus subscribers on the PS5 have access to the PlayStation Plus Collection: an eclectic assortment of first- and third-party fare that provides a pretty good cross-section of what PlayStation is all about. Among other games, the PS Plus collection includes Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Final Fantasy XV, Resident Evil 7 and Uncharted 4.
Sony has not yet revealed whether the PS Plus Collection will remain an Essential-tier benefit, or whether it will fold some (or all) of these titles into the Extra and Premium tiers. However, the PS Plus Collection seems like it was the trial balloon for a larger downloadable library, so it stands to reason that Sony will want to keep some, or all, of these games.
PlayStation Now
Sony has explained that the PlayStation Plus Premium tier will essentially combine the existing PS Plus subscription with the PS Now streaming service. At present, PlayStation Now offers more than 700 titles across multiple PlayStation generations, which is analogous to Sony’s promise of 400 PS4/PS5 games in Extra, and an additional 340 PS1/PS2/PS3/PSP games in Premium.
While the PlayStation Now library may not simply migrate over to PS Plus in toto, it stands to reason that a lot of the games will make the cut, particularly on the PS3 side. You can check out the full PS Now library on Sony’s website. If any of your favorite games are listed, you may want to invest in a PS Now subscription. Sony has already promised that it will convert existing PS Now subscriptions into PS Plus Premium subscriptions come this summer.
