It has been six months since my Playstation Plus subscription ended and I have absolutely no regrets at all. I do still find myself joining those who are subscribed with bated breath every month, waiting to find out what the next free games will be. The only real difference is that now the feeling of disappointment every month has been replaced with that of relief. As I write this the free Plus games for April have just been confirmed, despite being leaked a week ahead of time, as Uncharted 4 and Dirt Rally 2.0.
I’ve played most of Uncharted 4 and while it’s in no way a bad game, I can’t help but feel making it a Plus game at this stage is nothing shy of an insult. Surely, SURELY, anyone with even the slightest interest in it has bought and played it already?! Surely now, four years after its release, the gaming populace aren’t as interested in it as they would be in a more recent game being made free for a month. I understand that Uncharted 4 is a triple A flagship title for the console but my point that this game is already very dated still stands to prove that this is a cop-out on Sony’s behalf.
I remember when games like Rocket League and Just Cause 3 lit up the Playstation Plus announcements. Just Cause 3 was barely two years old, and Rocket League was made a Plus game on its actual release day, successfully securing millions of players who otherwise may have let it pass them by. Other titles like Drawn to Death have tried to imitate this release strategy and only been let down by the fact that they were absolute abhorrences to play, but the theory Rocket League demonstrated is sound. It is only through daring moves like this that real progress in gaming promotion can be made.
I’ve watched from the sidelines for months as Playstation Plus continues to insult those paying for it with lacklustre games every month. Shadow of the Colossus Remake was a nice touch in March, but to me that game is still a buggy mess, so even if I had the opportunity to acquire it digitally enabling me to microwave (or sell I guess) my copy of the disc then I still couldn’t make myself play it.
In summation, if you don’t play online, there is no real reason for you to continue to buy into this farce. Let your subscription end, remembering to disable automatic renewal in your PS4 console settings, and join me every month where the next weak title is thrown in the trough for the masses to convince themselves that they are happy with it.
All of this may be undermined when I rejoin Plus for a month when they finally make a game I want to play that I don’t own already free, if such a game exists, but I will swallow humble pie happily if Sony look to be rectifying their mistakes. £50 a year is still extortionate though, and that is a hill I will die on.
Thank you for reading my second outburst at the con that is Playstation Plus. Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter @MaliceVER and I will be back to speak to you again very soon.