PlayStation Plus to Offer 2 Free Games Per Platform Starting in June

Game Rant

By Anthony Taormina

Published May 30, 2014

Moving forward, Sony plans to balance out the offerings of its Instant Game Collection to include 2 games per platform for PS4, PS3, and Vita.

Over the past four years Sony has taken their PlayStation Plus service and transformed it from a no-frills premium offering to one of the most essential and successful parts of the PlayStation ecosystem. Granted, some of that has been by design, as the PS4 requires the service for online play, but Sony has more than ensured that the value proposition remains high regardless.

Chief among PlayStation Plus' benefits is the Instant Game Collection, a monthly offering a free games that has, thus far, included titles like Uncharted 3, BioShock Infinite, and Borderlands 2 — games that were still commanding at least a $40 price tag from retailers. Every month PlayStation owners look forward to the announcement of the IGC's new games, and, unsurprisingly, Sony continues to deliver quality content.

However, with the release of the PS4, the Instant Game Collection formula has become a little muddled. Gamers could no longer predict how many games might release for each Sony platform (PS4, Vita, PS3) and expiration dates for said games were never entirely clear.

Starting in June, however, that will all change. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Marketing VP John Koller confirmed that, going forward, Sony will offer two titles per platform as part of the Instant Game Collection's monthly offering. That means 2 titles for Vita, 2 titles for PS3, and most importantly 2 titles for PS4.

Additionally, Koller announced a new release schedule for the IGC games that would see less confusion for gamers. Starting in July, every game will release on the first Tuesday of the new month, and they will disappear from the SEN store on the first Tuesday of the following month. Simple enough.

The announcement of this new, balanced release schedule and format for the Instant Game Collection also included confirmation of the new game releases for June — the first month to offer the 6-game split. June's new games are Trine 2: Complete Story (PS4), PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate (PS4), NBA 2K14 (PS3), Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3), Terraria (Vita), and Mutant Mudds Deluxe (Vita).

With the PS4's install base continuing to grow, clearly Sony wants to ensure the value of the PlayStation Plus grows along with it. Seeing the release of two games on Vita and PS3, and only one game on PS4, was fine at first, but eventually parity was going to be necessary for the feature's future success. Speaking of PlayStation Plus and IGC's future, gamers still have DriveClub PS+ Edition and the Destiny beta to look forward to later this year.

What do you think of Sony's new plan for the Instant Game Collection? What games do you hope to see included in a future month's selection?

Source: PlayStation Blog