As always, the free Epic Games Store title for next Thursday was revealed when the new games rotated in on March 3. Users can now claim Black Widow: Recharged and Centipede: Recharged, which are both newer versions of classic arcade titles—sure to bring in plenty of nostalgia and general improvements as well. They’ll rotate out on Thursday, March 10, and be replaced with Cities: Skylines.
Cities: Skylines is a solid city management simulation game focused on urban planning, including elements like zoning, road placement, taxes, public services, public transportation, budget, health, employment, pollution, and more. For fans of the genre, it should be a pretty good pick up on Epic Games Store, but interestingly enough, it has a controversial history on another game service, PS Plus.
PS Plus Vs. Epic Games Store – Cities: Skylines
It should be noted that Cities: Skylines wasn’t a controversial PS Plus game because of its quality or even, technically speaking, its genre, and it received good reviews at launch. But back in April 2020, a new rumor reared its head that Dark Souls Remastered and Dying Light would be the free PS Plus games of May 2020. It had no substance or credibility, but fans went buck wild at the sheer potential of those games.
Then, come the announcement of the free PS Plus games of May 2020, Sony revealed the games to be Cities: Skylines and Farming Simulator 19—a far cry in terms of tone and content from what fans had been hoping for. This selection was almost universally panned, in part because the simulation genre is somewhat niche, and fans were getting TWO simulation games. But, the bigger problem lies in the fact that so much of the fanbase had expected two completely different games, and that wasn’t Sony’s fault.
In fact, a petition to replace the PS Plus free games for May 2020 reached tens of thousands of signatures in a short time frame. It never resulted in anything, but it began by referencing the “leak” for Dark Souls Remastered and Dying Light. Although there are months in PS Plus where only a game or two may appeal to someone and there have been months where the reaction is largely negative, like the recent PS Plus free games for February 2022, a month resulting in a petition of such a degree is practically unheard of. Thus, Cities: Skylines has been one of the most controversial PS Plus releases, at least of the past few years.
The thing is, Cities: Skylines isn’t likely to be received similarly on Epic Games Store. EGS manages expectations pretty well among fans, and it always reveals ahead of time. While there are Epic Games Store rumors and leaks, they are rare and they are not faked so often. If anything, what fans should realize when Cities: Skylines has a decent reception on EGS compared to its controversial PS Plus is that they should always be mindful of rumors and leaks, evaluate whether they should trust their source, and avoid hyping up something that does not come through official channels.
Cities: Skylines releases on Epic Games Store on March 10.