June was no doubt a big month for the PS Plus service, as Sony finally launched its tiered program consisting of the Essential tier (as it was), the Extra tier (for PS4 and PS5 games), and the Premium tier (for classic games), as well as a few other scattered bonuses. However, it seems in all of this, Sony has been returning to reruns for PS Plus across the board.
Every gaming service, whether it’s PS Plus, Games with Gold, Game Pass, or Epic Games Store has featured reruns before. It’s going to happen from time to time, but since the start of June and now through the expected reveal of the PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers, there have been more concentrated reruns on PS Plus than ever.
PS Plus Free Games for June and July 2022 Reruns
June was the midway point of the PS Plus free games and the Essential tier. Not much has changed in these two months, of course, but it was the last selection before being officially dubbed the Essential tier. The PS Plus free games of June 2022 included God of War, which was also available for those who upgraded to the PS Plus Extra tier. In other words, God of War aired in two ways in June 2022, and so those who upgraded received a little less value from the Essential tier. This is especially true given the other two titles were the low-rated Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker.
Come the PS Plus free games for July 2022, Man of Medan was included there. Man of Medan is also available on the higher-tiered services. This means that PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers are only getting two free games per month that they didn’t already have access to.
On the one hand, it makes sense to give those who only use Essential a taste of what the higher tiers offer. On the other hand, it means those who pay more get less in one way. Now, the big library may make up for the reruns in the Essential tier, but if the latest rumors are to be believed, PS Plus Extra and Premium are not beyond reruns themselves.
PS Plus Extra and Premium Games for July 2022 Rumors
It should be noted that all of this comes with the caveat that Sony has yet to officially reveal the PS Plus Extra and Premium games for July 2022. However, it’s been a leaky ship for quite some time. This doesn’t come from the normal PS Plus leaker, but it’s been alleged that some of the games joining this month include the following:
- Stray (Day One, confirmed)
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Rumored)
- Assassin’s Creed Black Flag (Rumored
- Assassin’s Creed Unity (Rumored)
- Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry (Rumored)
- The Ezio Collection (Rumored)
- Saints Row 4: Re-Elected (Rumored)
Given that it is implied to be more, it seems PS Plus Extra and Premium will load up with quantity over quality every month. The quality still appears to be there at the least though, as Stray being a day one title on PS Plus is going to be big for the service. However, Final Fantasy 7 Remake was already given away on PS Plus a little over a year ago.
PS Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium: The Problem with Reruns
This time around, it’s longstanding users who paid to upgrade to Extra or Premium who are getting shorted. One could argue that one rerun game here and there won’t impact the service much, and that’s true in the short term. However, featuring three major reruns within two months doesn’t bode well for the long term.
Eventually, the “new service release smell” will wear off. Players will work their way through the extensive library, and then those who are getting reruns will be really impacted when the games offered slows down. It makes sense now to push the higher tiers by showing more and more rewarding games, and these reruns are appetizers to that, but it could be a problem in the long-term.
The good news is that Sony typically varies its PS Plus patterns every few months. It stands to reason that PS Plus is kickstarting its new tier system with reruns of great titles to bolster the service and as an appetizer. But it should move on from this pattern quickly. If these first few months are appetizers, that sets a higher bar for the next few months to be the main course.
PS Plus subscribers get a handful of new games every month.