It’s impossible to predict, month over month, what games will appear on the PS Plus service. Sometimes, there are huge PS Plus free game selections that have everyone excited; sometimes, like with the PS Plus free games for February 2022, fans find them more disappointing than anything. March remains to be seen, but PS Plus fans already know they’re getting a bonus of sorts in GTA Online.
However, fans may know more about the PS Plus free games for March 2022 than they realize. PS Plus may be unpredictable, but it often relies on patterns that are quickly identifiable. In fact, at one point last year, fans were able to figure out Hell Let Loose was a PS Plus game for October 2021 because there were a few key identifiers. Now, this method isn’t exactly foolproof, but the simple fact is that over the past few months, few games remotely fell into this pattern. For March 2022, there are two games that actually fit, but at least one that hits every identifier of this pattern.
Pattern May Reveal PS Plus Free Games for March 1, 2022
First, it’s worth explaining how this pattern works. Everyone knows that the PS Plus free games are announced on the last Wednesday of the month ahead of the first Tuesday of the following month. Fans can expect a PS Plus free games for March 2022 reveal on February 23 and their release on March 1. This is important because, when PS Plus includes a launch game on the service, it releases on that date but cannot be pre-ordered. If the game was pre-ordered but then Sony turned around and gave it away for free, it would require refunds.
Secondly, what really cemented Hell Let Loose as a free PS Plus game was a Beta on PlayStation consoles. It was clear there was already some deal between Hell Let Loose publisher Team17 and Sony, and the follow-through after that was obvious. The first is convincing enough, but the second really drives home the potential pattern here.
Finally, it helped that Hell Let Loose’s release date was properly announced within a short time frame and coincided with the expected PS Plus release date. Games typically announced a release date months in advance, so to allow marketing and hype to do their job, and short turnarounds are not normally beneficial—unless it’s for something like PS Plus.
Conan Chop Chop Fit This PS Plus Pattern Best, But There Could Be Another
With this in mind, there are quite a few games launching on March 1 for PlayStation consoles: Shadow Warrior 3, Conan Chop Chop, Elex 2, FAR: Changing Tides, and Little Orpheus. Of these, the only games that cannot currently be pre-ordered as Conan Chop Chop and Little Orpheus. It’s not just because they are arguably smaller titles than others, evidenced by the fact that FAR: Changing Tides CAN be pre-ordered. So, that checks off one box.
Is there some sort of connection between these games and Sony? Well, Conan Chop Chop was first announced as a prank, roguelite game based on Conan the Barbarian and confirmed to be real on the PlayStation Blog. Furthermore, Conan Chop Chop’s release date was announced earlier this month as March 1—which was also announced on the PlayStation Blog.
The release date announcement doesn’t add too much, but several release date announcements aren’t really announced there, like Little Orpheus, and so it does add some credibility. This is especially true for Conan Chop Chop, given its initial confirmation there years ago. This really hits all three boxes of the old PS Plus pattern, and while not guaranteed, Conan Chop Chop feels like a strong bet for one of PS Plus’ free games for March 2022 slots.
Little Orpheus is less convincing, but still fits this pattern closely. Little Orpheus cannot be pre-ordered on the PlayStation Store right now, so that checks off one box. Its console release date was announced, as this is a port, at the end of January, so it somewhat fits the recent announcement box. But there is nothing immediately clear connecting the game to Sony—still, it fits much better than any game in the past few months.
Again, there’s no predicting the PS Plus free games and so this should be taken with a grain of salt. But, based on this, it would not be surprising to see Conan Chop Chop as a PS Plus free game for March 2022. If not it, Little Orpheus could be in its shadow.
PS Plus subscribers get a handful of free games every month.