When it first premiered in June, one of the main perks of PS Plus Premium was a collection of PS1, PS2, and PS3 games. Sony admitted it would be unable to include many day-one launches on the service, but its suite of older games was enough to get fans excited. While it didn’t have the reputation of Xbox Game Pass yet, PlayStation owners were anticipating the thrill of having a similarly great subscription service in PS Plus Premium.

While Xbox Game Pass is famous for its day-one releases and premium titles, PS Plus seems to have prioritized older games. From Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter to Rogue Galaxy to the original Resident Evil, PlayStation Plus Premium had some of Sony's best games from the late ‘90s and early 2000s the day it launched. Since then, PS Plus has been ignoring classics in favor of solid offerings that ultimately appeal to a limited audience and aren’t bringing in new subscribers.

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August’s PS Plus Premium Games are Underwhelming

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Despite the service's initial offerings providing hope for retro gamers, August’s new PS Plus games seem to be continuing a disappointing trend. New games include Bugsnax, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands, and a trio of Yakuza games: Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2. For fans of online multiplayer, the hit horror game Dead by Daylight was also added this month.

The two Kiwami games offer some hope for fans of classics, as they are remakes of the first Yakuza PS2 games, but they aren’t truly retro games. Sony owns a sizable collection of PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP games under its studios’ umbrella. PS Plus wouldn’t have to pay a penny for that content, yet has chosen not to include more options.

There have also been concerns about the retro games already on PS Plus Premium. Sony has a shaky history with backward compatibility and can pull things off the service any time it desires. Fans have been understandably worried about losing access to their favorite games, and PlayStation also still hasn’t introduced trophy support for retro games on PS Plus, leaving subscribers wanting more.

PS Plus Needs to Offer Better Value

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The future of PS Plus remains murky. Sony won’t include day-one releases on PS Plus Premium, but the last few months show it also won’t focus on retro games. Sony is playing with the deck stacked against it from the beginning given the quantity and quality of games that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers, making a competitor difficult to build. The issue isn't that Sony has a bad plan, it's that there doesn't appear to be a plan at all.

With very few new releases available and a seeming reluctance to lean into classics, PS Plus Premium feels directionless. If Sony won’t invest in top modern games, there’s a simple path forward that Nintendo Switch Online has already showcased. While the titles available are limited, Switch Online offers classic NES and SNES games that can’t be played anywhere else for a very low price. Anyone with the desire to play games from their childhood has to subscribe to Nintendo’s service, and a higher tier even includes N64 and Sega Genesis titles.

PS Plus Premium had the difficult task of being the last subscription service to launch for major consoles, even if it had a prior iteration. It has to fight against more established names and convince people that paying for Premium is worthwhile. Sony has a chance to set itself apart from Game Pass by leaning into the nostalgia that gamers feel for their favorite childhood titles, but it needs to show a commitment to retro games sooner rather than later.

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