Sony has established a clear pattern when it comes to the free PlayStation Plus games. Fans have become accustomed to learning about the next month's free games on the last Wednesday of each month, and so many were expecting to learn of the free PlayStation Plus games for September 2021 on Wednesday, August 25. However, Wednesday, August 25 came and went with no PS Plus announcement, and it doesn't appear as though the announcement will be coming today either.
The reason for this is because it seems Sony doesn't actually reveal the free PS Plus games on the last Wednesday of the month. That just usually goes hand-in-hand with what Sony is really doing, and that's revealing the free PS Plus games on the Wednesday before the first Tuesday of the next month. 99% of the time, that day is the last Wednesday of the month, but with September 2021, the first Tuesday of the month isn't until September 7.
While Sony could always break from its pattern and make the free PS Plus games for September 2021 announcement on a different day of the week, the most likely scenario is that the announcement will come on Wednesday, September 1. Some may think that this is a little late to announce the free games, but the free PS Plus games aren't actually added until the first Tuesday of each month, meaning the September free games won't be accessilble to subscribers until six days later on Tuesday, September 7 when the PlayStation Store updates.
Free PS Plus Games for September 2021 Leaks and Predictions
Some fans believed that Sony was beat to the punch with its free PS Plus games for September 2021 announcement. An image was making the rounds online that claimed to leak the games, pointing to next-gen survival-horror game The Medium as the PS5 offering, with the other two free games being indie game Haven and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. Since most of the free PS5 PS Plus games have been brand new releases and The Medium is just now making its PS5 debut in September, the leak made some sense.
Sony's close relationship with Activision, which has seen Activision titles offered as PS Plus games in the past, also made it easy to believe that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 could be part of the free PS Plus games for September 2021 lineup. In fact, there are Activision games readily available through the PS Plus Collection deal on PS5, including the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy.
However, The Medium developer Bloober Team stepped up to debunk this particular PS Plus leak. According to Bloober Team, The Medium will not be a free PS5 PS Plus game come September. And since The Medium's PS5 release date is September 3, and not September 7 when the free PS Plus games are going to be made available, it's not surprising at all to learn that this leak was fake.
As for what the free PS5 PS Plus game will be, there are some solid guesses. Some fans believe that the Metroidvania game FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch will be the free PS5 PS Plus game since it releases on September 7, but there is some evidence pushing back against that possibility, namely the fact that the game is selling pre-orders. There is a precedent for Sony offering refunds for its PS Plus games, like it did with Maneater back in January, but still, FIST being the free PS5 PS Plus game may not be as likely as some think.
Some fans have put forward the theory that Chernobylite will be a free PS Plus game since it launches on November 7, but the problem is the native PS5 version isn't going to be available on that date. Unless plans have changed, Chernobylite's PS4 version will release on September 7 with the PS5 version coming at some point down the line. Nearly every single PS5 PS Plus game has been a day one release so far, so it doesn't seem likely that the company will break from that pattern here, but anything can happen.
Until Sony itself decides to announce the free PS Plus games for September 2021, all fans can do is speculate and treat supposed "leaks" with caution. As it stands, the most likely September 2021 free PS Plus games reveal date is Wednesday, September 1, though it's always possible that Sony will surprise fans and announce them earlier. Whenever Sony does make the big reveal, it will be interesting to see if any of the theories about what the free PS Plus game is turn out to be true, or if the lineup consists of PS4 and PS5 games that are completely unexpected instead.