Lords of the Fallen is a reboot of sorts to a 2014 Souls-like action RPG of the same name. Things are much different this time around, from Adyr resurrecting to cause mayhem in the world of Axiom to players being able to traverse Umbral, the land of the dead. It’s a pretty hefty package, especially for Dark Souls lovers, which has been improved multiple times courtesy of dozens of patches.

If you’ve seen Lords of the Fallen 2, then this is a good way to get on the hype train before its alleged launch in August. As for Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered, it collects all three of Lara Croft’s original adventures into a single package. The visuals have been revamped (though you can still enable the original art style), and there’s even a Challenge Mode with ten new outfits to unlock.

As for Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream, well, it’s SAO. Not much else to expect if you’ve played the previous games, but at least there are 21 different characters, and you can team up in a party of four to undertake a raid that supports 20 players online.

Released in March 2021 for Nintendo Switch and only arriving in January 2023 for other consoles, Monster Hunter Rise is a more pared-down experience compared to World and Wilds. However, it offers the new Wirebug for getting around (and unleashing new skills), and players can also mount Palamutes to explore maps. There’s also the Rampage, a tower defense-style mission type.

Slime Rancher 2 was released last year after an extensive time in early access and serves as the follow-up to Monomi Park’s beloved farming title. Players venture to a new planet to raise slimes, which have new variants, and even uncover various new mysteries.

As for PGA Tour 2K25, it’s the latest title in 2K’s series developed by HB Studios, and offers several Championships, a new MyCareer mode, and more. Despite a solid launch, it received several egregious microtransactions shortly after, so be warned. Finally, there’s The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road, which includes the 2024 expansion and everything else before, making it a decent entry point into the MMO.

All of the above titles are available from March 3rd to April 6th. Check out February’s offerings here and redeem them while you can.

Available for PS4, Ace Combat 7: Skies of Unknown sees players controlling Trigger, a fighter pilot serving his penance while Osea and Erusea wage war. Launched in 2019, Bandai Namco’s air combat title has sold over seven million copies and earned critical acclaim. If you’re the least bit interested in Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, then it’s absolutely worth playing Ace Combat 7 first.

Subnautica: Below Zero is somewhat less mandatory before the next game enters early access this year. Coming to PS4 and PS5 subscribers, it offers new characters, biomes, creatures, and mechanics, such as surface exploration. Not as acclaimed as the original, but it’s still one of the better survival crafting adventures out there.

The same goes for ULTROS on PS4 and PS5, at least in the sci-fi side-scrolling department. With trippy visuals courtesy of El Huervo (Hotline Miami) and an incredible soundtrack, it’s an adventure unlike most. And if realistic boxing is your poison, Undisputed, available exclusively for PS5, could be worthwhile. With over 70 fighters and dozens of Attributes and Traits to master, there’s a lot to keep you busy.

Playable on PS5, the LEGO-fied adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn offers overhead beat ’em up co-op action and a much more laid-back approach to the original’s post-apocalyptic setting. The other major addition is, unsurprisingly, Killing Floor 3, which launched to negative reviews.

It’s since improved courtesy, especially following the Rearmament update, but it wouldn’t be surprising if sales didn’t meet expectations. Speaking of the same (and needing new players), there’s Synduality Echo of Ada, Bandai Namco’s underwhelming extraction shooter and the third PS5 exclusive.

For those seeking a more survival horror-focused multiplayer experience, The Outlast Trials on PS4 and PS5 should fill that void in disturbingly gruesome fashion. Speedrunners can check out Neon White on the same platforms for its clever mix of first-person shooting, cards and anime-esque storytelling.

Of course, there’s even more to look forward to in December when Skate Story launches on day one for subscribers. Head here for the latest details.

Playable on PS5 and PS4, Stray follows a cat who finds themselves falling into an unknown city, revealed to be run by robots. Alongside navigating its deteriorating corridors and alleyways with the drone, B-12, they must also evade the Zurk, a mysterious bacteria that feasts on organic and inorganic matter.

Released in 2022, Stray received positive reviews from critics and bagged a few awards, including Best Independent Game and Best Debut Game at The Game Awards.

As for the other titles, EA Sports WRC 24 is playable on PS5. It’s packed with the usual Career, Championship, and Time Trial modes while featuring cars from the 2024 season of WRC, WRC2 and Junior WRC. Then there’s Totally Accurate Battle Simulator for PS4 and PS5, which allows for simulating battles involving hundreds of comical wobblers. It even has online multiplayer.

After they go live, these three titles will be available until December 1st. In the meantime, you have until next week to subscribe to Essential (and higher tiers) for Alan Wake 2, Cocoon and Goat Simulator 3.

BlueTwelve Studio’s Stray is allegedly one of the free titles available next month for Essential subscribers (and all subsequent tiers). It will be available on November 4th, though interestingly, the leaker hasn’t ascertained the other two games. An announcement is expected on October 29th, so it won’t be long before we find out.

Released in July 2022 for PS4, PS5, and PC, Stray is a narrative adventure from the perspective of a cat. After ending up in a city of robots seemingly lost to time, they navigate the ruins alongside a drone known as B-12 to escape and reunite with their kin. Check out our review for more details. It’s also available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

Released in 2023 (and winner of our Game of the Year award), Alan Wake 2 follows up on the original by offering two protagonists: Wake and Saga Anderson. The latter is an FBI special agent investigating mysterious murders in Bright Falls and eventually connects with the former. Boasting incredible production values and storytelling, the sequel sold over two million units as of February 2025.

But that’s not all. To celebrate The Last of Us Day on September 26th, PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members can experience The Last of Us Part 2 on PS4 and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered on PS5. In terms of PlayStation Classics, Premium members can look forward to the addition of Tekken 3 (PS One), Soulcalibur 3 (PS2) and Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2) later this year.

The Souls-like action RPG is playable for PS4 and PS5 subscribers. Based on the tale of Pinocchio, players control P, who must explore the city of Krat after all its puppets suddenly go on a killing spree. He must find Geppetto, his creator, and ultimately seek an answer for what’s going on.

Combat is a mix of Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, with some gorgeous environments and challenging boss fights. It recently received a paid story DLC, Overture, which you can learn more about in our review.

DayZ and My Hero One’s Justice 2 are both playable on PS4 (and PS5 via backwards compatibility). The former is a long-running survival game set on a large map with roaming zombies. Your goal is to scrounge for materials and survive, especially since dying will leave you with nothing, and either cooperate or deal with other survivors.

The latter is Bandai Namco’s 2020 fighter based on the My Hero Academia manga/anime. While it received praise for its visuals, the combat, camera, and story mode were criticized.

Diablo 4 is an interesting addition since its newest season, Sins of the Horadrim, goes live on the same day. Alongside a new seasonal questline, it adds Horadric Spells that can be customized with different Catalysts, Infusions and Arcana. Nightmare Dungeons will also get permanent upgrades, and the new Escalating Nightmares activity allows for tackling three in consecutive order.

The King of Fighters 15 is the latest in one of SNK’s fighting game franchises, with a launch roster of 39 different fighters, rollback netcode, and new mechanics. It’s no Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, but depending on who you ask, that’s probably a good thing.

Finally, there’s Jusant, DON’T NOD’s climbing adventure title that took many by surprise with its art direction, world-building and narrative. It’s a short but enjoyable experience – check out our review here. All three titles will be available until August 4th.

During the presentation, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Hideaki Nishino revealed that even with the prices being higher, PlayStation Plus subscribers are opting for more expensive tiers like Premium and Extra. These tiers now represent a big percentage of the total number of PS Plus subscribers.

“Subscribers are increasingly choosing our Premium and Extra tiers, which now represent approximately 38% of total subscribers,” said Nishino, who went on to break down the subscriber figures further. He revealed that out of the 38 percent, 22 percent were subscribed to the Premium tier and 16 percent to were on the Extra tier as of FY 2024. This is in comparison to 17 percent and 13 percent respectively in FY 2022.

This growth, according to Nishino, has indicated to Sony that its user base sees value in the subscription service across its various aspects, from its line-up of free games to improvements made to the overall online infrastructure.

“PlayStation Plus is highly valued by our players and continues to drive engagement,” he said. “We’re already seen a trend toward the option of higher tiers within our service, as evidenced by the subscriber mix we achieved in FY2024, where approximately 38% of players are now subscribed to PlayStation Plus Premium or Extra tiers.”

“This is even after the global price increases we implemented in FY2023, and more recently, the local price increases in selected countries, to improve our pricing strategy across certain market clusters, and also to account for [foreign exchange] movements.”

“These price increases were partly a result of increasing value we bring to the players, through the quality and diversity of content we continue to add, as well as investment in the features to improve the service further, such as player personalisation and enhanced content discovery.”

Nishino capped the subject of by stating that the company plans on bringing more content and improvements to the service as time goes on. This also means that Sony will continue to revise its pricing strategies for PS Plus, potentially making it even more expensive, depending on the value it offers to players.

“The PlayStation Plus service offers great value for our players, and we will continue to add more value and adjust our pricing strategy in a dynamic way to maximise profitability,” he said.

The most recent price hikes for PS Plus were announced back in March for Australia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, as well as 15 Latin American countries, including Chile, Bolivia and Mexico, among others. At the time, the decision to raise the price was made, according to Sony, because of “global market conditions”.

“This price adjustment will allow us to continue offering high quality games and value-added benefits to your PlayStation Plus subscription,” wrote the company in its announcement at the time. These prices, will announced a couple of months ago, will only start coming into effect for subscribers from this month onwards.