The first bunch of retro PlayStation games for the new PS Plus are confirmed and it’s strangely slim pickings.
Several PlayStation 1 games had already been L***ed for Sony’s revamped PlayStation Plus service, such as . Now, Sony has finally revealed some of the line-up itself.
As with previous announcements, Sony has casually dropped all this info via a blog post, with no build up and only a month before the new service is scheduled to launch in the West.
Not only has the information been released out of the blue but its very incomplete, since this doesn’t seem to be the entire line-up. Why it’s not all being revealed at once, and when the rest will be announced, is unclear.
When it comes to PlayStation 1 and PSP games, the list is rather small with only 10 games between Sony and third parties. It includes most of the L***ed titles (minus Ridge Racer) and the likes of Ape Escape, Hot Shots Golf, and Jumping Flash.
The first , which received a new rating for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 recently, will be included as well. Although there’s no sign of the other Syphon Filter games that were rated alongside it.
There are technically more retro games than that, but the rest are not the original releases. Instead, they’re remastered versions from the PlayStation 4 era, such as Ape Escape 2 and the original trilogy of Jak And Daxter games.
It’s not exactly the strongest line-up Sony could have offered but, on the plus side, certain games you already bought digitally can be downloaded for free without PS Plus.
‘Players who have previously purchased the digital version of games from the original PlayStation and PSP generation will not have to make a separate purchase or sign up to PlayStation Plus to play these titles on PS4 or PS5,’ reads .
‘When these titles are released for PS4 and PS5, players can head to PlayStation Store and download a version for the consoles at no extra cost if they already own the digital version of the title.’
It also mentions that ‘some of the titles will also be available for individual purchase.’ So, not everything’s going to be gated behind the service.
As a reminder, these retro games are included with the PS Plus Premium tier. The Essential tier is basically just the current PS Plus, while the extra tier will include PlayStation 4 and 5 games – many of which are confirmed in the blog.
This does include heavy hitters like the entire Uncharted series, Ghost Of Tsushima, Demon’s Souls, and Horizon Zero Dawn (and Knack) but despite the Extra tier being roughly equivalent to Xbox Game Pass, first party games will not be included from day one as standard.
Sony promises to add more games monthly, at least for the standard PS Plus Essential tier. For PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium, there will be a second additional update to add exclusive retro games.
To coincide with the announcement, Ubisoft has also revealed that it’s adding what it calls Ubisoft+ Classics for PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers. Its full list of games can be found on .
As plentiful as the service looks to be, its crown jewel – the retro titles – seems rather lacking. There aren’t even any original PlayStation 2 games yet if you don’t count the aforementioned PlayStation 4 remasters.
While more are definitely on the way, one wonders why Sony thought games like Syphon Filter and Super Stardust Portable should be among the starting line-up. Or why it was a good idea to split up the announcements like this.
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