June was no doubt a big month for thePS Plusservice, as Sony finally launched its tiered program consisting of the Essential tier (as it was), the Extra tier (for PS4 and PS5 games), and the Premium tier (for classic games), as well as a few other scattered bonuses. However, it seems in all of this, Sony has been returning to reruns forPS Plusacross the board.
Every gaming service, whether it’s PS Plus, Games with Gold, Game Pass, orEpic Games Store has featured rerunsbefore. It’s going to happen from time to time, but since the start of June and now through the expected reveal of the PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers, there have been more concentrated reruns on PS Plus than ever.
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PS Plus Free Games for June and July 2022 Reruns
June was the midway point of the PS Plus free games and the Essential tier. Not much has changed in these two months, of course, but it was the last selection before being officially dubbed the Essential tier. ThePS Plus free games of June 2022 includedGod of War, which was also available for those who upgraded to the PS Plus Extra tier. In other words,God of Waraired in two ways in June 2022, and so those who upgraded received a little less value from the Essential tier. This is especially true given the other two titles were the low-ratedNickelodeon All-Star BrawlandNaruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker.
On the one hand, it makes sense to give those who only use Essential a taste of what the higher tiers offer. On the other hand, it means those who pay more get less in one way. Now, the big library may make up for the reruns in the Essential tier, but if the latest rumors are to be believed,PS Plus Extra and Premiumare not beyond reruns themselves.
PS Plus Extra and Premium Games for July 2022 Rumors
It should be noted that all of this comes with the caveat that Sony has yet to officially reveal the PS Plus Extra and Premium games for July 2022. However, it’s been a leaky ship for quite some time. This doesn’t come from the normal PS Plus leaker, but it’s been alleged that some of the games joining this month include the following:
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Given that it is implied to be more, it seems PS Plus Extra and Premium will load up with quantity over quality every month. The quality still appears to be there at the least though, asStraybeing a day one title on PS Plusis going to be big for the service. However,Final Fantasy 7 Remakewas already given away on PS Plus a little over a year ago.
PS Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium: The Problem with Reruns
This time around, it’s longstanding users who paid toupgrade to Extra or Premiumwho are getting shorted. One could argue that one rerun game here and there won’t impact the service much, and that’s true in the short term. However, featuring three major reruns within two months doesn’t bode well for the long term.
Eventually, the “new service release smell” will wear off. Players will work their way through the extensive library, and then those who are getting reruns will be really impacted when the games offered slows down. It makes sense now to push the higher tiers by showing more and more rewarding games, and these reruns are appetizers to that, but it could be a problem in the long-term.
The good news is thatSony typically varies its PS Plus patternsevery few months. It stands to reason that PS Plus is kickstarting its new tier system with reruns of great titles to bolster the service and as an appetizer. But it should move on from this pattern quickly. If these first few months are appetizers, that sets a higher bar for the next few months to be the main course.
