The Overwatch 2 beta will launch on June 28th on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. Sign-ups for the beta will be available on June 16th, followed by more details on the game.
PlayStation was briefly selling Tekken 2 at the incorrect price of $9,999 USD (about $12,932 CAD) on the U.S. PlayStation Store in a since-updated listing.
The classic 1995 Bandai Namco fighting game landed on PlayStation’s digital storefront as part of the June 13th launch of Sony’s PlayStation Plus revamp. Tekken 2 is included as one of the ‘PS Plus Premium’ retro offerings — emulated games from the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.
The error was first spotted by Twitter user @TheKBGamer and quote tweeted by Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada, a prominent figure in the industry. “WHAT A MARVELOUS PRICE SONY,” Harada amusingly wrote.
The high price tag has since been removed. It should be noted that PlayStation is allowing users to purchase some of the games in the PS Plus Premium catalogue separately, like Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!, while others, Tekken 2 included, are locked behind the membership paywall. PS Plus Premium starts at $21.99/month.
Thankfully, the North American launch of the new PS Plus did address another major retro games concern: the quality of emulation. When the expanded service debuted in Japan last month, users noted that the retro games were based on the European “PAL” video format, which was infamous for running at the slower 50Hz compared to the 60Hz “NTSC” versions in Canada and the U.S. However, PS Plus’ original PlayStation games are the superior NTSC versions.
While that branding is being retained, it’s actually a merger between the previous PlayStation Plus and Sony’s PlayStation Now game streaming service, with some additional perks. These include larger PS4 and PS5 game catalogues, older games (PS1/PS2/PSP/PS3) and time-limited game trials.
PlayStation is spreading out these benefits across three tiers. The first tier, ‘Essential,’ is the exact same as the previous PS Plus, so you only get a few free games per month, as well as the ‘PS Plus Collection‘ on PS5, cloud saves and, of course, online play.
Pricing for Essential is the same as the old PS Plus:
1 month — $11.99 CAD
3 months — $29.99
12 months — $69.99
The next two tiers, however, are quite different. Read on for a full breakdown of the hundreds of additional games that are offered with each:
PlayStation Plus Extra
PlayStation Plus Extra includes everything that Essential does, plus hundreds more PS4 and PS5 games. Pricing is as follows:
1 month — $17.99
3 months — $49.99
12 months — $114.99
It’s important to note that all of the below games are for PS4, unless otherwise stated. In some cases, games are offered on both PS4 and PS5, while others are only available on one of the two consoles. Therefore, we’ve made the distinction where applicable.
Here’s the full list of PS Plus Extra titles:
Absolver
Abzu
Ace of Seafood
Adr1ft
Agatha Christie – The ABC Murders
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Agents of Mayhem
Alienation
AO Tennis 2
Aragami
Ash of Gods Redemption
Ashen
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (PS4 and PS5)
Assetto Corsa Competizione (PS4 and PS5)
Astebreed
Avicii Invector
Bad North
Balan Wonderworld (PS4)
Balan Wonderworld (PS5)
Batman: Arkham Knight
Battle Chasers: Nightwar
Bee Simulator
Black Mirror
Blasphemous
Bloodborne
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Bomber Crew
Bound
Bound by Flame
Brawlout
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back
Caladrius Blaze
Call of Cthulhu
Carmageddon: Max Damage
Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers
Car Mechanic Simulator
Celeste
Chess Ultra
Chicken Police
Child of Light
Children of Morta
Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy!
Chronos: Before the Ashes
Cities: Skylines
Clouds & Sheep 2
Concrete Genie
Concrete Genie: Digital Deluxe Edition
ConnecTank
Control: Ultimate Edition (PS4 and PS5)
Cris Tales (PS4)
Cris Tales (PS5)
Croixleur Sigma
Damascus Gear: Operation Tokyo HD Edition
Danger Zone
Dangerous Golf
Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition
Dark Rose Valkyrie
Darksiders Genesis
Darksiders III
Days Gone
DCL – The Game
Dead Cells
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (PS4)
Death end re;Quest
Death end re;Quest 2
Death Squared
Death Stranding (PS4)
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut (PS5)
Defense Grid 2
Deliver Us the Moon (PS4)
Demon’s Souls (PS5)
Detroit: Become Human
Descenders (PS4)
Desperados III
Destruction All-Stars (PS5)
Disaster Report 4 Plus: Summer Memories
Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance
Doom
Dragon Star Varnir
Dreamfall Chapters
Dungeons 2
Dynasty Warriors 8 Empires
Eagle Flight
Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair
Electronic Super Joy
El Hijo – A Wild West Tale
Elex
Embr (PS4)
Empire of Sin
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek
Enter the Gungeon
Entwined
Everspace
Everybody’s Golf
Evil Genius 2: World Domination (PS4 and PS5)
Fade to Silence
Fallout 4
Fallout 76
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: Classic Edition
Far Cry 3: Classic Edition
Far Cry 4
FIA European Truck Racing Championship
Fighting Ex Layer – Standard Version
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age
Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
Fluster Cluck
Foreclosed (PS4 and PS5)
Friday the 13th: The Game
Frostpunk: Console Edition
Fury Unleashed
Gabbuchi
Gal Gunvolt Burst
Get Even
Ghost of a Tale
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut (PS4 and PS5)
Ghostrunner (PS4 and PS5)
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Director’s Cut
Gods will Fall
Golf with Your Friends
God of War
Goosebumps: The Game
Gravity Rush 2
Grand Ages: Medieval
Graveyard Keeper
Greedfall (PS4 and PS5)
GRIP: Combat Racing
Gunvolt Chronicles Luminous Avenger IX
Harvest Moon Light of Hope Special Edition
Harvest Moon: Mad Dash
Harvest Moon: One World
Hello Neighbor
Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
Homefront: The Revolution
Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Hotshot Racing
How to Survive 2
How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition
Hue
Human Fall Flat (PS4 and PS5)
I am Bread
I am Dead (PS4 and PS5)
Indivisible
inFamous First Light
inFamous Second Son
Infinite Minigolf
Injustice 2
Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf: Console Edition
John Wick Hex
JumpJet Rex
Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept
Killzone Shadow Fall
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Kingdom Two Crowns
Kingdom: New Lands
Knack
Kona (PS4 and PS5)
Last Day of June
Last Stop (PS4 and PS5)
Lawn Mowing Simulator (PS4 and PS5)
Left Alive: Day One Edition
Legendary Fishing
Legends of Ethernal
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Leo’s Fortune
LittleBigPlanet 3
Little Big Workshop
Little Nightmares
Lost Words: Beyond the Page
Mafia III: Definitive Edition
Magicka 2
Mahjong
Malicious Fallen
Maneater (PS4 and PS5)
Marvel Puzzle Quest
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4 and PS5)
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4 and PS5)
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Game of the Year Edition
Masters of Anima
Matterfall
MediEvil
Megadimension Neptunia VII
Mighty No. 9
Minit
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Monster Jam Steel Titans 2
Monster Truck Championship (PS4 and PS5)
Moonlighter
Mortal Kombat 11 (PS4 and PS5)
Moving Out
Mudrunner
MX vs ATV All Out
MXGP 2021 (PS4 and PS5)
My Friend Pedro
My Time at Portia
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
NASCAR Heat 5
NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
NBA 2K22 (PS4 and PS5)
Necromunda: Underhive Wars
Nidhogg
Nidhogg II
Nights of Azure
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon
Nioh
No Straight Roads
Observation
Observer: System Redux (PS4 and PS5)
Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty
Omega Quintet
Outer Wilds
Overcooked! 2
Overpass
Override 2: Super Mech League (PS4 and PS5)
Party Hard
Pathfinder: Kingmaker – Definitive Edition
Payday 2: Crimewave Edition
PGA Tour 2K21
Pile Up! Box by Box
Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition
Pixel Piracy
Portal Knights
Prison Architect
Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid
Prey
Pure Farming 2018
Pure Hold’em World Poker Championship
Pure Pool
Rad Rodgers
Red Dead Redemption 2
Redeemer – Enhanced Edition
Reel Fishing: Road Trip Adventure
Raiden V: Director’s Cut
Rapala Fishing: Pro Series
Rebel Galaxy
Resogun
Relicta
Returnal (PS5)
Rez Infinite
Ride 4 (PS4 and PS5)
Risk Urban Assault
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break
Rogue Stormers
Romance of The Three Kingdoms XIII
R-Type Final 2
Saints Row: The Third Remastered (PS4 and PS5)
Seasons After Fall
Secret Neighbor
Shadow of the Beast
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow Warrior 2
Shadow Warrior 3
Shenmue III
Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom
Sniper Elite 4
SOMA
Soulcalibur VI
South Park: The Fractured but Whole
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Space Crew: Legendary Edition
Space Hulk: Deathwing – Enhanced Edition
Space Hulk: Tactics
Space Junkies
Sparkle Unleashed
Spitlings
Star Ocean First Departure R
Star Trek: Bridge Crew
Starlink: Battle for Atlas
Steep
Stellaris: Console Edition
Stranded Deep
Sundered: Eldritch Edition
Surgeon Simulator: Anniversary Edition
Surviving Mars
Telling Lies
Tennis World Tour 2 (PS4 and PS5)
Terraria
Tetris Effect: Connected
Tearaway Unfolded
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
The Last Tinker: City of Colors
The Turing Test
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Artful Escape (PS4 and PS5)
The Book of Unwritten Tales 2
The Caligula Effect: Overdose
The Council – The Complete Season
The Crew
The Crew 2
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
The Fisherman – Fishing Planet
The Last Guardian
The Lego Movie Videogame
The Long Dark
The Messenger
The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
The Surge
The Surge 2
The Technomancer
The Witch and the Hundred Knight: Revival Edition
The Wonderful 101: Remastered
This is the Police
This is the Police 2
This War of Mine: The Little Ones
Thomas was Alone
Through the Darkest of Times
Tom Clancy’s The Division
TorqueL
Totally Reliable Delivery Service
Toukiden 2
Tour de France 2021 (PS4)
Tour de France 2021 (PS5)
TowerFall Ascension
Townsmen – A Kingdom Rebuilt
Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet
Tricky Towers
Tropico 5
Trackmania Turbo
Transference
Trials Fusion
Trials of the Blood Dragon
Trials Rising
Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince
Tron Run/r
TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Until Dawn
Unturned
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Vampyr
Velocibox
Victor Vran Overkill Edition
Vikings – Wolves of Midgard
Virginia
Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr
Warhammer: Chaosbane – Slayer Edition (PS5)
Warhammer: Chaosbane (PS4)
Warhammer: Vermintide 2
Warriors All-Stars
Watch Dogs
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood (PS4 and PS5)
Werewolves Within
Wild Guns Reloaded
Windbound
World of Final Fantasy
Whispering Willows
Wolfenstein: The New Order
WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship (PS4 and PS5)
Wreckfest (PS4 and PS5)
Wytchwood (PS4 and PS5)
XCOM 2
Y School Heroes: Bustlin’ School life
Yet Another Zombie Defense
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
Zombi
Zombie Army 4: Dead War
2Dark
428: Shibuya Scramble
8-Bit Armies
9 Monkeys of Shaolin
PlayStation Plus Premium
Finally, there’s PlayStation Plus Premium, which offers all of the benefits of Essential and Extra, as well as:
“Up to 340 additional games,” including PS3 titles available via cloud streaming and classic games from the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP generations
Cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers
Time-limited game trials
Here’s Premium pricing:
1 month — $21.99
3 months — $59.99
12 months — $139.99
Since PS Plus Premium includes games from several generations, we’ll divide them accordingly. Note that some — but not all — games can be purchased individually on top of being offered through PS Plus. As well, some titles will have enhanced performance via emulation and increased speed and save anywhere options.
Original PlayStation
Ape Escape (PS4 and PS5)
Ape Escape 2 (PS4)
Disney/Pixar Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! (PS4 and PS5)
Hot Shots Golf (PS4 and PS5)
Hot Shots Tennis (PS4)
Intelligent Qube (PS4 and PS5)
Jumping Flash! (PS4 and PS5)
Mr. Driller (PS4 and PS5)
Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey (PS4 and PS5)
Resident Evil: Director’s Cut (PS4 and PS5)
Syphon Filter (PS4 and PS5)
Tekken 2 (PS4 and PS5)
Wild Arms (PS4 and PS5)
Wild Arms 3 (PS4)
Worms Armageddon (PS4 and PS5)
Worms World Party (PS4 and PS5)
PlayStation 2
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (PS4)
Dark Cloud (PS4)
Dark Cloud 2 (PS4)
Fantavision (PS4)
Jak and Daxter (PS4)
Jak II (PS4)
Jak 3 (PS4)
Jak X: Combat Racing (PS4)
Kinetica (PS4)
The Mark of Kri (PS4)
Okage: Shadow King (PS4)
Primal (PS4)
Red Faction (PS4)
Red Faction II (PS4)
Rise of the Kasai (PS4)
Rogue Galaxy (PS4)
Siren (PS4)
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (PS4)
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter (PS4)
Star Wars: Racer Revenge (PS4)
War of the Monsters (PS4)
PlayStation Portable
Echochrome (PS4 and PS5)
PlayStation 3
Air Conflicts Vietnam
Alien Rage
Alien Spidy
All Zombies Must Die
Alone in the Dark
Anarchy Rush Hour
Anna
Anomaly Warzone Earth
Aqua Panic
Arcana Heart 3
Arcana Heart 3: Love Ma
Armageddon Riders
Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star
Asura’s Wrath
Atelier Ayesha
Atelier Escha & Logy
Atelier Rorona
Atelier Shallie – Alchemists of the Dusk Sea
Bang Bang Racing
Batman Arkham Origins
Battle Fantasia
Battle of Tiles EX
Battle Princess of Arcadia
Bellator MMA Onslaught
Big Sky Infinity
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Bionic Commando Rearmed 2
Bit.Trip Runner 2
Black Knight Sword
Bladestrom Nightmare
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War
Blazblue: Calamity Trigger
Blood Knights
Brink
Burn, Zombie Burn
Capcom Arcade Cabinet
Disney’s Cars 2
Disney’s Cars: Mater-National Championship
Disney’s Cars: Race O Rama
Castlevania Harmony of Despair
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Castlevania Lord of Shadow HD
Cel Damage
Champion Jockey
Chime Super Delyxe
Class of Heroes 2
Comet Crash
Crash Commando
Critter Crunch
Cuboid
Dark Sector
Darkstalkers Resurrection
Dark Void
Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Deadliest Warrior The Game
Dead or Alive 5
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
Death Track Ressurection
Deception IV Blood Ties
Deception IV The Nightmare princess
Derrick the Death Fin
.detuned
Devil May Cry 4
Devil May Cry HD Colleciton
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
Disney’s Bolt
Disney’s Brave
Disney’s G-Force
Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Disney Universe
Dive Kick
Doc Clock
Dogfight 1942
Double Dragon Neon
Dragon Fin Soup
Dragon’s Lair
Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp
Duke Nukem Forever
Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires
Dynasty Warriors 6
Dynasty Warriors 7
Dynasty Warriors: Empires
Dynasty Warriors 7: Extreme Legends
Dynasty Warriors 8
Dynasty Warriors 8: Extreme Legends
Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce
Earth Defense Force 2025
Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
Eat Them!
Echocrome PS3
Elefunk
Enemy Front
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Escape Dead Island
Ethan Meteor Hunter
Eufloria
Faery: Legends of Avalon
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
F.E.A.R.
Final Exam
Final Fight Double Impact
Frogger Returns
Fuel Overdose
Ghostbusters Sanctum of Slime
God of War Ascension
God of War
God of War 2
Go! Sports Sky
Greg Hasting’s Paintball 2
Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi
Hamilton’s Great Adventure
Hamster Ball
Heavy Fire: Afghanistan
Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear
High Stakes on the Vegas Strip
Hoard
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
Hunted: The Demon’s Forge
Hustle Kings
Ibb & Obb
Ico
inFamous
inFamous 2
inFamous 2: Festival of Blood
Injustice Gods Among Us: Ultimate Edition
Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos
Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom
Jetpack Joyride Deluxe
Jimmie Johnson’s Anything with an Engine
Joe Danger 2
Judge Dee: The City God Case
Karateki
Knytt underground
Kung Fu Rabbit
Led and Gold
Legasista
Lego Batman
Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
Lego Pirate of the Caribbean
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars
Linger in Shadows
LocoRoco: Cocoreccho
Lost Planet
Lost Planet 2
Lost Planet 3
Magic Orbz
Magus
Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom
Mamorukun Curse
Mars: War Logs
Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 10
Motorstorm Apocalypse
Motorstorm RC Complete
MX vs ATV Alive
Reflect MX vs ATV
MX vs ATV Untamed
Narco Terror
Ninja Gaiden 3
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Ninja Gaiden 2
Nobunaga’s Ambition
Numblast
Okabu
Papa & Yo
Penny Arcade Adventures: Precipice of Darkness Episode 1
Penny Arcade Adventures: Precipice of Darkness Episode 2
Pid
Piyotama
Planet Minigolf
Planet Under Attack
Pool Nation
Port Royale 3
Proteus
Puppeteer
Puzzle Agent
Quantum Theory
Rag Doll Kung Fu
Rage
Ragnarok Odyssey Ace
Raiden IV Overkill
Rain
Disney’s Rataouille
Ratchet & Clank All 4 One
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in time
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Ratchet & Clank Into the Nexus
Raw
Record of Agarest War
Record of Agarest War 2
Record of Agarest War Zero
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Red Faction Battlegrounds
Red Johnson’s Chronicles
Red Johnson’s Chronicle: One Against All
Resident Evil 4 HD
Resident Evil 5 Gold
Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil Code: Veronica X
Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City
Resident Evil Revelations
Resident Evil Revelations 2
Resident Evil The Darkside Chronicles
Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles
Resistance 3
Retro City Rampage DX
Retrograde
Ricochet HD
Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken
Rocket Knight
Rogue Warrior
Rotastic
R Type Dimensions
Sacred 3: Gold Edition
Sacred Citadel
Saints Row 2
Sam and Max Beyond Space and Time
Sam and Max The Devil’s Playhouse
Samurai Warriors 4
Sanctum 2
Savage Moon
Shatter
Sid Meier‘s Civilization Revolution
Siren: Blood Curse
Skull Girls Encore
Skydive: Proximity Flight
Sky Drift
Sky Fighter
Slender The Arrival
Smash Cards
Snake Ball
Sniper Elite V2
Soldier X 2
Soldier X
Space Ace
Spelunker HD
Split/Second
Star Drone
Star Raiders
Starwhal
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike
Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix
Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People
Syberia
About a Blob
Mutant Blobs Attack
The Awakened Fate Ultimatum
The Darkness
The Darkness 2
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
The Guided Fate: Paradox
The King of Fighters XIII
The Last Guy
The Under Garden
Thunder Wolves
Tokyo Jungle
Toy Home
Toy Story Mania
Trash Panic
Trinity Souls of ZillO’ll
Disney’s Tron
Truck Racer
Urban Trial Freestyle
Velocity Ultra
Vessel
Voodoo Chronicles
Wakeboarding HD
Warlords
Warriors Legends of Troy
Warriors 3 Orochi
When Vikings Attack
White Knight Chronicles: International Edition
XBlaze Code: Embryo
XCOM: Enemy Within
Yaira: Ninja Gaiden
Zack Zero
Zen Pinball
Zombie Tycoon 2
Game trials
Select games will offer trials that allow you to sample the entire game for a limited time. Trials will usually be around two hours, but some may run shorter, while others can go longer. However, the timer will only run while you’re actually playing the game.
Save data and trophy progress will be retained, so you can resume where you left off should you decide to purchase any of these games. See below for the full list of demos at launch:
Biomutant (PS4) — two hours
The Cruel King and the Great Hero (PS4) — two hours
Crusader Kings III (PS5) — three hours
Cyberpunk 2077 (PS4/PS5) — five hours
Elex II (PS4/PS5) — two hours
Farming Simulator 22 (PS4/PS5) — three hours
Horizon Forbidden West (PS4/PS5) — five hours
Hot Wheels Unleashed (PS5) — two hours
Lego City Undercover (PS4) — two hours
MotoGP 22 (PS4/PS5) — two hours
OlliOlli World (PS4/PS5) — one hour
SpellForce III Reforced (PS5) — two hours
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Next-Level Edition (PS4/PS5) — two hours
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (PS5) — two hours
WWE 2K22 (PS5) — two hours
Going forward, PlayStation says new PS Plus Essential titles (PS4 and PS5) will be added on the first Tuesday of every month, as per usual. On top of that, games will be added to the Extra and Premium plans “in the middle of each month,” although the exact number of new titles will vary per month.
What do you think of this launch catalogue for PS Plus? Is it what you were hoping for? Which games would you like to see added? Let us know in the comments.
After many months of rumours and a few more months of official build-up, Sony has officially launched its PlayStation Plus revamp in Canada.
Simply titled ‘PlayStation Plus,’ the new version of the service is a combination of PS Plus and PS Now, Sony’s game streaming service, with some added perks like classic games, more PS4 and PS5 offerings and time-limited demos thrown in. These will all be spread out across three membership tiers.
Keep on reading for a full breakdown of Canadian pricing and features for each:
PlayStation Plus Essential
This is basically the previous PS Plus membership. You get a few free PS4 and PS5 games every month, cloud saves and, most importantly, access to online multiplayer.
As such, it’s priced the same as the old PS Plus:
1 month — $11.99
3 months — $29.99
12 months — $69.99
PlayStation Plus Extra
Here’s where things start to get different. This middle tier includes everything found in Essential, plus a catalogue of “up to 400” first- and third-party PS4 and PS5 games.
1 month — $17.99
3 months — $49.99
12 months — $114.99
Here are some of the games offered with Extra:
First-party:
Alienation | Housemarque, PS4
Bloodborne | FromSoftware, PS4
Concrete Genie | Pixelopus, PS4
Days Gone | Bend Studio, PS4
Dead Nation Apocalypse Edition | Housemarque, PS4
Death Stranding and Death Stranding Director’s Cut | Kojima Productions, PS4/PS5
Demon’s Souls | Bluepoint Games, PS5
Destruction AllStars | Lucid Games, PS5
Everybody’s Golf | Japan Studio, PS4
Ghost Of Tsushima Director’s Cut | Sucker Punch, PS4/ PS5
God of War | Santa Monica Studio, PS4
Gravity Rush 2 | Japan Studio, PS4
Gravity Rush Remastered | Japan Studio, PS4
Horizon Zero Dawn | Guerrilla, PS4
Infamous First Light | Sucker Punch, PS4
Infamous Second Son | Sucker Punch, PS4
Knack | Japan Studio, PS4
LittleBigPlanet 3 | Sumo Digital, PS4
LocoRoco Remastered | Japan Studio, PS4
LocoRoco 2 Remastered | Japan Studio, PS4
Marvel’s Spider-Man | Insomniac Games, PS4
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Insomniac Games, PS4/PS5
Matterfall |Housemarque, PS4
MediEvil | Other Ocean, PS4
Patapon Remastered | Japan Studio, PS4
Patapon 2 Remastered | Japan Studio, PS4
Resogun | Housemarque, PS4
Returnal | Housemarque, PS5
Shadow of the Colossus | Japan Studio, PS4
Tearaway Unfolded |Media Molecule, PS4
The Last Guardian | Japan Studio, PS4
The Last of Us Remastered | Naughty Dog, PS4
The Last of Us: Left Behind | Naughty Dog, PS4
Until Dawn | Supermassive Games, PS4
Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection |Naughty Dog, PS4
Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition | Square Enix Co. LTD, PS4
For Honor | Ubisoft, PS4
Hollow Knight | Team Cherry, PS4
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy | Square Enix Co. LTD., PS4/PS5
Mortal Kombat 11 | WB Games, PS4/PS5
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., PS4
NBA 2K22 | 2K Games, PS4/PS5
Outer Wilds | Annapurna Interactive, PS4
Red Dead Redemption 2 | Rockstar Games, PS4
Resident Evil | Capcom Co., Ltd, PS4Soulcalibur VI | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., PS4
South Park: The Fractured but Whole | Ubisoft, PS4
The Artful Escape | Annapurna Interactive, PS4/PS5
The Crew 2 | Ubisoft, PS4
Tom Clancy’s The Division | Ubisoft, PS4
PlayStation Plus Premium
The final PS Plus tier features significantly more perks than the previous two options. On top of including all of the Essential and Extra benefits, Premium offers:
“Up to 340 additional games,” including PS3 titles available via cloud streaming and classic games from the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP generations
Cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers
Time-limited game trials
Here’s Premium pricing:
1 month — $21.99
3 months — $59.99
12 months — $139.99
Here are some of the games offered with Premium, separated by category:
Classic games — Original PlayStation and PSP
First-party
Ape Escape | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
Hot Shots Golf | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
I.Q. Intelligent Qube | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
Jumping Flash! | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
Syphon Filter | Bend Studio, Original PlayStation
Super Stardust Portable | Housemarque, PSP
Third-party
Mr. Driller | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Original PlayStation
Tekken 2 | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Original PlayStation
Worms World Party | Team 17, Original PlayStation
Worms Armageddon | Team17, Original PlayStation
Classic games — Remasters
First-party
Ape Escape 2 | Japan Studio, PS4
Arc The Lad: Twilight of the Spirits | Japan Studio, PS4
Dark Cloud | Japan Studio, PS4
Dark Cloud 2 | Japan Studio, PS4
FantaVision | SIE, PS4
Hot Shots Tennis | Japan Studio, PS4
Jak II | Naughty Dog, PS4
Jak 3| Naughty Dog, PS4
Jak X: Combat Racing | Naughty Dog, PS4
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy | Naughty Dog, PS4
Rogue Galaxy | Japan Studio, PS4
Siren | Japan Studio, PS4
Wild Arms 3 | SIE, PS4
Third-party
BioShock Remastered | 2K Games, PS4
Borderlands The Handsome Collection | 2K Games, PS4
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition | Gearbox Publishing, PS4
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning | THQ Nordic, PS4
LEGO Harry Potter Collection | WB Games, PS4
PlayStation 3 games (original versions, available via streaming)
Crash Commando | Creative Vault Studios, PS3
Demon’s Souls | From Software, PS3
echochrome | Japan Studio, PS3
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds | Japan Studio, PS3
Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational | Japan Studio, PS3
Ico | Japan Studio, PS3
Infamous | Sucker Punch, PS3
Infamous 2 | Sucker Punch, PS3
Infamous: Festival of Blood | Sucker Punch, PS3
LocoRoco Cocoreccho! | Japan Studio, PS3
MotorStorm Apocalypse | Evolution Studios, PS3
MotorStorm RC | Evolution Studios, PS3
Puppeteer | Japan Studio, PS3
rain | Japan Studio, PS3
Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty | Insomniac Games, PS3
Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time |Insomniac Games, PS3
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus | Insomniac Games, PS3
Resistance 3 | Insomniac Games, PS3
Super Stardust HD | Housemarque, PS3
Tokyo Jungle | Japan Studio, PS3
When Vikings Attack | Clever Beans, PS3
Third-party
Asura’s Wrath | Capcom Co., Ltd., PS3
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 | Konami, PS3
Devil May Cry HD Collection | Capcom Co., Ltd., PS3
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West | Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc., PS3
F.E.A.R. | WB Games, PS3
Lost Planet 2 | Capcom Co., Ltd., PS3
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 | Koei Tecmo, PS3
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare |Rockstar Games, PS3
And, finally, here are some of the game trials, all of which must be downloaded. Most will run for two hours, although some bigger games, like Horizon Forbidden West and Cyberpunk 2077, will have trial periods as long as five hours. All save game and trophy progress will be retained, so you can pick up where you left off should you decide to buy any game in the PS Plus catalogue.
First-party
Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection | Naughty Dog, PS5
Cuphead: The Delicious Course will be priced at $9.99 in Canada when it releases on June 30th.
Oakville, Ontario-based developer Studio MDHR confirmed the cost during a recent media preview attended by MobileSyrup.
The Delicious Last Course is the Canadian studio’s long-awaited downloadable expansion to its beloved 2017 run-and-gun game Cuphead. In the DLC, players can experience a previously undiscovered section of Inkwell featuring a new playable character, Ms. Chalice, as well as new bosses, weapons and more.
During the media event we attended, Studio MDHR also confirmed that The Delicious Last Course will take “between three and four hours” to beat, on average. That said, Eli Cymet, producer of the game, stressed that this could vary depending on the player, given the overall challenge:
“I think from our perspective, this varies even internally on the team. I think you’re going to have people who are diehard, ‘dyed in the wool,’ speedrun-quality Cuphead players, and I can’t speak to what their ability level might enable them to do. As somebody who — I’ll say just squeaked by and beat Elden Ring recently and was not an expert by any means — I’m still enjoying [the DLC] and playing it and going back and using Ms. Chalice in the main game right now and experiencing some of those fun new boss experiences in the DLC experience.
[That] ran me between about three and four hours of gameplay, but again, I want to really emphasize that there are certainly folks who may find it challenging enough to dig in for more time and there are folks that may find it something that is different for their skill level.”
Price and runtime were just a few of the many details that Studio MDHR shared during the event. For more from the hands-off preview, check out our full preview.
It’s been a long time coming, but Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is nearly here.
First unveiled in 2018 for a 2019 release, the add-on to the beloved 2017 run-and-gun game has been delayed a number of times. Oakville, Ontario-based Studio MDHR, rather understandably, has wanted to maintain a “healthy and sustainable” development cycle, and then COVID-19 happened.
Thankfully, The Delicious Last Course is finally set to release — for sure this time — on June 30th, 2022.
Ahead of the highly anticipated launch, I got to attend a hands-off group media preview with Studio MDHR, and it looks even more stunning and imaginative than I expected.
“One of the things we like to think about with this expansion for the game is that we talked about it internally as a depth expansion more than a breath expansion,” says Studio MDHR producer Eli Cymet of The Delicious Last Course‘s scope. “Ultimately, we really spent so much time over these last few years, polishing every facet of our game development acumen in terms of the quality of our animation, the quality of our concept and game mechanic design, and, notably, the quality of the soundtrack.”
On that note, Cymet lets us sit for a moment and soak in part of the new score, which is once again composed by Toronto’s Kristofer Maddigan. Over 110 musicians performed on The Delicious Last Course soundtrack, but in smaller groups at a time due to COVID, which made recording especially difficult. Thankfully, you can already see the fruits of their labour; the new pieces we’ve heard so far are just as wonderful as you’d expect, coming off Maddigan’s sublime jazz-infused music for the base game.
“Christopher Maddigan really challenged himself this time around to sort of plumb the depths of the 1930s and ’40s for musical stylings, genres, inspirations, riffs [and] hooks that he hadn’t really touched on in the first game. And he calls it shorter but denser, his soundtrack — [fewer] tracks, just so much richness to each one,” says Cymet.
“Chris took influences that we haven’t heard in the core game, from rococo to western-themed, but all with an underlining similar jazz feel,” added Maja Moldenhauer, Studio MDHR executive producer and studio director. “And maybe I’m biased because it is our game, but the music, I frequently play it while I’m cooking dinner. It’s just a beautiful soundtrack!”
After hearing a bit of the lovely overture, Studio MDHR takes us into the actual DLC. To access it, you’ll need to have beaten at least one of the Mausoleums in the main game. These were the short stages that had you protecting an urn by parrying each of the incoming ghosts. Once you meet this requirement, you can take a boat ride in the overworld to bring you to a brand-new section of Inkwell Isle, which is where The Delicious Last Course takes place.
“We like to call this our biggest Isle yet — both in terms of size and secret scope. There are quests, goals, secrets [and] hidden sort of sundries everywhere to discover — we’re going to let folks do that at the game’s launch,” Cymet teases.
On “D.L.C. Isle,” you’re quickly introduced to your objective: rescuing Ms. Chalice from the astral plane. Chef Saltbaker, a new character introduced in the DLC, can bake a goodie to help her escape, but he needs Cuphead and Mugman to defeat a series of bosses to gather ingredients. This is easier said than done.
A new challenger approaches
Immediately, Ms. Chalice stands out for multiple reasons, starting with her adorable and unique design. “She contains tens of thousands of new frames of animation and is not built on any character skeleton from the previous game whatsoever,” notes Cymet. These carry over across her movement in the overworld, regular boss fights and the shoot ’em up plane sections. Studio MDHR confirmed that the boss-free run-and-gun levels will not return in The Delicious Last Course.
But Ms. Chalice has also got a great deal of utility to go with her snazzy looks — chief among this, a double jump and roll while crouched, unlike Cuphead/Mugman, to afford her added layers of maneuverability. On top of that, her dash doubles as a parry for further options, and she even starts off with an extra hit point (HP).
That all sounds great, but you probably think she’ll make Cuphead — a game almost as well-known for its challenge as its visuals — almost too easy. Thankfully, Studio MDHR says careful consideration has gone into designing not only her expanded repertoire but its usefulness among the DLC’s intricately crafted bosses.
“I see it as just kind of like two different angles of how you might play. Chalice’s moveset is advantageous only in specific situations,” explains co-game director Jared Moldenhauer. He notes that because she basically consists of an “amalgamation of aspects of a few different Charms,” the trade-offs are that she has fewer customization options than Cuphead and Mugman. Her ability to duck and roll also requires her to be grounded, while Cuphead and Mugman’s Smoke Dash can be used in the air.
“So I wouldn’t go as far as saying like she is some form of ‘Easy Mode’ — it’s just that a certain set of players may find it easier to control with a double jump [and other abilities], and some might not,” he says.
Adding on to that, Cymet says Ms. Chalice is meant to add “spice and variety” to the combat experience.
“It is really a risk-reward scenario to think about playing as Cuphead and Mugman with access to a more versatile array of charm enhancements. Or playing as Ms. Chalice, if you’re a player who perhaps doesn’t want to focus on parrying as much with the timing factor, you can dash into objects and parrying will be taken care of for you, but you have to do so knowing that you are limiting your charm access in that way.” Cymet also points out that she can even work well in co-op, as her additional HP lends her “extra survivability” that can be used to revive a teammate using Cuphead or Mugman.
If all of that wasn’t enough, Cymet says the actual bosses themselves will ensure that Ms. Chalice doesn’t “break” the game.
“We think they’re going to be super fun and really inventive and creative, and I just don’t think we can emphasize enough how some of these challenges are going to be different from what players have experienced in the original Cuphead game. So we think that will offset anything that might make Chalice an ‘easier’ player.”
New bosses and Shots and Charms, oh my!
In the demo, we got to see one of these bosses — a wizard known as Mortimer Freeze — in action, and everything that Cymet was saying proved quite true. (This same boss was later shown off briefly at Summer Game Fest on June 9th.)
Right off the bat, I was impressed by the scope of the boss fight, which seems larger than anything from the original game. In his first phase, Mortimer alternates between throwing cards, minions and a giant whale at you before summoning a giant snowman to envelope him, which gives him the ability to roll around in snowball form or turn into a sentient fridge that shoots ice cubes. All the while, his cultish followers cheer him on in the background. Naturally, this variety required even more of Studio MDHR’s signature painstaking hand drawing and animation.
“There are single boss phases in this game that contain more frames of animation and detail than entire boss fights in the original Cuphead,” says Cymet.
“Having touched almost every frame of animation in the inking process, I can attest to the fact that the mileage on the animation that you’re going to see in DLC is significantly greater than in singular bosses you would notice in the core game,” adds Maja Moldenhauer. “I would say what would take a lot of the mileage in a boss from the core game is, on average, probably double in DLC. There’s just a significant amount of more detail, more background layers — [it’s] a really beautiful body of work.”
But it also leads to each fight feeling grander and more dynamic.
“We really wanted these to feel like exciting multi-phase experiences, and we also experimented, not just with the bosses themselves transforming but with the stages transforming — which is new to Cuphead — and moving to different areas and arenas,” says Cymet.
As an example of this, the next phase of the Mortimer fight has you hopping up out of this arena using platforms to head outside, where he’ll greet you in a dastardly new snowflake form. From there, he’ll fire snowcone rockets, ghostly spirits and even his own eyeballs. Considering this was just one boss fight, I’m eager to see what Studio MDHR has cooked up for the rest. To further tease us, Studio MDHR elaborated on some of the inspirations and goals behind designing the bosses.
It’s no secret that Cuphead was heavily inspired by 1930s Disney and Fleischer animation, and co-director Chad Moldenhauer says the team further tapped into that Golden Age, including ’40s-era works, when developing The Delicious Last Course.
“It sounds funny to say, but almost in the same way that Disney kind of slowly led up and released Fantasia with everything they learned throughout the ’30s era, we kind of wanted to follow in those footsteps and really push ourselves creatively — the fidelity of the art, the craziness, the areas that we couldn’t go through in the first game due to time and cost and the nature of that,” he says. “So I think people will be excited to see some areas where even we pinch ourselves every day when we see some of the stuff we’ve pulled off.”
“We like to imagine that the first game was basically a series of last bosses from a normal game. And then DLC is almost like, “What if every boss was the equivalent of the last boss in Cuphead with just that much extra work and art and patterns and joy and just really push each individual one to a new heightened level?” notes Jared Moldenhauer.
There will also be new Shots and Charms to purchase and equip. While we didn’t get to see too many of them, Cymet did spotlight a personal favourite: the ‘Crackshot,’ which shoots higher-damaging little diamonds that can break out into faster but weaker bolts. Meanwhile, its EX Attack (super move) is a turret that shoots on its own or can be manually launched at the enemy by parrying it. Of course, both options free you up more to jump and dodge. On the flip side, ‘Converge,’ another new Shot, widely fires three electric bullets that can converge for a tighter spread if you hold the lock button and aim.
“The goal for all the weapons was always to just offer a different way to play a boss — like how you could position yourself or how much damage you can give. So with the new sets of weapons and charms, it does offer a new way that you may want to approach different battles,” says Jared Moldenhauer. He also mentioned a charm that lets you regain HP upon parrying instead of having a super metre, which would certainly suit more defensive playstyles.
“You can go back and experience original Cuphead game bosses with all of these new charms and weapons that we feel really add a layer of strategic depth to speedruns and to both high score attempts and general play overall,” adds Cymet. That should add even more value to the “between three and four hours” average time he expects the DLC campaign to take you to complete.
Ultimately, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course is shaping up to be everything you could have wanted from an expansion to the original game. It’s clear that Studio MDHR has put a staggering amount of time and effort into creating its most technically impressive, visually distinct and appropriately challenging bosses, with oodles of charm, to boot. This is one meal I can’t wait to dig into.
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam and GOG on June 30th for $9.99. It’s also part of the Tribeca Games Showcase, which is spotlighting nine titles from around the world between June 11th and 19th. Those interested can play a demo from home during this time — learn more on that here.
Sony’s PlayStation Indies sale in partnership with Summer Game Fest is offering games up to 75 percent off.
Titles like Cuphead, Ark: Survival Evolved, Skater XL,Psychonauts 2 and hundreds more are a part of this sale. And since this is with Summer Games Fest, more games might be added to the sale tomorrow during the presentation.
Thankfully, I’m happy to say that PlayStation has just delivered what is easily its best State of Play to date, and one that gets me especially excited for its future.
Simply put: it nailed the reveals. Of course, these are subjective to a degree; interests can vary greatly depending on the person. But inarguably, this State of Play was PlayStation’s most diverse yet thanks to a solid mix of major franchises, smaller indie titles and even new hardware. In this way, PlayStation touched on key parts of its business and signalled how they’ll all play an important role in the brand’s future.
The show opened with the official unveiling of a long-rumoured game: the Resident Evil 4 remake, which is coming in March 2023. It’s hard to understate the significance of this title — the original Resident Evil 4 is widely regarded to be one of the greatest games of all time, and it was incredibly influential to the third-person shooter genre. Moreover, it’s being made by the team behind 2019’s beloved Resident Evil 2 remake. RE4 remake alone would have elevated this above most State of Plays, and this was just the start.
Right after, PlayStation gave some spotlight to PlayStation VR2, as promised. It’s here that the company really seemed cognizant of proper pacing. In the span of about six minutes, we get quick looks at four VR titles: Resident Evil Village, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Retribution, No Man’s Skyand Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Resident Evil 4 remake is also getting some sort of yet-to-be-revealed PS VR2 content, and after how chillingly scary Resident Evil 7 was in VR, I’m especially eager to see what Capcom does with the new headset. On the whole, this was an effective way of teasing some of the different experiences players can expect while not bogging down the whole show with VR. After all, VR as a whole is still quite niche, and we don’t actually have a price or release date for PS VR2, either. Ostensibly, this was just to remind people that a new headset is on the way, which seems wise for the time being.
Following this, we got confirmation that Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is coming to PC in August. It’s a smart move for the company, especially with the sequel coming next year. Miles Morales is also coming to PC this fall to complete the collection. The PC ports’ involvement in the State of Play serves to reiterate — especially to the whinier console fanboys — that PlayStation games coming to PC is a growing and important part of the company’s business. I’m also always in favour of allowing more people to play games, especially when they’re as wonderful as Insomniac’s Spider-Man titles.
From here on out was just games, games, games — and lots of good-looking ones, at that.
On the indie front, we first got the promising cat adventure Stray, which comes to PS4/PS5 on July 19th. As an added bonus, those subscribed to either of the higher tiers of the new PS Plus will even get the game at no additional cost. Tunic, the recently released, critically-acclaimed Canadian-made adventure game, is making its way to PS4/PS5 on September 27th. Another Canadian game, Season: A Letter to the Future, got a trailer with a fall 2022 release window, and it looks like an engrossing, relaxing biking adventure. (It should be noted, though, that leadership at Montreal-based developer Scavengers was accused of abusing employees, and it’s unclear whether there’s been meaningful change has been made at the studio). That’s to say nothing of the fact that OlliOlliWorld developer Roll7 has a stylish rollerblading game, Rollerdrome, coming to PS4/PS5 on August 16th, or new team Studio Sai is making a Persona-inspired action-dating sim, Eternights, dropping on PS4/PS5 in early 2023.
Of course, there were more AAA games on top of that impressive assortment of indies. Striking Distance, the studio co-founded by Dead Space creator Glen Schofield, showed off its survival horror space game, The Callisto Protocol, which looks like a worthy spiritual successor to his previous work. We’re getting that on December 2nd, 2022 on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. And while it’s not at all my cup of tea, Capcom’s Street Fighter 6got a fairly meaty new trailer, which is undoubtedly a big deal for fighting game fans. It’s coming sometime in 2023 to PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
But it’s the show’s closer that had me absolutely jumping out of my seat: Final Fantasy XVI. Since the action-RPG was revealed at the September 2020 PS5 Showcase, Square Enix hasn’t shown anything else from the game, so fans like me have been clamouring for a new trailer for over a year-and-a-half. Thankfully, we got that and more: a summer 2023 release window. Farther off than I would have liked, to be sure, but Square Enix had said the game was delayed half a year due to COVID, so it’s understandable. What matters more, though, is that it looks damn good. I confess that I didn’t much care for Final Fantasy XV; the game’s story, characters, open-world and combat felt half-baked in many ways. FF is my favourite series, so XV was pretty disappointing to me.
XVI, by contrast, looks to be everything XV wasn’t. And I have immense faith it will deliver — just look at the talent involved! Naoki Yoshida, the man who helped turn Final Fantasy XIV into one of gaming’s biggest redemption stories, is the producer. Hiroshi Takai, who’s worked on classics like Final Fantasy V and, more recently, XIV, is the main director, while Kazutoyo Maehiro — who penned XIV‘s outstanding Heavensward expansion — is the creative director and writer. Combat director Ryota Suzuki worked on a little action game called Devil May Cry 5, which should give you an idea of how great XVI‘s battles should be. And Masayoshi Soken, the magnificent composer of XIV, is handling XVI‘s music, so expect some absolute bangers. TL;DR — this game is going to be fire. It’s a timed PS5 exclusive, too, which is a big deal for PlayStation.
Ultimately, PlayStation accomplished a great deal in just under 30 minutes. It gave us a good mix of games that are pretty much all coming out within the next 12 months, while also showing more from its plans for PC and VR. Of course, questions remain surrounding when God of War: Ragnarok is coming, among other new first-party titles. But we knew going in that this State of Play was never going to be about that. For what it was — a largely third-party-centric showing — PlayStation absolutely crushed it, and hopefully, future State of Plays will be as strong.
Sony has confirmed that PlayStation 5 sales have reached more than 20 million units worldwide. The company also claims that it could have hit this milestone earlier but that COVID-19 continues to impact supply chain and production.
“We are thrilled to share that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has sold more than 20 million PlayStation 5 consoles globally,” said Veronica Rogers, SVP, head of global sales and business operations, in a recent statement.
“Since PS5’s launch, our teams have worked tirelessly to deliver a truly next-gen gaming console that has won the world over and we want to take this time to thank the fans for their support. Your passion for the PlayStation brand is what drives us and what inspires us to innovate new technology, engineer the future of gaming, and continue creating the best place to play.”
On top of confirming that PlayStation 5 has reached 20 million in sales, Sony says production is significantly ramping up.
“We are working endlessly to make sure that PlayStation 5 is available for everyone who wants one.” In a recent statement, Sony claimed that the company has been able eto sell 80,000 PlayStation 5 consoles in 82 minutes.
Given Sony has sold 20 million PlayStation 5 consoles, Astro’s Playroom has also reached that milestone. Since launch, all PlayStation 5 consoles ship with Astro’s Playroom as a digital bundle.
During its latest State of Play showcase, Sony announced that BlueTwelve Studio’s Stray is launching on July 19th. Additionally, the game is landing on the new PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers. Subscribers will gain access to the game at no additional cost.
Stray was first announced in June 2020 when the PlayStation 5 was first revealed. Stray is an action-adventure where players take on the role of a stray cat in a cyberpunk-esque world populated by robots. Players navigate the neon-painted environments in search of his family with the accompaniment of a friendly drone. Together, they must solve puzzles and traverse the landscape to evade enemies and reach their goal.
Following the State of Play, BlueTwelve Studio published a PlayStation Blog post, outlining that the project has been in development for seven years. Initially named HK Project, Stray is built by a team of 80 percent cat owners. The team appears to show a real passion for making a game that translates that perspective of being a cat into a video game.
As the revamped PlayStation Plus tiers begin rolling out this month, Stray is seemingly the first game to launch day and date on PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium. With Stray‘s inclusion so close to the launch of the new PlayStation Plus tiers, Sony is certainly setting some sort of precedent on the kinds of games that may drop day and date in the future.
For the uninitiated, PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium provide additional perks on top of online multiplayer access and cloud storage. PlayStation Plus Extra provides access to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 titles. PlayStation Plus Premium folds in classic titles dating all the way back to the original PlayStation.
A subscription for PlayStation Plus Extra begins at $17.99 a month. Premium, on the other hand, is available for $21.99 a month.
Stray is launching on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Immediately, Ms. Chalice stands out for multiple reasons, starting with her adorable and unique design. “She contains tens of thousands of new frames of animation and is not built on any character skeleton from the previous game whatsoever,” notes Cymet. These carry over across her movement in the overworld, regular boss fights and the shoot ’em up plane sections. Studio MDHR confirmed that the boss-free run-and-gun levels will not return in The Delicious Last Course.
“So I wouldn’t go as far as saying like she is some form of ‘Easy Mode’ — it’s just that a certain set of players may find it easier to control with a double jump [and other abilities], and some might not,” he says.
