Sony Developer Teases New PlayStation Plus Game
PlayStation Plus is being overhauled this June with two new tiers, Extra and Premium, which will cost more but give PS Plus subscribers access to way more "free" games. There will be three tiers total come June. The standard tier will be PlayStation Plus Essential, which is what PlayStation Plus is now in terms of price and offer. Then there's PlayStation Plus Extra. For an extra $40 a year, PS Plus Extra subscribers get access to a catalog of roughly 400 PS4 and PS5 games, plus everything Essential offers. Lastly, there's PlayStation Plus Premium, which, for another additional $20, gets you everything PS Plus Extra offers, plus access to select PS3, PS2, and PS1 games and limited-time game trials. All of this background information is important because this new PlayStation Plus game tease only pertains to Extra and Premium subscribers.
During a recent interview, Ilari Kuittine -- managing director of Housemaque, which as of last year is owned by Sony -- teased the inclusion of Returnal in the aforementioned 400 PS4 and PS5 games that will be available to Extra and Premium subscribers at launch in June. We already knew it was going to be included, but Kuittine had a few more words to say about its inclusion to Eurogamer.
"As you know, it's been a while since the release. And we know the people who get into [subscriptions] play a lot," said Kuittine. "There's no hidden cost, if you like, it's easy to get into."
While there are no barriers to entry to playing Returnal soon for some PS Plus subscribers, there's a barrier to entry in terms of gameplay. It's a very challenging game with a steep difficulty curve worsened by reliance on chance. That said, the managing director of Housemarque dares subscribers to give it a try come June.
For now, it remains to be seen when and if the PS5 game will be made available to standard PlayStation Plus subscribers, but if it's going to happen, it will be either during June or after. It's unlikely it will be added in May as it would only cheat the offer Sony is saving for June for Premium and Extra subscribers. That said, right now, it looks like some PlayStation Plus subscribers may be cutting the cord before June.