PlayStation Plus: Free PS4 and PS5 Games We May Get for February 2022
January is almost over, yet we still don't officially know what February's free PlayStation Plus games are for PS Plus subscribers on PS4 and PS5. This should change sometime next week, and the turnaround to release should be a quick one. Sony historically releases a month's free PS Plus games on the first Tuesday of every month. For February, the first Tuesday of the month is February 1. That said, ahead of the imminent reveal, we have gone ahead and revealed the games we think Sony may offer subscribers for the second month of 2022.
The most obvious candidate is the single game currently releasing on February 1, and that's Life Is Strange: Remastered Collection. Last year, PlayStation Plus subscribers were awarded brand new releases for "free" the day they were released on several occasions. In other words, there's an increasing precedent of PlayStation Plus' free games including day one releases. The only thing that complicates this possibility is the fact that Life is Strange was offered to subscribers back in June 2017. However, Life is Strange: Remastered Collection includes more than just a remaster of the first Life Is Strange game. It also includes a remaster of Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Of course, there is a history of Square Enix and PlayStation striking PlayStation Plus deals, so if the price is right, this should be easy for Sony. The most important factor would be how much getting the right price will cost.
According to a leak, Shadow Warrior 3 is coming out on March 1, but right now, there doesn't appear to be a ton of hype for it, which means it could be in for a soft launch. If this happens, it will need to review well and rely on word of mouth. Considering Shadow Warrior 2 failed to crack the 80s on Metacritic, this would be a gamble. A safer bet for Devolver Digital, the game's publisher, and Flying Wild Hog, the game's developer, is to get money upfront for Shadow Warrior 2, and then use the PlayStation Plus momentum to build some momentum for the release of Shadow Warrior 3. It's a no-brainer for Devolver Digital and Flying Wild Hog, and it shouldn't cost Sony very much as a result.
The third and final game will need to be a PS5 game, and there aren't many options. Back in 2019, PlayStation Plus subscribers were given Nioh. They've never received Nioh 2 though. In February, the PS5 port of the game will celebrate its one-year anniversary. Given the high software attachment rate of early adopters, it's safe to assume that everyone who was going to buy the PS5 port has already. In other words, there's nothing obvious that would block this possibility. Team Ninja gets some adverstisement ahead of its 2022 release Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, PlayStation gets their PS5 game for the month, and subscribers get one of the highest-rated PS5 games.
As always, it's important to remember these are predictions. They are not based on any inside knowledge or leaks, just a knowledge of the industry, the history of the service, and general observations.