The PlayStation Plus Essential slate of free games for May 2025 is yet another varied list. It’s got a popular roguelike, a boomer shooter in a beloved franchise, and a remaster of a dinosaur-rich survival game. These games are Balatro, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, and Ark: Survival Ascended, respectively, so here’s a breakdown on these three games coming to PS Plus Essential subscribers on May 6th.
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Balatro
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Balatro was a passion project developed by one anonymous Canadian developer, but it has taken hold of the industry in a way few games do, regardless of team size. It was a massive success in 2024, selling more than 5 million copies and winning countless awards as hype continued to build for nearly the entire year.
Balatro is a deck-building roguelike that uses the aesthetics of poker but utilizes all sorts of power-ups to give players a ton of freedom in how they score points. Its collection of Jokers all have different effects and, when combined with deck-altering Tarot and Spectral cards and Planet cards that boost the score of specific hands, it’s possible to create an absolutely mind-boggling array of builds. This variety ensures that Balatro does not get old and explains why it’s been as pervasive as it has been since its launch in February 2024.
Solo dev LocalThunk has updated the game a few times since release. Some have altered the balance of certain difficulties and cards, while others have added new cosmetics. The “Friends of Jimbo” updates have added themed cards including but not limited to the Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, The Witcher, Bugsnax, Don’t Starve, Dave the Diver, and The Binding of Isaac franchises. Despite the insistence of certain ratings boards that paint it as a gambling simulator, there are no microtransactions or bits of DLC to buy.
LocalThunk is, however, planning to release a big gameplay update in 2025. He’s been relatively tight-lipped on what it will have and when it will come out, but it will at least contain an overhaul to one difficulty, changes to at least one Joker, and buffs to Wild Cards.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
This boomer shooter from developer Auroch Digital came out to decent reviews in May 2023, hitting an average score of 76 according to OpenCritic. It certainly doesn’t hide its inspirations and sets its Boltgun sights on DOOM, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, and many of the other big first-person shooters from the 1990s, ones that were often referred to as “DOOM clones.” And like those games, Boltgun has key card hunts, pixelated visuals, and a pure focus on first-person shooting that does away with story and RPG-esque upgrades.
It is unabashedly an old-school shooter and does not require Warhammer knowledge to delve into. The gunplay is the star here, something that is made clear here by just how much blasting players will do and the concussive sound effects and red goopy explosions that occur with each slain foe.
Boltgun has received a few updates since launch. It now has a free wave-based horde mode, as well as some quality-of-life features that made some of the quick-time events easier and added clearer breadcrumb trails to the next objective, a boon for those who don’t like searching for key cards. It also has the Forges of Corruption DLC, which is not included for PlayStation Plus subscribers and is an extra $5.99. Forges of Corruption is a relatively standard expansion that contains five new levels, two additional weapons, and three additional enemies. It seems geared toward people who just want more Boltgun.
Ark: Survival Ascended
Ark: Survival Ascended is not the upcoming numbered sequel starring Vin Diesel but instead a remake or heavy remaster of the first title from 2015, a game that also hit PlayStation Plus Essential in March 2022 (and cost Sony $3.5 million). It’s been overhauled to take advantage of Unreal Engine 5’s new features, which has led to improved lighting, more detailed character models, and denser worlds.
Being a “reimagined” version of a continually supported 10-year-old game means it has a ton of stuff to do and contains essentially the same gameplay loop as the original. It’s a typical survival game where players must till the land and survive the hostilities inhabiting it in order to get better gear and become more efficient. And, of course, there are dinosaurs to contend with (along with a ton of other beasts).
Reaction to Survival Ascended has been mixed, though. It has some quality-of-life features over the original, like the more detailed character creator and stronger building tools, but its performance has been heavily criticized across all platforms. It hasn’t been specifically patched for the PS5 Pro, but it still does not run quite as smoothly as it should, even on more powerful hardware. While far from unplayable, those on the base PS5 get an even less technically reliable experience. Performance has been a persistent issue with the series, so it’s not exactly new, but it is still worth pointing out.
Since this is a remaster, Survival Ascended contains a ton of DLC from the original, including Survival of the Fittest, Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Genesis Part 2. However, there’s also a season pass with three expansions themed around the Wild West, steampunk aesthetics, and a Mad Max-style wasteland. There’s also the Astraeos map based around Greek mythology, demonic horse and lion mounts, and a massive costume pack with 109 skins based on the Ark animated series, all of which are not included in the season pass. Neither the season pass nor these extra bits of DLC will be included for PlayStation Plus subscribers, either. Studio Wildcard also posts regularly about upcoming content drops, events, and the roadmap to keep players in the loop.
