SometimesPS Plusfollows certain patterns that allow fans to make educated guesses about their content, though Sony has largely broken away from these in recent years. For example, March tends to be the best month of the whole year, having given away games likeBloodborneandFinal Fantasy 7 Remakein the past, but March games were a bit of a letdown in comparison. ThePS Plus free games for March 2023includedBattlefield 2042, Minecraft Dungeons, andCode Vein. These are solid games and a solid line-up, but not quite to the same levels of the past. The big change, of course, is the higher quantity of games added to the service, thanks to PS Plus Extra and Premium as well.
Those titles gave March a huge boost, and if there is one month relying on something similar, it’s April. Speaking to the past,April tends to be a month of “good, not great” games for PS Plus, if not sometimes outright bad selections. It’s likely the PS Plus Extra and Premium games elevate April 2023, but the Essential tier needs to bring its A-game to live down its past after March failed to live up to its.
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PS Plus Free Games for April 2023 Cannot Rely on One Headliner like April 2022 Tried To
Although some PS Plus users may not pick it up because of its card-based gameplay, Slay the Spire is a lovely game and a genuine exception to the lackluster April trend on the service. However, PS Plus tried to overplay its hand with it last year, really relying onSlay the Spireto carry the month. It wasn’t enough when it was paired withSpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated, a remake arguably worse than the original, andHood: Outlaws and Legends, a multiplayer title that never really got its own legs.Multiplayer games are usually good for PS Plus, but the connection wasn’t there for fans.
The result is an uneven month when variety wasn’t enough to appeal to many fans. It’s always great to get a big, beloved, and/or AAA game on PS Plus, but one game cannot carry a disappointing month. PS Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium weren’t a thing, so the month took a bigger hit at the time. However, PS Plus free games cannot suffer for the Extra and Premium tier to succeed either. Whatever the titles are, thePS Plus free games for April 2023shouldn’t have a strong headliner followed by a weak team; they need to be solid all the way around.
The PS Plus Games for April 2021 Suffered in Areas the PS Plus April 2023 Games Can’t
Meanwhile, the PS Plus free games for April 2021 emphasize the downward trend of April games on PS Plus. These titles were released at a time when Sony was amping up the PS5, so gettingOddworld: Soulstormas a day one PS Plus free game was a solid choice, until it wasn’t.Oddworld: Soulstormreviewswere considered mixed or average, but it truly suffered at launch from a bunch of bugs. Many were unhappy as a result, and the two other titles didn’t do much to uplift the month.Days GoneandZombie Army 4: Dead Warare two different takes on the zombie genre, but they are both zombie games. There wasn’t much variety, Days Gone is old enough that most folks who want to play the PlayStation exclusive already had, and as a month, it just didn’t really have much “flavor.”
Each of these titles could have been a good PS Plus game at different times or in different combinations, but it’s always best to look at thePS Plusofferings each month as a whole. April, here, suffered. This April shouldn’t, but it also shouldn’t just rely on Extra and Premium to carry it. It remains to be seen what the PS Plus free games are for April 2023, but there are certainly some lessons from the month’s past it hopefully learns.
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