Before May, Sony had a touch-and-go year with PS Plus. January and March got a pretty good selection of games, while February and April lagged behind. April was so poorly received that many hoped that PS Plus free games by May 2022 would redeem them. However, this does not seem to be the case – not fully.
PS Plus tends to follow certain patterns if it is for a certain period of time. This does not make it easy to predict which games will be on PS Plus, nor is it easy to judge when something is a new pattern. One thing that has remained constant, however, is the March rule and the May curse. In short, March tends to be one of the best months of the year each year, and May tends to be one of the worst.
PS Plus free play: March rule explained
It is easy to look back on recent months to see how this pattern was established. Back in 2018, for example, 6 games were handed out for March, most of which were smaller games. The reason this month follows the March rule is that two of the matches were Blood-borne and Ratchet and Clankwhich is a tough month to follow, even though it was the only two matches.
In 2019, March 2019 added The witness and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. The former had excellent reviews, although it does not have the biggest appeal as a puzzle, and Modern Warfare Remastered joined at the perfect time. There was a lot of hype and speculation about it Call of Duty 2019‘s game would be a new one Modern warfare, and PS Plus helped seal that deal. After all, first-person shooter is one of the most popular genres out there, and Modern warfare is one of the most popular games among them.
In 2020, it was added in March Shadow of the Colossus Remake and Sonic Forces, which is pretty much said. Both games have great followers and immediately appealed to the service. Then in March 2021, a PS5 puzzle came in Maquette, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Remnant: From the Ashesand Farpoint VR. It had a good spread and a new PS5 game, though Model was not the best reviewed. Pair it with a Soulslike shooter and a great JRPG remake, and March 2021 was a great month.
That is the case with the March rule. Not only do some of the best games of the year appear on the service usually in March, but it usually helps set the tone for the year. March 2021 was amazing and PS Plus had a pretty amazing 2021. PS Plus free games for March 2022 were no less effective as previous years, with Ark: Survival Evolved, Ghost of Tsushima Legends, Ghostrunner, and Team Sonic Racing affects the service.
PS Plus Free Games: May Curse Explained
If May shows the potential highlights of the year, May tends to show the worst. The thing is, it’s not because they’re bad games, it’s because they do not tend to have the appeal needed for something like PS Plus. The former Witness is a great game, but many still would not touch a puzzle. May tends to have these flaws where the appeal is just sucked out of the games.
May 2018, like March 2018, had a large spread of games, but the three main names were Beyond: Two Souls, Rayman Legends, and Traveled 3. The first is described as an interactive drama and action-adventure game that is very heavy on QTEs. It certainly has its audience, but not the broad appeal that PS Plus needs. Traveled 3 falls into the same boat. It’s an RPG that tends to be one of the most popular genres out there, but this is also a Eurojank game, which means it tends to be “jankier” than AAA RPGs. This is a big dealbreaker for many. Rayman is perhaps the best of the herd, yet many have grown up without Rayman and then the appeal to younger audiences may be lost.
This will be repeated in May 2019, with Overcooked and What’s left of Edith Finch. Both are good games, but neither of them really has the most appealing style of gaming options. They both have their followers, but not the broad appeal the service needs. However, May 2020 was perhaps the worst month of the May curse.
If Modern Warfare Remastered ran the speculative high point of the franchise in March 2019, May 2020’s game followed the perfect storm of false information. This one is not even that much on Sony. A wild rumor managed to gain ground for some reason why many thought PS Plus would be released Dying light and Dark Souls Remastered in May 2020. Then to get Sony actually released Farming Simulator 19 and Cities: Skylines was a blow to the stomach. Both are good simulators, but agricultural and urban simulators are about as niche as they come. This even led to a huge signature drive from fans asking Sony to change the games.
Finally, May 2021 was not the worst the curse had seen. Wreckfest, Battlefield 5, and Stranded deep hit the service, and the broad appeal of these games here may be a notch above previous years. But again, 2021 was a special year for PS Plus, and even these games did not hold too much light compared to the rest of the year.
Why PS Plus free games for May 2022 fall for this curse
Many hoped that May 2022 would redeem April, but as of last May, the appeal needed by many PS Plus subscribers is not. FIFA 22, Tribes of Midgard, and The curse of the dead gods are PS Plus free games for May 2022 and none of them are bad games. It’s undoubtedly a much better month than May 2020, but it’s a worse month than May 2021. Sports games no doubt sell a lot, but they do not tend to perform well on the service.
This is because the majority of fans of sports betting will get their favorite games, e.g. Madden or FIFA, as soon as they can. Thus, the ship for FIFA 22 is largely sailed. The curse of the dead godsmeanwhile, is another excellent game – a dungeon crawling roguelike that might be comparable to Hades– and yet fans can be affected by the dungeon crawling aspect. Middle-earth tribes is a fine mix of roguelike, action and survival, but the mix and top-down aspect also limits the appeal.
Again, this does not mean that these are bad games – far from it in reality – but their overall appeal is limited to a service where broad appeal and variety tend to help month after month. It’s not the worst May ever, but it’s clearly part of the May curse. But if these are close to the end of the year, maybe the rest of PS Plus’ free games for 2022 will knock their months out of the park.
PS Plus subscribers get a handful of free games every month.
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