Sony introduced a benefit for new owners of a PlayStation 5 console, the PlayStation Collection, in late 2020. However, you’d better hurry and claim it if you haven’t already, as it’s being phased out soon.
The PlayStation Collection is a selection of 19 games representing some of the highlights of the last console generation, and will close on May 9, 2023.
The only problem is that you must be subscribed to the PlayStation Plus service to unlock them. And while you’ll be able to play these classics after May 9 once you’ve claimed them, you’ll need to have an active Plus subscription to do so. The games are also only available for PS5 owners, not PS4 folks.
19 free PlayStation Collection games
Here’s that list of the 19 PlayStation Collection games, along with their Metacritic aggregated review score, if you’re only interested in the absolute classics:
-
Batman: Arkham Knight (87/100)
-
Battlefield 1 (89/100)
-
Bloodborne (92/100)
-
Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition (81/100)
-
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy (80/100)
-
Days Gone (71/100)
-
Detroit: Become Human (78/100)
-
Fallout 4 (87/100)
-
Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition (77/100)
-
God of War (94/100)
-
Infamous second son (80/100)
-
Monster Hunter: World (90/100)
-
Mortal Kombat X (83/100)
-
Ratchet and Clank (85/100)
-
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (86/100)
-
The Last Guard (82/100)
-
The Last of Us Remastered (95/100)
-
Until Dawn (79/100)
-
Uncharted 4: The End of a Thief (93/100)
PlayStation Plus levels explained: Essential vs Extra vs Premium
Not signed up to PlayStation Plus yet? This is where things get a little complicated, as there are three levels of Plus plans: Essential, Extra, and Premium.
PlayStation Plus essential is the cheapest of the bunch. This will give you access to the Collection games plus a handful of others to claim each month, cloud storage of saved games, and access to online multiplayer features. It costs £6.99 per month or £49.99 per year.
Playstation Plus Extra adds a library of PS4 and PS5 games that you can play for as long as your subscription is active. These will be downloaded to your console as if you purchased the game.
You can explore the entire PlayStation Plus catalog on Sony’s website. Some highlights include Assassin’s Creed Origins, Death Stranding, and Demon’s Souls – a few picks out of hundreds.
An Extra membership costs £10.99 per month or £83.99 per year.
Playstation Plus Premium is the highest level. It adds cloud game streaming, meaning you don’t have to wait for titles in the PlayStation Plus catalog to download and install. And it offers the retro Classics Catalogue. This is home to more games from the PS3, PS2 and PS1 generations of consoles, as well as handheld PSP titles. These need to be streamed rather than downloaded, so you’d better have a decent internet connection at home.
PlayStation Premium costs £13.49 or £99.99 per month.
Which level should you choose?
If you subscribed to PlayStation Plus years ago and want roughly what you had back then, choose Essential.
However, it might be an idea to subscribe to Premium for a month and see how much you actually use of the advanced features before settling for your perfect level.