The reasons why some of these games may never appear onPS Plusrange from unclear to ones motivated by industry politics. Something that many people will notice is that third-party games make up the entirety of this list, meaning Sony is not one to shy away from adding its own games to the service whenever it deems fit. This has led PS Plus into a pattern as of late, but nonetheless, here are some games that will likely never appear on PS Plus.
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The reason whyGrand Theft Auto 5may never come to PS Plus is the same reason whyRed Dead Redemption 2may never appear either -GTA Online(andRed Dead Online).GTA Onlinehas permanently reshaped the way Rockstar Games tackles its titles. Whereas the company used to be eager to develop story expansions for its games back in the day,GTA Onlinehas become so successful that it doesn’t need to think about anything else anymore, including but not limited to the much requested successor toUndead NightmareforRed Dead Redemption 2.
If Rockstar is successful enough that it doesn’t even want to service its own games (offline) anymore, then it certainly won’t bother to put its titles on PS Plus - a service that publishers typically use to get another jump in revenue out of a given game. It should be noted that theoriginalRed Dead Redemptioncame to PS Plus two years after its launch so there is at least some precedent, but again, Rockstar has changed the way it operates nowadays.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
There is also somewhat of a precedent forAssassin’s Creedgamesto appear on PS Plus, albeit not a strong one. The only timesACgames appeared on the service was whenAC 3was added to it in 2013 (a year after its launch) and whenAC Freedom Crywas added to it in 2017 (four years after its launch). Besides the inconsistency, there is a total lack of the most popular games in the franchise on PS Plus, such asAC 4 Black Flagand the Ezio trilogy, so one shouldn’t particularly expect to see Ubisoft’s most recent title in the series -AC Odyssey- to appear on the service either.
The Witcher 3
The reason whyThe Witcher 3was never added to PS Plus is somewhat of a mystery. It would be a great fit for the service and developer CD Projekt Red is frequently touted as being very fan-friendly so all of the ingredients are there. A great time to put the game on the service would have been during the hype cycle that followed Netflix’s adaptation. However, there was a massiveresurgence in sales forThe Witcher 3(and the franchise in general) after the show debuted, so that likely did better for the developer than a game on PS Plus would have.
Doom Eternal
Bethesda seems to have the same problem with PS Plus as Ubisoft. OfBethesda’s biggest series of games-Doom, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls,etc. - none of these series have ever appeared on PS Plus (not evenSkyrim). While Sony and Bethesda have butted heads in the past, the reason behind Bethesda’s absence from the service isn’t due to industry politics at least, as Bethesda hasn’t put out a game on Xbox’s Games With Gold either. The reason, then, could be related to the fact that Bethesda - like CD Projekt Red - is a deeply independent company, with proprietary game launchers on PC.
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrificeis another game that would be an easy choice for it to appear on PS Plus and it could’ve (and probably would have) happened, if not forMicrosoft’s acquisition of developer Ninja Theoryback in 2018. The reason why it’ll likely never appear on PS Plus is clearer than any other game’s reason for being absent: the intellectual property belongs to Microsoft. WithHellblade 2currently in development for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, it’s clear Microsoft would want the attention on its current and next-gen console.
April’sPS Plusgames -Uncharted 4andDirt Rally 2- are available to download until July 30, 2025.
