PlayStation Plus Free Games in 2015: Was it Worth It?
You can put a price on what PlayStation gave away in free games to PS Plus members throughout 2015, but does that mean you know if your PlayStation Plus membership was really worth it?
Towards the end of every month, PlayStation Plus subscribers begin clamoring to know what the free games list will be for the next month. Along with the intense interest that continuously builds as the last Wednesday of every month approaches comes a lot of cynicism from jaded PS Plus members, absolutely sure that the next month will bring another bunch of unknown indie games, or otherwise a handful of duds.
So beyond the multiplayer access, was being a PS Plus member worth it in 2015? And if so, how much was it worth?
Polygon spent the time to look back at all of the PS Plus free games for 2015 and what they found was fascinating (check out the article for a lot more month-by-month details). In total, a $50 PS Plus subscription gave a user access to over a thousand dollars-worth of free games, if the subscriber owned all three PlayStation platforms (PS3, PS4 and PS Vita).
Specifically, PlayStation gave out $1,053.36 in freebies. Polygon also found that the average Metacritic rating of the 108 free games offered throughout 2015 was 75.5, which might surprise the cynics. The average price of a free game was $14.63, though prices ranged from as much as $40 (Prototype 2 for PS3 in January) to $4.99 (Kung Fu Rabbit for PS3 or PS Vita in October).
For those that felt like the PS Plus free games offerings got worse as the year went on, there is some objective evidence to back that up, though caveats abound.
Until May 2015, the total value of each month's free games list tended towards the upper range. The total worth of free games for the first few months never dipped below $90 a month, and sometimes peaked above $100.
Besides November, when Mass Effect 2 was on offer for PS3, every month after May totaled less than $90. However, every month of PS Plus free games since August (November being exception again, ironically) held a Metacritic rating above the overall 2015 average.
Of course, ratings and price tallies don't matter much to the PS Plus members who complained about the lack of classics and AAA titles on offer; those who grew jaded from the new quirky indie titles PlayStation released month after month (with the probable exception of Rocket League, because who didn't love that?).
For those gamers, Polygon's takeaway from this year in PS Plus free games is telling: "This year held strong value for PlayStation Plus subscribers, particularly those looking for new experiences." New, quirky indie experiences, you might add.
PS Plus members: Did you feel like 2015's free games were worth the price of the subscription? Are you looking forward to what might come in 2016? Sound off in the comments!
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