While Game Pass hasn’t exactly shone in the last twelve months, one feature that still stood out (despite more recently being locked behind the highest payment tier) is its day-one releases. Big-name games like Indiana Jones and Avowed, coming straight into your account the moment they’re available to buy. Sony has, until now, actively avoided mimicking this with its own equivalent, PlayStation Plus, but last night’s State of Play revealed its wavering.
While there were no AAA promises of the likes we’d love to see for the subscription package, for instance Soros or Snake Eater arriving day-one, there were four different titles that are appearing on Sony’s sub on launch day.
The first two of these are Life is Strange developer Don’t Nod’s upcoming Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, releasing in two parts over February and April. It’s the story of four high school friends reuniting after 27 years without contact. Why they’re getting back together now is, apparently, part of the plot you create with your decisions, but there’s word of a terrible secret they all shared coming back to haunt them.
Each part is being released as a “tape,” because ‘90s references I guess, the first next week on February 18, and the second (currently) set for April 15. And, both will be included for PS+ subscribers at the Extra and Premium tiers.
But that’s not all that was revealed. Intriguing puzzle game Blue Prince, that calls itself an “atmospheric architectural adventure,” and looks absolutely fascinating. It’s seemingly first-person exploration, but in buildings where the rooms rearrange themselves, and all sorts of secrets are hidden within. It’s an indie piece, published by Raw Fury, and it will be coming straight onto PlayStation Plus this spring.
Then, in the summer, early access Steam hit Abiotic Factor will arrive on PS+ too. This is an FPS combined with survival sim, for one to six players, set across a bonkers mix of biomes and realms. It’s absolutely adored on PC, so makes for an excellent addition to Sony’s catalogue, especially given it works best when played in groups. If you’ve tried to convince friends to pay for an obscure indie title on console so you can play together, you’ll already know why everyone just have automatic access makes it far more likely to happen.
Sony is clearly testing the waters here, given its previous defiant refusal to sacrifice those day-one $70 sales for the ongoing income of a subscriber. While these are obviously not games that’d fetch such sums, and the latter two would be harder sells outside of Steam’s more esoteric ecosystem, it’s still a pretty big deal—Lost Records especially, given Don’t Nod’s string of previous mid-price successes.
Let’s hope it proves popular, enough that PlayStation broadens the day-one options, such that those who can’t afford to pay for multiple $70 games a year might have a cheaper path to entertainment.
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