Hey everyone! This is a round up of the games entering and leaving a variety of Game Services throughout the month, as well as free game giveaways that have been available throughout.
I like to try to keep track of what is coming and going in the world of game subscriptions but it is hard to find a singular place that does that, so I thought I would give it a go myself. I am going to trial it for a couple of months and see how it feels, whether I would like to add things and so on. Having it all in one place means that you can scroll to see if anything catches your eye, or you can Ctrl+F to whichever service it is that interests you.
Disclaimer: Sometimes dates aren’t announced and surprises are thrown in. I will do my best to make sure the information is as accurate as possible!
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s subscription service for PlayStation consoles. The service is split into three tiers. ‘Essential’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Premium’.
PS Plus Essential
‘PlayStation Plus Essential’ is the cheapest tier. This is the tier that is closest to what PS Plus used to be. When you are subscribed, you get access to playing games online and instant access to the PS Plus collection*. Additionally, Essential offers 3 monthly games**. If you claim them during that month then they are yours to play for as long as you have a PS Plus Essential subscription. If you drop your subscription then you will lose access, but they will still be on your account ready for the next time you subscribe. The monthly games get revealed on the final Wednesday of every month. They are then made available to add to your library and play on the first Tuesday, replacing the previous months games. The games offered occasionally vary by region.
* PS5 Only.
** Occasionally there will be more or less.
⚠ The PS Plus Collection ends on May 9th. If you have any tier of PS Plus and a PS5 then make sure to add the games to your library before it’s too late. As far as I can see, they have taken all traces of the collection from the PlayStation website already so you may have to manually search for each game. Please do take a look because there are many worthwhile games on there.
Here is a list of the games that you need to add to your library before May if you haven’t already –
- Bloodborne
- Days Gone
- Detroit: Become Human
- God of War
- inFAMOUS Second Son
- Ratchet and Clank
- The Last Guardian
- The Last of Us Remastered
- Until Dawn
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battlefield 1
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Zombies Chronicles Edition
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
- Fallout 4
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Monster Hunter: World
- Mortal Kombat X
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
April PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 4th April 2023 – Monday 1st May 2023
- Meet Your Maker (PS5/PS4)
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5/PS4)
- Tails of Iron (PS5/PS4)
May PS Plus Essential Games | Available to claim from Tuesday 2nd May 2023
- Chivalry 2 (PS5/PS4)
- Code Vein (PS4/PS4)
- Descenders (PS4)
PS Plus Extra/Premium
‘PlayStation Plus Extra’ and ‘PlayStation Plus Premium’ are the next two tiers of PS Plus above Essential. They include everything that you get with Essential plus other benefits.
PlayStation Plus Extra – Extra is the middle tier and allows you access to a catalogue of games, available to play on your console. New games get added to the service part way through each month and stay for an unknown amount of time. Games also leave regularly and it isn’t always communicated well so it is worth checking when you are deciding what to play.
PlayStation Plus Premium – Premium is the most expensive tier. As well as giving you access to the Extra catalogue, it also has it’s own benefits. There is an extended catalogue available as Premium also includes ‘Classics’ – a seperate collection of games from older generations. In addition, game trials and cloud streaming are some more benefits to this tier.
You can find a full breakdown of the benefits here.
April 2023 PS Plus Extra Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 18th
- Bassmaster Fishing (PS5/PS4)
- Doom Eternal (PS5/PS4)
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5/PS4)
- Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS5/PS4)
- Paradise Killer (PS5/PS4)
- Riders Republic (PS5/PS4)
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5/PS4)
- Anodyne (PS4) (4th April)
- The Evil Within (PS4)
- Slay the Spire (PS4)
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4)
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (PS4)
April 2023 PS Plus Premium Game Additions | Available from Tuesday 18th
- Doom (PS4)
- Doom II (PS4)
- Doom 64 (PS4)
- Doom 3 (PS4)
- Dishonoured: Definitive Edition (PS4)
Games that left PS Plus Extra/Premium in April 2023
- 2Dark
- 428: Shibuya Scramble (EU Only)
- Croixleur Sigma
- Gabbuchi
- Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
- Steins;Gate Elite (EU Only)
- The Caligula Effect: Overdose
- The Wonderful 101: Remastered
- Zanki Zero: Last Beginning (EU Only)
Games leaving PS Plus Extra/Premium in May 2023 | Dates may vary
- Balan Wonderland
- Batman: Return to Arkham – Arkham Asylum
- Batman: Return to Arkham – Arkham City
- Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!
- Chronos: Before the Ashes
- Deadlight: Director’s Cut
- Dreamfall Chapters
- FlatOut 4: Total Insanity
- Graveyard Keeper
- Homefront: The Revolution
- How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition
- Injustice 2
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance
- Kona
- Last Day of June
- Left Alive
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
- Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Metro: Last Light Redux
- Mighty No. 9
- MX vs ATV All Out
- NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker
- Pixel Piracy
- Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered
- Relicta
- Resident Evil
- Shenmue III trophies
- Star Ocean: First Departure R
- This War of Mine: The Little Ones
- Tour De France 2021
- TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2
- Virginia
- Windbound
Game Pass is Microsoft’s game subscription service. It is split into three different types. ‘PC’, ‘Console’, and ‘Ultimate’. I will currently only be covering ‘Game Pass for PC’.
Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC and for Console are seperate subscriptions but are very similar, they just work on different machines. They have their own slightly different catalogues but function the same. Game Pass grants you access to a library of games on your platform of choice. They are then available for you to play as for as long as you have a subscription or as long as they are on the service.
Game Pass Ultimate combines the two, allowing your account access to the service on both PC and Console, along with more perks including XBOX Live Gold.
You can find a full breakdown of the differences here.
April 2023 Game Pass for PC Additions
- Goat Simulator
- Loop Hero
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Minecraft Legends
- Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly
- Homestead Arcana
- Cassette Beasts
- Quantum Break
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
- The Last Cast of Benedict Fox
- Besiege
- Redfall
- Mass Effect 2 (2010 Edition)
- Mass Effect 3 (2012 Edition)
May 2023 Announced Game Pass for PC Additions | Available from various dates
- Thursday 4th May – Ravenlok
- Thursday 11th May – Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2
- Thursday 25th May – Railway Empire 2
Games that left Game Pass for PC in April 2023
- Saturday 1st April – Cluster Truck
- Saturday 1st April – Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- Saturday 1st April – Kracken Academy
- Saturday 1st April – A Memoir Blue
- Saturday 1st April – Chinatown Detective Agency
- Sunday 16th April – The Riftbreaker
- Sunday 16th April – Panzer Corps 2
- Sunday 16th April – The Long Dark
- Sunday 16th April – Life is Strange: True Colors
- Sunday 16th April – The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos
- Sunday 16th April – Moonglow Bay
- Sunday 16th April – Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction
Games leaving Game Pass for PC in May 2023 | 1st & 16th of the Month
- Monday 1st May – Tetris Effect: Connected
- Monday 1st May – Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Monday 1st May – Destroy All Humans!
- Monday 1st May – Unsouled
- Monday 1st May – Bugsnax
- Tuesday 16th May – Umurangi Generation
- Tuesday 16th May – My Friend Pedro
- Tuesday 16th May – Before We Leave
- Tuesday 16th May – Hearts of Iron IV
- Tuesday 16th May – Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Anniversary Edition
- Tuesday 16th May – Her Story
A lot of people do not realise that included in an Amazon Prime subscription is access to Prime Gaming. Not only does this get you a free subscription to a streamer of your choice on Twitch, they also give away free weekly games and other perks. The difference with this service is that often the games are for different launchers. Some are for Amazon Games, but they also give codes for Epic Games, GOG and more. The best part? As far as I can tell – you get to continue playing the games you have claimed after your subscription has ended.
You can claim your games here.
Amazon Prime Games | April 2023 | Weekly on Thursdays
- Thursday 6th April – Wolfenstein: The New Order (GOG)
- Thursday 6th April – Ninja Commando (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 6th April – Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 13th April – The Beast Inside (GOG)
- Thursday 13th April – Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 13th April – Crossed Swords (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 13th April – Ghost Pilots (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Beholder 2 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Terraformers (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Metal Slug 4 (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 20th April – Ninja Masters (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Looking for Aliens (Legacy Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Grime (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Sengoku (Amazon Games)
- Thursday 27th April – Magician Lord (Amazon Games)
Amazon Prime Games | Announced for May 2023
- Thursday 4th May – Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D
- Thursday 4th May – Super Sidekicks
- Thursday 4th May – Samurai Shodown IV
- Thursday 11th May – Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition
- Thursday 11th May – Lake
- Thursday 11th May – Robo Army
- Thursday 11th May – Last Resort
- Thursday 18th May – Kardboard Kings
- Thursday 18th May – The Almost Gone
- Thursday 18th May – 3 Count Bout
- Thursday 18th May – Alpha Mission 2
- Thursday 25th May – Lila’s Sky Ark
- Thursday 25th May – Agatha Knife
- Thursday 25th May – King of the Monsters 2
- Thursday 25th May – Kizuna Encounter
Ever since its inception, the Epic Game Store has offered free games to all. All you need is an account. Every Thursday at 4pm UTC at least one title will be set to ‘free’ and next weeks game/s will be revealed. All you have to do is log in and add it to your library while it is free if you would like to play it in the future. If you miss the window then there is nothing that you can do but you have a whole week to do it. Unlike the services above, you do not need a subscription to claim these games.
You can check out the Epic Game Store here.
Free Epic Games | April 2023 | Must claim in the timeframe
- The Silent Age (March 30th – April 6th)
- Shapez (April 6th – April 13th)
- Dying Light Enhanced Edition (April 6th – April 13th)
- Mordhau (April 13th – April 20th)
- Second Extinction (April 13th – April 20th)
- Beyond Blue (April 20th – April 27th)
- Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) (April 20th – April 27th)
- Breathedge (April 27th – May 4th)
- Poker Club (April 27th – May 4th)
Free Epic Games | Announced for May 2023*
- Against All Odds (May 4th – May 11th)
- Horizon Chase Turbo (May 4th – May 11th)
- Kao the Kangaroo (May 4th – May 11th)
- The Sims 4 Daring Lifestyle Bundle (May 11th – May 18th)
*These games are announced one week in advance so you will need to check on the Epic Store weekly if you don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, I do always try to post them in my discord server.
I may add new sections as I go but for now, this section is for any other give-aways or notable deals that I come across in the given month. Most of these will have been and gone already but it is interesting to see what games have been given.
GOG Giveaways | April 2023
- Under the Moon
Steam Giveaways | April 2023
- Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
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