The latest lineup of PlayStation Plus games have been revealed. Subscribers can look forward to playing three games this new year, across the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 platforms.

The two PS4 games are Shadow of the Tomb Raider and GreedFall. For the PS5 we have Maneater - a single player, open world action RPG (ShaRkPG).

All three games will be available to add to your PS Plus library from January 5th to February 1st.

PlayStation Plus starts 2021 with a bang. PlayStation Plus members will receive two PS4 titles – action adventure Shadow of the Tomb Raider and action RPG Greedfall – on Tuesday January 5. On the same day, PlayStation 5 owners with a PlayStation Plus membership can play a terrifying apex predator in the open world (sea?) RPG Maneater*.

Let’s take a closer look at the games.

Maneater* (PS5 version)

Experience the ultimate power fantasy as the apex predator of the seas – a terrifying shark! Maneater is a single player, open world action RPG (ShaRkPG) where you are the shark. Starting as a small shark pup you are tasked with surviving the harsh world while eating your way up the ecosystem. To do this you will explore a large and varied open world encountering diverse enemies – both human and wildlife. Find the right resources and you can grow and evolve far beyond what nature intended, allowing the player to tailor the shark to their play style. Eat. Explore. Evolve.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4 game)

Fight, explore, craft and survive amid the dense and perilous jungles of South America in Lara Croft’s biggest adventure to date as you race to save the world from a Maya apocalypse. Gather resources and master the unforgiving terrain. Outgunned and outnumbered, you need to use your surroundings to your advantage; strike from the shadows and use mud to camouflage your presence. Use advanced traversal techniques to reach long-forgotten tombs and negotiate deadly puzzles.

Greedfall** (PS4 game)

In this stunning action RPG, explore uncharted new lands as you set foot on a remote island seeping with magic, and filled with riches, lost secrets, and fantastic creatures. You’ll have complete freedom to shape your abilities, spells and skills and decide whether to complete objectives with combat, diplomacy, deception, or stealth. Forge this new world’s destiny, as you befriend or betray companions and entire factions.

All games will be available until Monday February 1.

Source

 

[FAST6191]

That is a fairly quick turnaround for a few of those. Wonder if they are not selling or "start the new year with a bang".

 

[playstays_shun]

not a biggy, but I bought Shadow of the Tomb Raider on disc a couple months ago and still haven't gotten around to playing haha - it was like a $9 GameStop deal of the day after a coupon

tempted to just download the PS+ version and do away with the disc for this one, keep it on my shelf.


Also- pretty neat there's a PS5 game on there. The price is right for trying Man-eater lol

 

[leon315]

i ALWAYS wonder how much profit the publisher get from every downloads when their games are PSN+ "FREE" games?

 

[playstays_shun]

i ALWAYS wonder how much profit the publisher get from every downloads when their games are PSN+ "FREE" games?

its probably like streaming services or anything else not a la carte. By download volume, they get the proportionate amount of the subscription fee

 

[FAST6191]

i ALWAYS wonder how much profit the publisher get from every downloads when their games are PSN+ "FREE" games?

I do wonder as well. Sony might well part with a lump sum, or a per download. Or they might ask for it for free and give a discount on their more modern stuff (you only pay us 5% at $200k rather than $100k sort of thing, or we push your new game to the front of the shop/our blog/put it on our next general "whoo playstation" advert for national TV/billboard/magazine/E3 stage ad campaign).
I don't know if we have ever had a dev discuss things here, and there probably is a difference between Sony giving away EA's big push from the previous year and little indy dev with 4 people even then (and we are way more likely to get those sorts of numbers when one of those releases a rant than the EA scenario*)

*the recent Square-Enix type leaks, maybe Sony internal leaks, and maybe someone getting creative with end of year accounts (though they are usually so generic as to be useless here -- if we can't even use them most of the time to get an idea of game sales then this is likely even harder unless it is unspecified other revenue or something) being about the only times I would expect hard info for that one. I don't know that they would be under all the NDAs for this sort of thing but I doubt they would care to speak too publicly.

They likely get some free advertising for other platforms, or maybe a sequel if it is coming up. If it goes away in a month they might even get a little tail of sales from those that missed out, or maybe let their subscription lapse (I assume the games still go with it).

If they are ones that get the kids to pump the money in for DLC/"microtransactions"/premium online then that is also an avenue for revenue.

If it is a multiplayer game then maybe they get a little boost on their server population and bring back some original players (some of which might also do the DLC thing above).

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

i ALWAYS wonder how much profit the publisher get from every downloads when their games are PSN+ "FREE" games?

Nobody knows how much exactly because those agreements are under NDA.

But there are basically two options for most publishers, they can either accept a one time lump sum of cash from Sony, or they can accept a percentage of store price per game added to a PS+ account (since you have to add them manually). Some smaller devs have said the second option can be anywhere from 5-20% of a game's store price, depending on the game and studio.

From what I understand, smaller studios usually choose the latter since 5-20% of store price across the 40 million PS+ members or whatever is usually more than they'd make off just game sales on their own (without the marketing/advertising bonuses PS+ gives), whereas bigger studios usually opt for the former since they tend to have a better business relationship with Sony and can snag more cash at once.



As to the games, meh. Maneater was...interesting, I suppose, but probably not something I'd play again. Greedfall and Tomb Raider are nice, but stuff I've already played on PC. Oh well, still grab them anyways.

 

[KiiWii]

This is great. I wanted to replay Man Eater again

 

[slaphappygamer]

i ALWAYS wonder how much profit the publisher get from every downloads when their games are PSN+ "FREE" games?

If it were Apple, I believe it’s 13%.

 

[leon315]

If it were Apple, I believe it’s 13%.

for every product sold, but the question is about how much on those ''FREE monthly'' games?
some fellow tempers have already given a raw idea about how much devs get from $ony.

 

[Arras]

for every product sold, but the question is about how much on those ''FREE monthly'' games?
some fellow tempers have already given a raw idea about how much devs get from $ony.

They likely just get a flat sum from Sony. ie Sony comes up to the dev and asks them "can we give out your game on PS+? here's X million dollars for it".

 

[subcon959]

Maneater is a nice surprise, I was sure it was going to be Spirit of the North..

 

[Xzi]

Yeah that's about the right price for anything released exclusive to EGS: free.

 

[cvskid]

Suprised there isn't also an article for xbox games with gold january 2021.

 

[Goku1992A]

Suprised there isn't also an article for xbox games with gold january 2021.

• Little Nightmares ($19.99 ERP): Available January 1 to 31
• Dead Rising ($19.99 ERP): Available January 16 to February 15
• The King of Fighters XIII ($29.99 ERP): Available January 1 to 15
• Breakdown ($9.99 ERP): Available January 16 to 31

I guess the question is can you still grab the PS5 game that PS Plus has to offer or you have to have the actual PS5 game I was thinking they can save it on your account. I'm not getting a PS5 now but in a few years I am

 

[Ericzander]

I guess the question is can you still grab the PS5 game that PS Plus has to offer or you have to have the actual PS5 game I was thinking they can save it on your account. I'm not getting a PS5 now but in a few years I am

You don't need a PlayStation 5 at the moment to redeem Man Eater. Just like with Bugsnax last month. As long as you have PS plus right now you'll be able to add the games to your library and then download and play them whenever you do end up getting the PlayStation 5.

 

[Rith12]

Greedfall is pretty fun

 

[wonkeytonk]

kinda glad I unsubscribed...

 

[Foxi4]

A fairly interesting bit of news relating to the inclusion of the PS5 version of Maneater - it seems that anyone who purchased a digital version of the game prior to its PSN release is being automatically refunded the cost back to their wallet. If you bought the game at launch, you may want to power cycle your PS5 to see if there is any truth to this. It would be nice if Sony started doing this for customers who bought Plus games shortly before they go onto the service, it's alway a bit of a disappointment to see those pop up.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/202...aneater_on_ps5_following_ps_plus_announcement

 

[subcon959]

A fairly interesting bit of news relating to the inclusion of the PS5 version of Maneater - it seems that anyone who purchased a digital version of the game prior to its PSN release is being automatically refunded the cost back to their wallet. If you bought the game at launch, you may want to power cycle your PS5 to see if there is any truth to this. It would be nice if Sony started doing this for customers who bought Plus games shortly before they go onto the service, it's alway a bit of a disappointment to see those pop up.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/202...aneater_on_ps5_following_ps_plus_announcement

I wonder if the whole Cyberpunk situation has made Sony consider it's public persona more carefully? The capacity for backlash these days is so huge compared to the past.