Sony officially launched a unified online service which was tentatively called “PlayStation Network Platform” in 2006. Subsequently, it was tiered into PS+ Essential, PS+ Extra, and PS+ Premium. The PS Plus Premium is the third and most elite tier of PS Plus and includes all the benefits of the other two.
There are lots of perks that come with being a PS+ member for those that own a PlayStation console. Firstly, PS+ members enjoy a huge catalog of free games. PS+ Premium subscribers get even more including free game trials.
PS Plus Premium game trial gives subscribers the opportunity to play the newest titles for a limited time for free to decide whether they want to splash cash on the full game. Since games are getting increasingly expensive, this can help players to only invest in ‘worthy’ games.
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When the PS+ Premium subscription service was launched in 2010, the library was very small with virtually no triple-A title on the list. However, it has grown over the years to now include some of the biggest titles in the industry.
The duration of the free play can be anywhere as small as 45 minutes to up to 3 hours. As a rule of thumb, the bigger and longer the game, the longer the free trial duration will be, and vice versa. For example, PS+ Premium can play God of War Ragnarök for free for up to 3 hours.
Cyberpunk 2077 offers PS+ Premium subscribers up to 5 hours of free play. On the other hand, OlliOlli World allows only 1 hour of free play while Hogwarts Legacy allows up to 45 minutes of free trial.
The pros and cons of being a PS+ Premium subscriber
For $119.99 billed annually, PS+ Premium will give you access to all PlayStation benefits including hundreds of games in the Game Catalog, cloud streaming, and game trials. In addition to these subscribers will have access to online multiplayer. Other benefits include;
- Free download of hand-picked games at no extra cost
- 100GB of cloud storage
- Exclusive discounts on PlayStation Store
- Exclusive add-on content
Subscribers can cancel their subscriptions at any time but will continue to have access until the expiration day of the previous subscription. At the end of the subscription, if it is not renewed, the subscriber will lose access to all the PS Plus benefits including online multiplayer, games stored in their online storage, and the free monthly games.
Players can log in and out of the game and the timer will freeze each time the player is away. This means you won’t lose time if you can’t play the entire trial in one sitting. The good thing about PlayStation Plus Premium free game trial is that, if the player makes up his or her mind to purchase the game, their progress and any trophy earned will be restored.
The biggest game of 2023 that was added to PlayStation Plus Premium
PlayStation Plus game trials are downloaded in their entirety but can only be played for a limited time before the player will be required to purchase the game to keep playing. New game announcements are usually made in the middle of the month for PS Plus Premium.
Hogwarts Legacy is unarguably one of the biggest games of 2023. It has sold 15 million copies since its release, grossing over $1 billion in sales. While it was an interesting addition to PS+ Premium, some subscribers fumed at the short length of the game’s free trial.
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Before the addition of Hogwarts Legacy, the least time for a free trial on PlayStation Plus was 1 hour. However, Hogwarts Legacy has set a new low record of 45 minutes. Many said the time was not even enough to get to Hogwarts and may not be enough for players to decide if they actually want to buy the game—unless they decide to speed through.
Below is a complete list of all the games that are currently on PlayStation Plus Premium free trial and the length of time they can be tested out.
- A Plague Tale Requiem— PS5 (two hours)
- AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative— PS4 (one hour)
- Bonfire Peaks— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Carrion— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Cobra Kai 2 Dojos Rising— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Construction Simulator— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Crusader Kings III— PS5 (three hours)
- Cult of the Lamb— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Cyberpunk 2077— PS5, PS4 (five hours)
- De-Exit Eternal Matters— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Disney Dreamlight Valley— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Disney Speedstorm— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- DNF Duel— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Dying Light 2— PS5, PS4 (three hours)
- Elemental War 2— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Elex II— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- F1 Manager 2022— PS5, PS4 (three hours)
- Football Manager 2023 Console — PS5 (two hours)
- God of War Ragnarok— PS5, PS4 (three hours)
- Gotham Knights— PS5 (one hour)
- Hogwarts Legacy — PS5 (45 minutes)
- Hot Wheels Unleashed— PS5 (two hours)
- Hunting Simulator 2— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Lego City Undercover — PS4 (two hours)
- Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Little League World Series Baseball 2022— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns— PS5 (two hours)
- Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- MLB The Show 22— PS5, PS4 (four hours)
- MLB The Show 23— PS5, PS4 (three hours)
- MotoGP 22— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- MX Vs ATV Legends— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- NBA 2K23— PS5 (two hours)
- NHRA Champion Drag Racing Speed for All— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3 Slime Speedaway— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- OlliOlli World— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Persona 5 Royal— PS5 (four hours)
- PGA Tour 2K23— PS5 (two hours)
- Phoenix Point— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Relayer— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- RiMS Racing— PS5 (two hours)
- Rollerdrome— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Sniper Elite 5— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Sonic Frontiers— PS5, PS4 (one hour)
- Soul Hackers 2— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Spellforce III: Reforced— PS5 (two hours)
- Steelrising— PS5 (two hours)
- Tactics Ogre Reborn— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- The Cruel King and the Great Hero— PS4 (two hours)
- The Last of Us Part I— PS5 (two hours)
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderland— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Train Sim World 3 — PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- Unrailed— PS4 (two hours)
- Vampire the Masquerade Swansong— PS5 (two hours)
- Weird West— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
- World of Outlaws Dirt Racing— PS5, PS4 (two hours)
Expiry dates for some games on the free trial
If you are planning to squeeze out $120 for a PS+ subscription because of a particular game that is currently available on the platform, it is important to mention that some games don’t remain on the free trial for long. Below are games that will soon be leaving free games trial.
- Chivalry 2— PS4, PS5 Available until 5th Jun 2023 (PS+ Essential)
- Descenders— PS4 Available until 5th Jun 2023 (PS+ Essential)
- GRID Legends— PS4, PS5 Available until 5th Jun 2023 (PS+ Essential)
- Red Faction— PS2 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Premium)
- 9 Monkeys of Shaolin— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Agents of Mayhem— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Ash of Gods: Redemption— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Black Mirror— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Defense Grid— 2 PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Descenders— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Fire Pro Wrestling World— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Gods Will Fall— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf: Console Edition— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- John Wick Hex— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- KeyWe— PS4, PS5 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- No Straight Roads— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Party Hard— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Redeemer: Enhanced Edition— PS4 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Red Faction 2— PS2 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Premium)
- Wytchwood— PS5 Available until 20th Jun 2023 (PS+ Extra)
- Jurassic World Evolution 2— PS4, PS5 Available now until 3rd Jul 2023 (PS+ Essential)
- NBA 2K23— PS4, PS5 Available now until 3rd Jul 2023 (PS+ Essential)
- Trek to Yomi— PS4, PS5 Available now until 3rd Jul 2023 (PS+ Essential)
Which other games would you love to see included in PS+ Premium? Let us know in the comment box below.
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