What's on offer for PS Plus subscribers throughout November is significant for a number of important reasons. For starters, instead of simply receiving three games in the manner that's become traditional for the service, this month PlayStation players will also have access to three extra-exciting PS VR games at no additional cost. Sony's commemoration of PS VR's 5th anniversary in this fashion ensures PS4 and PS5 owners are going to have their hands and hard drives full with games they can dive into.
Beyond the sheer quantity of what's on offer, another significant development for PS Plus can be observed with the types of games that make up this month's lineup. Having featured at least one multiplayer-centric title in each rotation since June (Predator: Hunting Grounds, Hell Let Loose) Sony has decided to double down on the online gaming options available to players this time around. Throughout November, subscribers will be able to claim access to the social deduction game First Class Trouble, and the dodgeball-themed Knockout City as well. While titles like this have thrived in-part because of PS Plus in the past, filling the service up like this might be a risky play on the publisher's part.
Stretched Multiplayer Playerbases
During Sony's most recent State of Play presentation, the publisher confirmed that First Class Trouble would be the next title to arrive and launch on PS Plus. In the past, multiplayer-themed titles have used the service in a similar manner; as a way of quickly building their player install bases. Games like Rocket League and Fall Guys are arguably the poster children and best examples of this concept in action, having successfully launched on PS Plus to the roughly 47 million strong subscriber base.
However, having two multiplayer games arrive on PS Plus at the same time will likely dilute the potential beneficial effects that both First Class Trouble and Knockout City could have experienced if they'd arrived separate from one another. There's only so many hours in a day or a single play session that players will be able to dedicate to either game. That becomes even more apparent when factoring in the other new games players will also have access to, if they've invested in Sony's VR headset.
What could've been a concentrated month-long boost in the spotlight for one or the other, is now going to be stretched somewhat between the two. For a game like Knockout City that launched to positive reviews and reception earlier this year, it's possible that its status as the slightly older title of the pair could see it left out in the cold in comparison.
PS Plus Multiplayer Fatigue
The two multiplayer games that are on offer for PS Plus subscribers this month aren't the only online-themed options that longtime subscribers can get. Thanks to the success that the aforementioned Rocket League and Fall Guys were both able to achieve, it's little surprise that Sony has had no trouble finding other multiplayer-focused developers who are willing to give the subscription service a similar chance. Since one of the biggest benefits of PS Plus is the fact that subscribers can play online, there's a solid chance that more multiplayer games will come to the service due to the symbiotic marketing potential they offer Sony.
Even though the multiplayer games on PS Plus are unique from one another in their own right, the fact that they all embody the same principles of sociable gaming, ensures that each subsequent launch likely adds to an overload of games amongst players. Getting a developer or publisher onboard to launch their game on PS Plus is obviously a difficult task to coordinate at the best of times, even without factoring in the idea of a simultaneous launch. Yet, it feels as though spacing out these types of games throughout the year in the future might help all parties involved.
At the start of 2021 for example, only one game that didn't feature primarily singleplayer focused content, Sony's own Destruction AllStars, arrived on the service before June. Launching a game like Predators: Hunting Ground during that time instead of later in the year could've helped the games arriving this month to stand out that much more from each other.
PS Plus Diversity Potential
Balancing out different tastes is an almost impossible task for a publisher like Sony to do when it's building up PS Plus' monthly lineup. Considering the diverse array of games, players, platforms, and sensibilities that exist within the PlayStation ecosystem, there's sadly always going to be a strong chance that someone feels left out by what ultimately hits the service. To the publisher's credit, the multiplayer-centric offerings that are available throughout the next month have at least been balanced out to an extent by the three VR games, and the substantial singleplayer experience that is THQ Nordic's Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning.
In an ever changing digital focused marketplace, there's a chance that continuing to overload PS Plus with more and more multiplayer experiences, may eventually sour opinions on the subscription service in the long-run. Giving each multiplayer title more room to breathe on its own, without direct competition, could be a solution that prevents this, and helps keep players more engaged. It would also allow developers big and small that rely on the service to get the time in the spotlight that they deserve, which has often historically been afforded to similar titles in the past.
