Sony has been giving away games on a monthly basis to PS Plus subscribers for almost a decade now, and there aren’t any signs of it stopping. Although there are a few ways Sony could change up PS Plus for PS5 when that console launches later this year, the company will still likely continue its monthly tradition into the foreseeable future. However, even with fans being vocal about which games they’d like to see appear on the service, there are still a select number of titles that may never drop on PS Plus, ever.
The reasons why some of these games may never appear on PS Plus range from unclear to ones motivated by industry politics. Something that many people will notice is that third-party games make up the entirety of this list, meaning Sony is not one to shy away from adding its own games to the service whenever it deems fit. This has led PS Plus into a pattern as of late, but nonetheless, here are some games that will likely never appear on PS Plus.
Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2
The reason why Grand Theft Auto 5 may never come to PS Plus is the same reason why Red Dead Redemption 2 may never appear either - GTA Online (and Red Dead Online). GTA Online has permanently reshaped the way Rockstar Games tackles its titles. Whereas the company used to be eager to develop story expansions for its games back in the day, GTA Online has become so successful that it doesn’t need to think about anything else anymore, including but not limited to the much requested successor to Undead Nightmare for Red Dead Redemption 2.
If Rockstar is successful enough that it doesn’t even want to service its own games (offline) anymore, then it certainly won’t bother to put its titles on PS Plus - a service that publishers typically use to get another jump in revenue out of a given game. It should be noted that the original Red Dead Redemption came to PS Plus two years after its launch so there is at least some precedent, but again, Rockstar has changed the way it operates nowadays.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
There is also somewhat of a precedent for Assassin’s Creed games to appear on PS Plus, albeit not a strong one. The only times AC games appeared on the service was when AC 3 was added to it in 2013 (a year after its launch) and when AC Freedom Cry was added to it in 2017 (four years after its launch). Besides the inconsistency, there is a total lack of the most popular games in the franchise on PS Plus, such as AC 4 Black Flag and the Ezio trilogy, so one shouldn’t particularly expect to see Ubisoft’s most recent title in the series - AC Odyssey - to appear on the service either.
The Witcher 3
The reason why The Witcher 3 was never added to PS Plus is somewhat of a mystery. It would be a great fit for the service and developer CD Projekt Red is frequently touted as being very fan-friendly so all of the ingredients are there. A great time to put the game on the service would have been during the hype cycle that followed Netflix’s adaptation. However, there was a massive resurgence in sales for The Witcher 3 (and the franchise in general) after the show debuted, so that likely did better for the developer than a game on PS Plus would have.
Doom Eternal
Bethesda seems to have the same problem with PS Plus as Ubisoft. Of Bethesda’s biggest series of games - Doom, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, etc. - none of these series have ever appeared on PS Plus (not even Skyrim). While Sony and Bethesda have butted heads in the past, the reason behind Bethesda’s absence from the service isn’t due to industry politics at least, as Bethesda hasn’t put out a game on Xbox’s Games With Gold either. The reason, then, could be related to the fact that Bethesda - like CD Projekt Red - is a deeply independent company, with proprietary game launchers on PC.
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice is another game that would be an easy choice for it to appear on PS Plus and it could’ve (and probably would have) happened, if not for Microsoft’s acquisition of developer Ninja Theory back in 2018. The reason why it’ll likely never appear on PS Plus is clearer than any other game’s reason for being absent: the intellectual property belongs to Microsoft. With Hellblade 2 currently in development for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, it's clear Microsoft would want the attention on its current and next-gen console.
April’s PS Plus games - Uncharted 4 and Dirt Rally 2 - are available to download until May 4, 2020.