PlayStation Plus Essential-level subscribers will get Borderlands 3, NHL 24, and Among Us as part of their subscription beginning July 2, PlayStation announced on Wednesday.
All three are big names but something of a known quantity to dedicated console gamers. NHL 24 might seem timely, but the Stanley Cup finals just concluded, with Florida arresting a near-collapse in the winner-take-all seventh game to prevail 4-3 over the Edmonton Oilers. That begins professional hockey’s minuscule offseason, with opening day set for early October and the next edition of EA Sports’ officially licensed video game expected a few weeks before that.
Borderlands 3 is the latest edition of a franchise that pioneered the loot-shooter sub-genre with the first Borderlands in 2009. Borderlands 3 launched in 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One, with native versions later coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X for the launch of both consoles. In either case, fans can expect wild sci-fi post-apocalyptic mayhem, unreasonably aggressive mutant beasts and psychopathic villains, and wisecracking robots on Gearbox Software’s latest adventure in the series.
Among Us, which first launched in 2018 and saw a massive resurgence in player count and popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, is not, despite assumptions, a free-to-play game. The mirthful, social-deduction game (a la Clue) set aboard a spaceship does have something of a live service model with crossovers and collaborations.
When are these PS4 and PS5 free games available?
But it’s still a paid-for title in which a group of players try to find who is the evil Impostor out to kill the Crewmates and destroy their ship. Among Us’ most recent update, arriving last week, introduced new imposter roles and a new crewmate to keep everyone on their toes.
All three games are free to add to your library and download beginning Tuesday, July 2.
June’s free games — Streets of Rage 4, AEW Fight Forever, and SpongeBob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake — are still available to download until July 2.