PS Plus gives away its cheapest monthly game in five years

PS Plus monthly games for July 2024 includes Among Us, the popular social deduction game, which is easily PS Plus' cheapest game of 2024.

Lee Brady

Published 02 Jul 2024

While some PS Plus subscribers might be excited to collect those Among Us trophies, there's certainly a good reason to be annoyed at the party game's inclusion in the PlayStation Plus July 2024 monthly games lineup. It's not just that Among Us is PS Plus' cheapest game of 2024 — it's the cheapest monthly game Sony has given away in five years.

Among Us is the cheapest PS Plus monthly game since 2019

Among Us became available to all PS Plus subscribers as one of the 'free' monthly games on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. The viral deduction game exploded in popularity back in 2020 and has remained a lively online multiplayer experience on PS5 and PS4 ever since.

That said, the issue here doesn't lie with Among Us as a game — in my opinion, it's the best game in July 2024's PS Plus lineup. The issue here is about the value players expect from their PlayStation Plus subscriptions. Priced at only $4.99 / £3.89 / 4,29€ on the PS Store, Among Us is the cheapest monthly game Sony has added to PS Plus since 2019.

Before that, the last game that was this cheap in the monthly PS Plus lineup was Iron Galaxy's Divekick, which was given away via PS Plus in February 2019. Divekick was part of the final batch of games released by Sony to mark the end of PS Plus' monthly support for the PS3 and PS Vita.

Divekick initially launched for $9.99 on the PS Store, but its price was dropped permanently to $4.99 in 2016. Between Divekick in 2019 and Among Us in 2024, no PS Plus monthly game has cost as little as $4.99.

Now, while it's true that price does not indicate a game's quality in any way, it should be noted that PS Plus costs subscribers a minimum of $6.66 a month (calculated monthly price of a PS Plus Essential 12-month subscription). Without a discount, subscribers end up paying more for PS Plus than they ever would for Among Us on PS5 and PS4.

Sure, you're getting access to more than just Among Us in July 202. However, unless you have an active PS Plus subscription, you don't get to keep playing any of these PS Plus games. Really, the issue comes down to this: Is this the value of games that subscribers expect when they join PS Plus?

Value is ultimately subjective, but it's clear from some of the reactions on Reddit that many subscribers are not happy with Among Us joining PS Plus (examples included in the screenshot below).

via Reddit.

Whether you're happy or not, Among Us' inclusion here reminds us that PS5 and PS4 players have no control over the games Sony offers them via PS Plus Essential. Sony dictates the value of the monthly games and if you're subscribed for any period longer than a month, you just have to roll with whatever the company decides.

If you're unhappy with the value of your monthly PS Plus games, your only form of protest is your wallet. You might think Among Us is one of the best PS Plus games this year, but does it represent the value subscribers should see from PS Plus? Even as an Among Us fan, I don't think so, but let me know what you think down in the comments below.

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Written by Lee Brady

Staff Writer Lee keeps one eye on the future (Astro Bot), one eye on the past (PS1, PS2, and PS3 games), and his secret third eye on junk he really likes (Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic). A PlayStation fan for over 25 years, he loves replaying classic games via PS Plus.