PS Plus Premium has quietly killed it in 2024 with awesome PS2 games PS Plus Premium's 2024 improvements have led to a great slate of retro titles, from PS2 classics to PSP hits. Sony finally has the most expensive tier right!Opinion by Kes Eylers-Stephenson Published 09 Sep 2024 FollowtopicsPlayStation PlusKes Eylers-Stephenson PS Plus Premium's 2024 improvements have led to a resurgence of PS1, PS2, and PSP games amongst the best PS Plus games. With six of the most popular PS Plus Premium games launched this year and a majority of them for PS2, Sony's most expensive tier has finally found its stride!Kes' Take — PS2 games lead the charge on PS Plus Premium redemption in 2024PS Plus Premium offers a 'Classics Catalog' built using new ports of PS1, PSP, and PS2 games every month6 of the top 10 most popular games to come to PS Plus Premium were launched in 2024Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racconus from PS Plus' lineup in June 2024 remains the most popular Premium tier game everUsing a gameplay data sample from over 3.1 million active PSN accounts (courtesy of our partnership with GameInsights which uses sources accounts from beyond TrueTrophies), we've been tracking the most popular games to hit PS Plus Premium since its inception in 2022.Here are the top ten most popular PS Plus Premium games ever according to our sample:Top ten PS Plus Premium games so far#1 — Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (June 2024)#2 — The Legend of Dragoon (February 2023)#3 — Timesplitters Trilogy* (August 2024)#4 — Tomb Raider Legend (June 2024)#5 — Ratchet & Clank Size Matters (July 2024)#6 — Daxter (June 2024)#7 — Twisted Metal (July 2023)#8 — Resistance Retribution (February 2024)#9 — Twisted Metal 2 (July 2023)#10 — Ridge Racer 2 (December 2022)*Timesplitters is currently tracked as one entity because of a PSN issuePS Plus Premium's most popular classic games have largely been released in 2024. Aside from Sly Cooper, the 2024 entries include Timesplitters, Tomb Raider Legend, Ratchet & Clank Size Matters, Daxter, and Resistance Retribution, or six of the ten most popular games.June 2024's PS Plus Premium hit Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is the most popular game from the Premium tier ever amongst our sample. Sly Cooper launched with a 2.5% bigger player count than 2023's best PS Plus Premium game, The Legend of Dragoon. Sucker Punch's mascot platformer also beat out 2022's biggest game, Ridge Racer 2 for PSP, by 87.88%.The second most popular game from 2024 is PS2's Timesplitters Trilogy, which might have had 19.1% fewer players than 2023's hit The Legend of Dragoon but it had a 69.5% higher player count than 2022's big title Ridge Racer 2. In short, the data shows that 2024 had massively popular classic games that were only really outmatched by the return of the aforementioned legendary JRPG from the PS1 era.Why is PS Plus Premium seeing more popular games in 2024?I think one major reason for the uplift is the introduction of PS2 games on PS5 this year. Three of our six games — Sly Cooper, Timesplitters, and Tomb Raider Legend — are PlayStation 2 ports. All three had an immediate impact on the paying subscriber base given the fact that they are three of the top four games ever released onto PS Plus Premium.However, I think the second reason 2024 releases on PS Plus Premium are doing so well is the use of quality IP. Sony is finally leveraging its PlayStation Studios history as you can see with the presence of Ratchet & Clank Size Matters, Daxter, and Resistance Retribution in the top ten. The PSP games from 2024 all have an iconic 'main' series. Clearly, across the top ten most popular PS Plus Premium games, we're seeing that bringing the right balance of IP and platform is key. There is also the fact that a lot of these titles are unique ports on PS5 — all of the games feel like the best way to play PSP and PS2 games right now outside of PC emulations.When I look at the top ten, I think it shows the best of what PS Plus Premium offers. It shows a genuine steady improvement in the service since 2022 as more retro platforms from Sony's backlog get ports. With high-quality games and rich IP, 2024 has no doubt been the best year for PS Plus Premium yet!If you like the look of the most popular classic games on PS5 and PS4, we've listed the best PS Plus Premium games for you! So, check those out and let us know what you think of PS Plus Premium in 2024! Is it your cup of tea? Let me know in the comments below, TrueTrophies community.Chart compiled using gameplay data from over 3.1 million active PlayStation accounts (not just TrueTrophies accounts). Chart information is copyright GameInsights. Regarding this data:When an account opens a game, this is registered as a game being played. Accounts can only register a game once per week.Our data is good for suggesting general trends — we represent this using percentages, not numbers.Related stories: List of PS2 games with PS5 trophy support to play in September 2024 Poll: Rate the PS Plus Extra and Premium games for July 2024 Ratchet & Clank Size Matters lands on PS Plus with slick platinum PS Plus Extra, Premium July 2024 games — all 13 titles now available Tomb Raider in Dead by Daylight on PS5 will finally get me to play PlayStation Plus Written by Kes Eylers-StephensonEditor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and Sony news. He writes about PS5 games like LEGO Horizon Adventures, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Kingdom Come Deliverance II, Concord, and Death Stranding 2 using experience from years of PlayStation gaming. He also covers PS Plus news, as well as his favorite games — The Witcher 3, God of War, and The Last of Us — before an evening swim.