Some believe that PlayStation Plus giveaways have become much worse over time. One researcher decided to investigate whether this is actually the case.
Discussions about the quality of game selections offered to PlayStation Plus subscribers can be found online.
The author of the YouTube channel OliveOcelot decided to delve deeper into the topic and collect data on the average game scores on Metacritic.
According to his research, many players have a misconception about PS Plus: the months that users criticized were actually not that bad.
On the graphs compiled by OliveOcelot, several "dips" can be seen. For example, in September 2023 — the giveaway included the Saints Row reboot, Black Desert Traveler Edition, and Generation Zero. The scores for these projects are: 61, 75, 51.
Another "dip" in August 2025. Then, PS Plus subscribers were offered Lies of P (80 on Metacritic), DayZ, and My Hero One's Justice 2 — the latter two have low scores of 31 and 68, respectively, which significantly lowered the average score for the month.
Overall, there were only two PS Plus giveaways with an average score below 70 this year.
OliveOcelot also identified the best giveaway for the period under study (2022 - 2025) — September 2025, when the selection included Psychonauts 2, Stardew Valley, Viewfinder.
