Sony Announced Bad PS Plus News for PS4 Owners

PS Plus Games Will Be Not Available for PS4 Since 2026

PS Plus has some bad news for PS4 gamers. Starting in January 2026, Sony will no longer focus on offering PS4 games as a “key benefit” of the service. This means monthly free games and catalog additions for PS4 console owners will become less frequent or even disappear entirely. It’s a bold move that signals the shift away from older hardware—but it still stings for loyal PS4 players who haven’t made the jump to PS5 yet.

For longtime PlayStation fans, this feels like another chapter in the recent story of PS Plus subscription. When this service launched during the PS3 era, it was all about exclusive discounts and a handful of free monthly games. Then came the successful PS4 era, which brought online multiplayer support to PS Plus benefits — a change that wasn’t exactly popular at first since PS3 let you play online for free. Despite the controversy, PS Plus stuck around with its core formula of giving away free games and access to online gaming until the PS5 era started. That’s when things really shook up.

In 2022, Sony revamped PS Plus with three tiers: Essential, Extra/Deluxe, and Premium. Essential kept the classic vibe, giving subscribers regular monthly freebies. Extra added a massive library of PS4 and PS5 titles, while Premium threw retro classics into the mix. For a while, every PS user seemed happy. But this didn’t last long…

Is PS4 Set for Retirement Too Soon?

Just like the PS3, PSP, and PS Vita faced retirement, the PS4 now faces the era of being a retro system. Sony has stated that they will not eliminate PS4 support, yet they predict that new releases of PS4 games will become scarce starting from January 2026. Because the warning signals appeared during the last years, we approach the fifth year of PS5 availability. Despite the ongoing popularity of the PlayStation 4 millions of users might feel uncertain about this future support announcement.

PS4 owners need to prepare for the drastic changes – some Reddit users already seem disappointed while others welcome this decision from Sony. This news might provide enough reasons to make a decision about the next-gen transition for any PS4 user who was delaying their PS5 purchase.

The upcoming February 2025 update gifts 3 compelling free games to players such as Payday 3, High on Life, and Pac-Man World: Re-Pac. Also, it seems that new exclusive games like the potential sequels to Days Gone or Last of Us series will appear someday only on PS5.

The logical approach outweighs the difficulty of transitioning away from committed PS4 users despite the changes that come along with the PS5 system. New technology advances rapidly and companies must constantly innovate beyond their current state.

If you maintain your PS4 usage, consider this time to think about upgrading to PS5 after the PS4 support period ends. The sun continues to shine on console platforms, and the PlayStation 4 will remain prominent even after its official sunset in January 2026, you just need to be ready to forget about free games offered monthly.

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