PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers’ free games for September 2023 are Saints Row, Black Desert: Traveler Edition, and Generation Zero, Sony announced on Wednesday. Players may download the trio of PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 games beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Saints Row is Volition’s 2022 reboot of the franchise. Set in the new locale of Santo Ileso, Saints Row follows a new group of disaffected young career criminals who take over the city from its existing power structures, largely by killing lots of people or performing Jackass-style sabotage activities. “If you were a fan of Saints Row 2 but found the later entries in the series to be a little too aggressively bonkers, you should give the new Saints Row a try,” we said in our review of the game. “It’s still got that comedic series edge, but it doesn’t break the knob off.” Saints Row will be available to download for PS4 and PS5.
Black Desert: Traveler Edition is Pearl Abyss’ fantasy MMORPG that offers action-based combat, fishing, farming, and PvP siege events — and one of the most extensive character creators in the genre. Black Desert is free-to-play, and the Traveler Edition offers numerous in-game items and perks. Black Desert: Traveler Edition is available for PS4.
Generation Zero is Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios’ first-person shooter set in an alternate-universe 1980s Sweden. Players team up and battle robot invaders while trying to survive in the wilderness and discover what lead to the mechanized invasion. Generation Zero was released on PS5 in 2019.
PlayStation Plus subscribers can still pick up August’s PlayStation Plus Essential games —Dreams, Death’s Door, and PGA Tour 2K23 — until Sept. 4.
PlayStation Plus Essential is the base tier of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s subscription service that offers online multiplayer access, a monthly assortment of free PS4 and PS5 games, cloud storage, and discounts on PlayStation Store purchases. PlayStation Plus Essential costs $59.99 annually, $24.99 for a three-month subscription, or $9.99 monthly.
However, PlayStation Plus subscription prices are going up next week, Sony announced Wednesday. The company is raising prices for all tiers of PS Plus 12-month subscriptions starting in September. A 12-month Essential subscription will jump from $59.99 to $79.99, with Extra- and Premium-tier 12-month subscriptions getting price hikes of $35 and $40, respectively.