There are exciting things in store for the gaming industry. Next year may be when fans finally start to learn about the next generation of console hardware and the newest line of software being built with these machines in mind. It may be when highly anticipated titles like The Last of Us Part 2 and Death Stranding make their debut on the market. Whatever it has in store for 2019, Sony will try its best to start the year off right. What better way to do this than through PS Plus‘ free games this January? The following are predictions of what the company may offer to build hype for the upcoming year.
January PS Plus Predictions: The Big Ones
It seemed like it was only yesterday that Techland released the critically acclaimed Dying Light, yet this parkour survival horror title launched four years ago in January 2015. With a sequel set to debut sometime soon, the game’s presence on PS Plus may help it stand out alongside a slew of other gigantic titles due later in the year. The game has two DLC packages, Cuisine and Cargo and The Bozak Horde, and an expansion called The Following for newcomers to purchase, so there’s some financial incentive for the developer too.
Perhaps the biggest title to come out this January is Kingdom Hearts 3, so Square Enix may want to offer Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX or Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far for PS Plus subscribers so that they can catch up with the series’ story. Of course, titles that the publisher released last year, including Lost Sphear and Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, could help the company dominate the month’s conversation and create positive word of mouth.
Capcom also has a big month ahead with the release of Resident Evil 2 Remake. The company may want to offer Resident Evil Revelations 2 or Resident Evil 0 Remaster on Sony’s roster of games this January to drum up a similar goodwill among fans and get them excited for this latest entry in the franchise.
The Order: 1886, Killzone: Shadow Fall, and other PlayStation 4 exclusive titles like Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Uncharted 4, and Street Fighter V can always pop up, especially as a means to build up to a year of potentially awesome console exclusives.
January PS Plus Predictions: The Indies
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The Witness launched nearly three years ago in January 2016, which makes now a good time for it to resurface on Sony’s service. For those unfamiliar with this indie title from Jonathan Blow (the mind behind Braid), players are tasked with solving puzzles based on grids that are displayed around a mysterious island. There’s little else to say without giving away what this moving experience has in store for fans seeking out a cerebral adventure.
Amplitude released during the same month and year as The Witness and may also be included in Sony’s roster of PS Plus titles for January. This remake of the PlayStation 2 game of the same name has fans glide a blaster ship across lines of music and shoot gems in time with the melodies playing onscreen. It helped put developer Harmonix on the map back in 2003 and is worthy of a playthrough today if you used to be a fan of Rock Band or Guitar Hero.
January’s PS Plus offerings may be daring enough to include popular indie titles from 2018, like Fe, The Swords of Ditto, or Celeste, as a nice way to recognize the talent of smaller developers and look forward to what else the community has in store. Other highly regarded indie titles of the generation like Enter the Gungeon, Owlboy, A Hat in Time, and Stardew Valley would also be great to include for similar reasons.
As evidenced above, there are plenty of quality games that Sony can offer on its service this January and beyond. With the current console generation approaching six years old, this may be the perfect opportunity to send off the PlayStation 4 with a bang before software for the company’s new machine enters each monthly catalog. There’s certainly no shortage of popular titles to choose from now, and both customers and developers benefit from being on the service thanks to DLC. We’ll ultimately have to wait and see what exactly is in store for us, though 2019 does hold a lot of promise.
