Sony decided to skip announcing its big PS Plus January 2020 reveal on December 25 and looks set to share the news on an alternative date.
If they are planning to keep the announcement a week apart from the launch of the new PS4 free games, that will mean the news being shared around January 1.
It’s a longer wait than PlayStation fans are used to, and it also means that the current games for December will be available to download until January 6, 2020.
Titanfall 2 and Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame will be available until January 6 and will be followed by the release of a new wave of content.
And it follows some interesting fact being shared about the PS Plus subscription service during 2019.
According to Polygon, 32 games were made available to fans during the past 12 months, worth a combined retail price (at the time of the offer) of $894.68.
Interestingly, the grand worth of the combined software was less than during 2018 by around $614.06.
The problem with comparing the two years is that Sony decided to remove the free PS Vita and PS3 games during 2019.
And this led to two things happening; the lowering of the cash value for PlayStation Plus and a raising of the average review score average.
The games made available on the older systems boosted the cash value of the subscription service but didn’t do as much in terms of including well-reviewed titles.
But it leaves Sony with a dilemma as the service technically offered less value for money in 2019 because of the change.
So the real question will be if the games offered during 2019 made up for that shortfall?
The quality of the free PS4 games certainly looks strong, with titles like Nioh and Detroit: Become Human offering a mixed selection.
But gamers may still feel like they are losing out on something following that drop in cash value from 2018, and the loss of those extra titles not being replaced by something else.
And it will be up to Sony to find a way to make up for that in 2020, or continue to offer AAA games each month.
Fans have been sharing their own opinions and there seems to be a real divide regarding the free games offered each month.
One gamer writes: “A lot of good games this year, though sadly for me I owned the majority of them.
“Sniper Elite is a game I never would have tried and is actually a pretty decent multiplayer game.
“Also was nice to get a couple more recent offerings like Darksiders 3 and MLB 19, since most games tend to be older.
“I hadn’t picked up those games yet, where the older games I usually buy in a sale before they head to the free offerings.
“What Remains of Edith Finch is an absolute gem, Outlast 2 was very solid (even if I preferred the first), Titanfall 2 is great, and the PS3 had a nice sendoff. Overall can’t complain.”
Another adds: “By and large, for me at least, the answer is “No.” Most of the games I never would have bought on my own and, of the handful I did choose to download, I haven’t fired a single one up so far.
“I chose not to get an Xbox One this generation because the exclusives are simply not compelling, but at least they get good games each month.”
It highlights just how subjective offering free games each month is for Sony and how it will likely stay in 2020 and beyond.