PlayStation Plus adds Suicide Squad and Other Free Games for January 2025
To kick off the brand new year, Sony announced that PlayStation Plus subscribers will be receiving three new free games for the month of January. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe will all be available for PlayStation Plus subscribers to download and play starting on January 7th. The new slate of games will be replacing the December titles: It Takes Two, Aliens: Dark Descent, and Temtem.
PlayStation Plus is Sony’s online service, which comes in three tiers. Essential tier members have access to online multiplayer, discounts, and the aforementioned free monthly games. Extra tier members get all of the essential tier benefits, plus a downloadable catalog of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games. Premium tier members receive all of the previous benefits and a collection of classic PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 1, and PlayStation Portable games. All three of the tiers receive access to the monthly free games.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the most controversial of the new titles as it was released less than a year ago and was widely regarded as a critical and commercial flop. Set in the same universe as Batman: Arkham Knight, the action-adventure game follows the notorious DC supervillains Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark as they attempt to save Metropolis from Brainiac. In order to do so, they must kill brainwashed Justice League members and restore peace to the world. Since the game’s release, Rocksteady has added several new playable characters, including the Joker, Mrs. Freeze, Lawless, and Deathstroke. Although it has had several updates and new content since its launch, the game will not be supported with any new content past the month of January according to Rocksteady.
While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was January’s headline due to its lack of new content, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe should be met with a bit more enthusiasm. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered is a remake of the 2010 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit which was released for PlayStation 3. The remaster was released in 2020 and features updated graphics, all of the downloadable content, and cross-platform play. Both the original and remake were generally well-received by critics.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is also a remake that should add some value to this month’s PlayStation Plus titles. It’s a strange walking simulator that explores the relationship between players and the games they play. With plenty of meta humor, narrative twists and turns, and unique endings, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe may be the richest experience of the three January titles, even if it lacks replayability.
Following its PlayStation 30th year anniversary celebration in December, Sony is continuing to offer new content to PlayStation Plus subscribers. While the January lineup isn’t the most exciting in the world, those who enjoy racing games, action-adventures, or bizarre narrative experiences should at least have something new to try out as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe become available on January 7th.