Sony has unveiled the July PS Plus lineup, and the reaction was about as warm as a broken controller on a hot dashboard. The monthly games are led by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, joined by CrossCode and For the King 2, but many subscribers were expecting something more exciting after a day already packed with awkward PlayStation news.
The three July PlayStation Plus Essential games will be available on PS4 and PS5 from 7 July to 3 August. For subscribers looking for the short version, the lineup is headed by Modern Warfare 3, with CrossCode and For the King 2 filling out the rest of the month.
July PS Plus games
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – PS4, PS5
- CrossCode – PS4
- For the King 2 – PS5
The monthly slate is broad on paper, but it reads like Sony went for variety first and excitement second.
Why subscribers are grumbling
Modern Warfare 3 launched in November 2023 and drew Metacritic scores in the 56 to 61 range, which is hardly the sort of pedigree that makes a monthly giveaway feel premium. CrossCode is the quiet star of the group, with a 92% Steam rating, but it is also nearly eight years old – the kind of game that wins applause from RPG obsessives and shrugs from everyone else.
For the King 2, meanwhile, sits in the middle: a November 2023 release with ”mostly positive” Steam reviews at 71%. That makes the lineup technically respectable, just not especially generous. In practice, Sony seems to be banking on name recognition and genre spread to keep the service looking busy, which is a decent strategy only if users are in a forgiving mood.
June games are still claimable
Anyone who has not yet grabbed June’s selection still has until 6 July to add Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Grounded and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 to their library. That deadline matters because Sony’s monthly cadence is now doing double duty: it is both the current offer and the last chance to salvage something from the previous one.
The bigger question is whether Sony can keep leaning on big franchises without making Essential feel like a clearance rack. July suggests the company is comfortable testing that theory – and subscribers, judging by the comments, are not especially impressed.