PlayStation gamers told they're sitting on hundreds of free downloads, no PS Plus needed

One of the benefits of being a gamer during the fifth generation console was the joy of playing a demo disc which featured a variety of upcoming titles to sample. It was also a great way to play games if you were on a strict budget.

The demo disc did stick around for a generation or two longer, but as we moved into the digital age, demos became few and far between. Demos were quite prominent on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 digital stores, but nowadays publishers seemingly prefer you to cough up the cash without sampling a game, which is their right.

Check out the Alisa Developers Cut trailer below!

As for PC gamers, the Steam and Epic Games stores are vibrant places where we can try before we buy. Don't get me wrong, playable demos still exist on Xbox and PlayStation digital stores but nowhere near the extent of what they once were. Subscribers to PS Plus can play extensive trials which will earn you trophies and data carries over into a full purchase, however, those trials are locked behind a paywall. But, is that about to change? Reddit users certainly seem to think so.

“Demos appear to be making a comeback! Check out the 15 pages of demos on the PS Store,” declared Redditor to fellow members on the thread. “Just last night I tried Unicorn Overlord, the new Syberia and Contra games, The Land Beneath Us, The Inquisitor, Outcast: A New Beginning and Alisa. Stellar Blade will be getting a demo soon as well.”

“People often cite a bit of research from years ago that demos lessen sales of games due to customers either not making a blind purchase or getting their fill of playing a game after two or three hours,” they continued. “However, nowadays the fact that there are so many games released that providing a good demo will whet your appetite and draw in players who wouldn't have been interested otherwise.”

“This is something Square Enix doesn't get credit for enough, when Final Fantasy XVI came out last year, I took a look at the demo. In the 18 months leading up to FFXVI, Square Enix released 23 games and 14 of them had demos. The ones that didn't were sequels to games or remakes/remasters,” explained C-Star.

“Demos have become more appreciated, and people seem to think that a game having a demo shows that the devs have confidence in the product,” said Raptor_234. “Demos work well for games like Unicorn Overlord, where people are unlikely to blind buy as it’s really hard to tell what the game is like from trailers alone,” replied comfortableblanket.

While the demo disc is long dead, hopefully much like the Steam, Epic Games and Nintendo Switch stores, console gamers can benefit from the ever-increasing rise of playable demos because it does show confidence in a developer, and as a consumer, it decreases the chances of us wasting our hard-earned money.