PlayStation Plus collects a wide variety of perks into one subscription service, though which ones you get depends on your chosen tier.
Like many I’m subscribed to PlayStation Plus Extra, a middle of the road tier that gives you online access and an extensive library of games at no additional cost.
For the basic, run-of-the-mill package though you’ll want PlayStation Plus Essential as that’s for those who only care about being able to play online, but you also get a few free games each month as an added bonus.
This weekend though you won’t even need PlayStation Plus Essential as PlayStation is giving gamers the chance to jump online without having a valid membership to its subscription service, but there is a slight catch we’ll get to later.
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The company announced that it’ll be living the restriction and encourages its players to dive into the best online multiplayer games the platform has to offer, naming Battlefield 6 and Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 as examples.
They’re quite funny examples as Black Ops 7 was heavily slated at launch due to its laughable singleplayer campaign, though I suppose that wouldn’t matter if you just wanted to play online. I know which of the two first-person shooters I’d want to play, just saying.

Don’t be mistaken though this applies for all online multiplayer games found on PlayStation, except of course titles like Fortnite and Apex: Legends which don’t require any online memberships to begin with.
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The online restriction will be lifted from 6 December and will end on 7 December, giving you around a 24 hour window to hop online if you couldn’t do so before.
There is a Catch
While it’s very nice of PlayStation to let all of its players jump online there is a slight catch regarding the games you’ll be playing, and it highlights one of the most frustrating elements of modern gaming.
The installation sizes for some of these games are enormous, and I’d be surprised if 50% of players had the internet speeds required to download them fast enough to take advantage of this free-play weekend.
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Black Ops 7 for example is around 300GB, which is an insane file size and you’ll probably have to delete some games from your storage to fit it in, all for just a few hours of play before you’re kicked offline.
I can appreciate the offer but I think in future it should allow for at least two days of online play, just to give everyone a chance of reaping the benefit.
Topics: PlayStation, Playstation Plus, PlayStation 5