Predicting the PlayStation Plus ‘free’ games for June 2014

June is an important month for the ‘Instant Game Collection’ feature of the PlayStation Plus service – not only will we see the usual update of the free monthly titles, but we should also see a refresh of the free yearly titles.  Stick it to the Man (PS4), Payday 2 (PS3), Puppeteer (PS3), Everybody’s Gold (Vita) and Murasama Rebirth (Vita) are the monthly games we know will be leaving the IGC list.  XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PS3), LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3) and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (single-player only) (PS3) are the yearly titles that have been available to download for PS Plus subscribers since June 2013 so if you haven’t downloaded them already, do it now!  Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) and Gravity Rush (Vita) have been unchanged since November 2012 so there’s a good chance they could change too.

Of course the last 12 months has seen the introduction of the PS4 to the PlayStation family and it would be logical to assume that we’d see a PS4 title amongst the yearly offerings, most likely at the expense of a PS3 title.  However we simply don’t know for sure as Sony have so far kept quiet on what their plans are.  This uncertainty may remain for a few weeks more as the E3 gaming conference (due to take place 10th-12th June) is surely the perfect venue for Sony to make their big announcement – assuming that the news isn’t inadvertently leaked by the ‘Sony mole’ before then.

Both Microsoft and Sony will no doubt be looking to impress the gaming world and outshine each other, and E3 would also be the perfect place for Sony to respond to criticisms that the PS4 games that have appeared on the Instant Game Collection so far have been underwhelming.  Indie games like Don’t Starve and Stick it to the Man may be fun to play but gamers who’ve upgraded to a PS4 are looking for next-gen games to showcase their next-gen console.

So what could we expect for a PS4 title?  A PS4-exclusive like Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack or Infamous: Second Son?  A ‘big name’ title such as Need for Speed: Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts or Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes?  Or perhaps a familiar family-friendly title like Rayman Legends or Lego Marvel Super Heroes?  I don’t know but I’m going to stick my next out and make my predictions here.

Predictions for the June 2014 update:

PS4 predictions:

Yearly update – Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Monthly update – Knack

PS3 predictions

Yearly update – Injustice: Gods Among Us (full title), Splinter Cell: Blacklist (full title)
Monthly update – PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (full game), The Walking Dead: Season 1 (PSN)

Vita predictions:

Yearly update – Spelunky, Ys: Memories of Celceta
Monthly update – OlliOlli, Surge

In a few weeks we’ll see if I’ve managed to get any right myself.  In the meantime please leave your predictions (no need to sign up) in the comments section at the bottom of the page.