PlayStation Plus subscribers logging in on April 21st found a familiar tension: the service’s latest lineup offered both recognizable anchors and curious left-field picks, yet left many feeling underwhelmed despite the variety.
According to a Push Square poll of nearly 750 users conducted over the weekend, the largest bloc described the April selection as “just okay,” outpacing the 22% who said they were “mostly happy” and the 20% who called it a “disappointing” lineup. The poll arrived as Sony rolled out the full slate of additions, which went live at the start of the day.
Engadget’s breakdown confirmed the headline acts: The Crew Motorfest, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, and Football Manager 26 Console headline the month’s offerings, joined by Warriors: Abyss, Squirrel with a Gun, The Casting of Frank Stone, and Monster Train. Wild Arms 4 appears exclusively for Premium tier subscribers, a detail that creates a tiered access point within the service itself.
Platform availability splits the catalog unevenly. The Crew Motorfest, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, Warriors: Abyss, and Wild Arms 4 will run on both PS4 and PS5. The remaining titles — Football Manager 26 Console, Squirrel with a Gun, The Casting of Frank Stone, and Monster Train — are PS5-only. For Horizon, PS4 recipients receive the Complete Edition rather than the PS5-specific remaster, a distinction that matters for those tracking performance or visual fidelity.
The deeper cuts reveal a service attempting to balance breadth with discovery. Warriors: Abyss positions itself as a hectic hack-and-slash roguelite from Koei Tecmo, leaning into fast-paced, repeatable runs. Squirrel with a Gun, by contrast, arrives from a two-person indie team as a self-aware third-person shooter where firearms meet rodent antics. Monster Train, a demonic deckbuilder from Shiny Shoe and Good Shepherd Entertainment, carries a cult following into the fold. Wild Arms 4 represents a reach into the PS2 era, courtesy of Media.Vision, offering a nostalgic pull for those who remember the early 2000s JRPG scene.
Perhaps the most narratively loaded entry is The Casting of Frank Stone. Developed by Supermassive Games — known for Until Dawn and The Quarry — it crosses over with Dead by Daylight, the asymmetric horror multiplayer title. For subscribers who may have overlooked it amid crowded backlogs, its inclusion functions as a forced rediscovery, a nudge toward a title that blends Supermassive’s cinematic tension with Dead by Daylight’s multiplayer DNA.
Engadget’s characterization of the month as “a little bit spooky, a tad sporty and extra squirrelly” captures the tonal whiplash: from the simulated realism of Football Manager to the campy horror of Frank Stone, and the absurdist charm of a gun-wielding squirrel. Yet the Push Square data suggests this variety isn’t translating into enthusiasm; the “just okay” plurality indicates a perception of adequacy rather than excitement.
That ambivalence may reflect broader pressures on subscription services. As libraries grow, the challenge shifts from mere access to curation and perception — ensuring subscribers feel they’re getting both value and surprise. The April drop, while technically robust, appears to have landed in a zone where familiarity and novelty cancel each other out for a significant portion of the audience.
Why did some Horizon players acquire a different version?
PS4 recipients receive Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition rather than the PS5 remaster due to platform-specific licensing and performance considerations, ensuring compatibility across older hardware.
What makes Wild Arms 4 exclusive to Premium?
Sony reserves certain legacy or niche titles for the higher tier to differentiate Premium from Extra, using deep-cut classics as incentive for the upgrade.