PlayStation Plus used to be a subscription service where you got a few free games each month and access to other titles’ online features. Needing to come up with something a bit more like Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation shook things up in 2022 and introduced a tiered PS Plus system. Now there are three options to choose from: Essential, Extra, and Premium. Each tier costs more than the last, but paying more gets you access to more features and a larger library of games.

Essential is the same as the old PS Plus. The cheapest option, it lets you play online and gets you a handful of free games each month. Extra gets you a lot more, like a library of PS4 and PS5 games you can download and play for the price of your subscription. Last but not least, there’s Premium, which includes everything you get with Extra, plus access to PlayStation’s classics library, as well as demos for various new games. New games are added to each tier each month. Below you’ll find what you’ll get in August regardless of the tier you’re subscribed to, as well as links to upgrade your subscription or sign up if you don’t currently have PS Plus.

PS Plus Essential

The cheapest tier of PS Plus is Essential, which is essentially what Plus was before its 2022 overhaul. The tier you need to play the most games online, and also the one that gets you a handful of free games each month. Not just games you can play for a month and then be replaced by others four weeks later, but games you can download and keep for as long as you have a PS Plus subscription. When your subscription expires, the games you downloaded for free will be waiting for you when you sign up again.

Essential deals usually come in groups of three, and August’s selection is no exception. The biggest of the three games that Essential subscribers can get and keep for free this month is Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Skywalker Saga is the most complete Lego Star Wars game yet, letting you play through all nine main films in a Lego galaxy filled with minifigures. It’s the perfect build-up to the release of Star Wars Outlaws on August 30th.

Close behind in terms of how popular these picks are is Five Nights At Freddy’s Security Breach. While there isn’t a new game coming anytime soon, it’s still exciting that the latest game in the series is free on PS Plus for a month starting August 6. Completing the three games is a whole other game – Ender Lillie’s Quietus Of The Knights. It might not have a big IP, but that doesn’t mean you should miss out. A 2D fantasy RPG that’s absolutely worth your time if you’re into that sort of thing.

If you’re subscribed to PS Plus Extra, you’ll get access to an entire library of PS4 and PS5 games. Like Xbox Game Pass, Extra gets new titles every month, and like the Xbox equivalent, some games will disappear. Speaking of Game Pass, while I’m sure PlayStation has been planning its Plus additions months in advance, the latest announcement really feels like a response to the backlash against the Xbox service’s price hike next month.

The Plus Extra offering for August is perhaps the most extensive we’ve seen yet. Top-tier game The Witcher 3: Hild Hunt alone would be enough to tide subscribers over. It’s Game of the Year winner and widely regarded as one of the best games of all time. It’s joined by Cult Of The Lamb, a very different game but one that will also eat up a lot of your time if you let it, and the criminally underrated Wild Hearts will also be joining the service on August 20.

The biggest winners this month are Sword Art Online fans with PS Plus subscriptions. Four games in the series are all coming out on the same day, giving you the chance to either replay them or dive into a series you’ve had your eye on for a while. Sword Art Online fans have more to look forward to this month on PS Plus, but more on that in a moment.

In addition to PS Plus’ big August, PlayStation has also confirmed that the highly anticipated The Plucky Squire will be available on Extra and Premium on day one when it launches on September 17, 2024.

PS Plus Premium

If you’re subscribed to Premium, you get everything from the Extra Library with the bonus of a Premium library. Previously, it was a place for PlayStation to slowly start making its back catalog available for play on modern platforms. The classics continue to arrive this August along with the PlayStation VR2 offerings.

PlayStation’s main goal right now when it comes to Premium is to add the most popular dormant series to the service. It’s already done that with Sly Cooper and Ratchet & Clank, and now it’s TimeSplitters’ turn. The first two TimeSplitters games will be playable on PS Plus Premium starting August 20, along with Sword Art Online: Lost Song. I told you there was more good news for Sword Art Online fans.

As for PS VR2, next up on Premium is Vacation Simulator. The developers of Job Simulator, which was added last month, say it’s time for the robots to take a well-deserved break, which you can enjoy through their eyes.

You no longer need a PS5 to use the PS VR2. The headset is now compatible with Steam VR games on PC. However, you will need to buy a $60 adapter and not all of the PS VR2’s features will work.

Leave PS Plus

As always, some games have to leave PS Plus to make way for the new ones. August’s departures have yet to be confirmed, but July saw a few titles disappear, with Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands being the most notable of these. It’s the latest installment in the Borderlands series, and it seems a little odd that the game is leaving the service just as the Borderlands movie is about to hit theaters. This and five other games left PS Plus on July 16.