As confirmed by Sony, the “final” set of games coming to PS Now before it merged with PS Plus are Soul Calibur 6, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, and Blasphemous. Even if these are not the most popular games, they’re fairly above average within their respective niches. For example, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is the sixth and final installment in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm series of games which is based on the popular Japanese anime and manga franchise, Naruto. Meanwhile, Soul Calibur 6 is the latest game in the iconic but niche arena fighting game franchise. Finally, if you’re not a fan of arena fighters, Sony threw in a 2D action-platformer, Blasphemous. Sony confirmed in late March that it’s merging PS Now and PS Plus into one. A few weeks later, the console manufacturer said it will start rolling out the revamped PS Plus in late May. If you’re curious to see how current active memberships will work, here’s a quick rundown: If you have an active PS Plus subscription, Sony will move your membership over to the Essential tier at launch. Essential is exactly what PS Plus is today, free monthly games and multiplayer access and all. But, if you have an active PS Now subscription or if you stacked both PS Now and PS Plus, Sony will upgrade your membership to the Premium tier. Also, those with stacked memberships will enjoy access to the Premium tier based on the longest subscription owned. So, if you maintained an active PS Plus membership until 2025, you’ll enjoy Premium tier access until then even if your PS Now subscription will expire in August. As expected, a handful of PlayStation users took advantage of this loophole to extend their PS Plus subscriptions for as long as possible. Sony has since shut down this loophole, so we advise against trying. Speaking of the new PS Plus, Sony’s new subscription service is reportedly drawing criticism from video game developers. In particular, studios aren’t fans of the Premium tier, which requires two-hour trials for games that will be listed on the PlayStation Store. It will be interesting to see what kind of changes Sony will make to accommodate the expected backlash once the retooled PS Plus hits Asian markets in late May and the rest of the world in the weeks after.
