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PlayStation Plus gets one of 2024’s best games in May

A player plays a straight in Balatro.
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Sony just announced the May 2025 lineup for PlayStation Plus, and it’s a doozy. Giant boltgun-wielding space marines, armored dinosaurs, and a card game best described as Poker-turned-roguelike all await this next month starting on May 6. You have until then to redeem the games from April, if you haven’t already done so.

First up is Balatro for PS4 and PS5 players. This game has been the subject of a lot of discussion, especially because it’s a small indie that took home more awards than many AAA games. At the Game Awards, it won Best Debut Indie Game, Best Independent Game, and Best Mobile Game — and for good reason. Balatro is a deckbuilder with a twist; you use a standard deck of playing cards, but some cards have abilities and multipliers that help you on your quest to get the highest score you possibly can.

Ark: Survival Ascended is the next pick, coming solely for PS5 players. Survival Ascended is the remastered version of Ark: Survival Evolved, rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 with much needed quality of life updates. It includes access to all of Ark’s worlds, too, along with split-screen multiplayer for two people, private online multiplayer for up to eight people, and public multiplayer for 70 players per session.

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The third and final pick is Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, a fast-paced shooter that dives into the world of Warhammer 40,000 with the graphical style of a 90s game. It feels like a classic shooter in the best way, with lots of explosions and gore to keep you entertained. The Doom influence is easily seen. The downside is that Boltgun is strictly a single-player experience, even though it’s ripe with potential for a fun, casual multiplayer mode.

All three of these games will be available to download from May 6 until June 2, so don’t miss out.

Patrick Hearn
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…
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