While August has just begun, we need to wait a bit longer until new games hit each tier of PlayStation Plus, Sony’s video game subscription service. Despite that, it’s actually a good time to catch up on some of the other games that recently joined the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra Game Catalog. Last month’s lineup for the service was particularly great as well, so from PSP games to exhilarating sports games, there are some recently added titles to check out. If you’re looking for something to play this weekend, one of these games is worth a shot.
Did you play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth but get confused when Zack Fair showed up? Then you’ll want to play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion. This is a comprehensive remaster of the PSP game that told the story of Zack Fair’s time as a SOLDIER and how he ultimately sacrificed himself so Cloud could live. On the gameplay front, it’s an action-RPG reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, although there’s a slot machine constantly going off in the background of each battle that gives players bonuses for matching slots. The PS4 and PS5 versions of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion are part of the PS Plus Extra game catalog. It’s also available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
If you’re in the mood for something better suited to quick play sessions than Crisis Core, then you’ll want to check out Steep from Ubisoft. Steep is a fairly straightforward open-world extreme sports game where players can ski, snowboard, paraglide, fly in a wingsuit, and more around some snowy mountaintops from around the world. It’s the closest any game has come to scratching the SSX itch in recent years and offers up the kind of open-world freedom expected from a Ubisoft game. You can have fun playing Steep with your friends too. PS Plus Extra’s game catalog now includes the PS4 version of Steep, and it’s also on PC and Xbox One.
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters got added to PS Plus Premium’s game catalog in July, bringing a solid PSP spinoff of Insomniac’s marquee franchise to home consoles for the first time. Its story follows the titular pair after a vacation they’re on is interrupted after a girl they meet is kidnapped by robots. What results is another sci-fi 3D platforming adventure where players use a wide variety of weird weapons to take down enemies. Size Matters feels a bit more dated and less polished when compared to more recent Ratchet & Clank games, but it now gives PS5 owners another game to play after beating Rift Apart. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is available to purchase on PS4 and PS5 now, but you don’t have to pay for it if you have a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription.
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”
It’s turning into a pretty good time to be a Monster Hunter fan who plays on a phone. Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Outlanders will launch on Android and iOS on October 29, giving the series a new mobile-first game just as Monster Hunter Rise is also preparing to make the jump to smartphones through Netflix.
Outlanders is being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group under license and supervision from Capcom. Unlike Rise, which appears to be the full console and PC game adapted for mobile, Outlanders is a free-to-play survival hunting game made specifically for phones.