What Blue Prince's Success Could Mean for Future PS Plus…

It's halfway through April 2025, and PS Plus has made quite a name for itself with some notable titles, making upgrades to higher tiers and the service in general all the more appealing. One April 2025 PS Plus Extra title, Hogwarts Legacy, has already made the tier more desirable, especially as a sequel to the Harry Potter adventure potentially looms around the corner, and it is one of the best games to be added to the service in recent memory. However, even Hogwarts Legacy has been surpassed by the debut of Dogubomb and Raw Fury's Blue Prince, a new puzzle adventure game with roguelike elements that is currently the highest-rated game of 2025.

Blue Prince is sitting comfortably at a Metacritic score of 92 and an Opencritic score of 89, making it the best game of 2025 so far. Having landed on PS Plus Extra alongside its debut, that ultimately not only makes the service look appetizing to those who aren't subscribed to it, but it could also set a precedent for PS Plus' future — and one that it arguably needs. After missing the mark in many ways over the last year, PS Plus needed a success like Blue Prince, but it will need to capitalize on that success and use it as a formula for how to move forward if it hopes to repeat it.

Blue Prince Review

Blue Prince is a genius roguelike puzzle game full of exciting mysteries to solve and rewarding challenges to overcome.

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By Dalton Cooper

Blue Prince's Success Could Define PS Plus' Future

Blue Prince’s Critical Success Might Force Sony to Change Its PS Plus Headliner Approach

While PS Plus subscribers pay for the service to have access to every game it offers, the star of the show is supposed to be each month's headliner. Traditionally, these headliners are more well-known AAA games, although being well-known doesn't always equate to being well-liked. Now, given Blue Prince's critical success, the narrative moving forward might change for PS Plus, simply because Blue Prince is something those AAA headliners are not and will never be — an indie game.

After missing the mark in many ways over the last year, PS Plus needed a success like Blue Prince, but it will need to capitalize on that success and use it as a formula for how to move forward if it hopes to repeat it.

Despite being an indie game with no franchise name or major marketing machine behind it, Blue Prince has managed to steal the spotlight with universal acclaim. As such, it could push Sony to reconsider how it defines a headliner in its PS Plus service, especially since many of its more recent AAA headliners (apart from February 2025's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, perhaps) haven't been the highest-rated or most-appreciated titles by those subscribed to the service. If critical reception and innovation are ever valued as much as name and brand recognition, future PS Plus lineups might start prioritizing hidden indie gems like Blue Prince instead of blockbuster AAA games.

Sony’s Growing Investment in Day-One Indie Releases Might Be the Service’s Smartest Move Yet

Something else that sets Blue Prince apart on PS Plus is the fact that it didn't just find success there — it actually launched there. Maybe Blue Prince is more of a test case as far as that goes, but it paid off regardless, arguably making it one of the best decisions Sony has made in the last year for PS Plus. In the end, Blue Prince could pave the way for more indie developers to choose PS Plus as a launchpad for their games, which would not only increase the viability of the service but also potentially give those developers an easy road to the spotlight.

Blue Prince may have entered PS Plus quietly, but it has ended up being quite a bit louder than anyone likely expected. For a service that has spent the past year trying to find its rhythm, this feels like an opportunity for a PS Plus reset. If Sony leans into what made Blue Prince work, it could finally shift the perception of what PS Plus is supposed to offer. One could argue that PS Plus isn't supposed to be just backlog catch-ups or half-year-old AAA games, but compelling indie experiences players may not have discovered otherwise. Blue Prince is a testament to that.

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