It's remarkable that, in the months following the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, their respective subscription services get as much attention. Xbox Game Pass is often hailed as one of the best deals in gaming, while PS Plus itself is no laughing matter.
In fact, the PS Plus value of 2020 blows subscription costs out of the water with a total value of games reaching over $700. This is most notable in how the standard pricing of the service is $9.99/month, while a full year costs about $119.88 at that rate. However, 1-year subscriptions typically cost much less, and that's not taking into account the various deals on PS Plus that surface throughout the year and during the holiday season. Nonetheless, while 2020 absolutely smashed that value, 2021 is already setting itself up with a major lead.
PS Plus Free Games for January 2021: Maneater, GreedFall, Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Those who pay the full monthly price have, thus far in 2021, invested $9.99 plus tax into PS Plus, yet the games available for PS Plus in January 2021 are worth a ton more than that. Looking at the PlayStation Store, Maneater on PS5 is priced at $39.99, GreedFal l is priced at $49.99, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider is still priced at $59.99 (though it is currently discounted to $14.99 until January 20). At full face value, that means players get access to $149.97 worth of games just for $9.99.
Even from a discounted perspective, PS Plus is still a good position heading into 2021. Looking at pre-owned prices at GameStop, Maneater retails at $24.99, GreedFall retails at $13.99, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider is $19.99. In other words, when looking at a reasonably discounted purchase of each of these games, players would spend $58.97, nearly the price of a standard current-gen priced game. Given that only $10 has been paid so far for the year, that is major savings. Even if subscribers have played one or two of these games already, the $10 is still a good price for even one of these games.
Perhaps the best part of PS Plus's value is that it seems to only be going up, while subscription costs remain low and competitive. PS Plus has a good year ahead of itself with 2021, and with PS5 games launching on the service (like Bugsnax did on PS plus in November and how Destruction AllStars will on PS Plus in February), that means individual games are going to be valued more but cost subscribers less. If PS Plus adds a new emphasis to PS5 games later in the year too, then it's possible that PS Plus takes the splash it created in 2020 and makes that wave even bigger.
PS Plus costs $9.99/month at standard pricing.