For years, PlayStation and Xbox have enticed gamers into joining their online services by offering a handful of free games to subscribers every month. PlayStation started these offerings first, since PlayStation Plus was not initially required to play online, and free games were given to subscribers starting in 2010. Xbox Games with Gold followed suit in 2013. While both services have had their ups and downs, PS Plus' free game offerings have been routinely better than Games with Gold, as of late.
Both services frequently feature indie games and other smaller projects, but the real draw - and what is most celebrated by subscribers - is when great AAA games or first-party exclusives are given away. Indie games are likely so abundant because it is easier to convince a small developer to allow its game to be free for a month. The extra advertising, exposure, and monetary incentives from Microsoft or Sony make it an enticing opportunity for smaller companies to offer their work up on Games with Gold or PS Plus. After all, it's pretty obvious why games like the cash cow that is Grand Theft Auto 5 have never been offered on either service.
The recent announcement of Games with Gold's free games for March, however, continues a trend of particularly odd offerings from Xbox. Both services are practically mandatory for console gamers who ever want to play games online, but Sony has recently been offering better incentives to subscribe.
PS Plus Has Been Better Than Games With Gold In The New Generation
Since the new consoles launched last November, Games with Gold has not offered a single game exclusive to the Series X|S. On the other hand, PS Plus has given away two brand-new games, Bugsnax and Destruction AllStars, on their release dates. Neither of these are quite the AAA games subscribers hope for, but they beat Xbox's recent offerings of old and unheard-of games. Although Destruction AllStars and its large cast of characters don't seem to have captured as much attention, PS Plus has had enormous success launching similar, primarily online games in the past, like Rocket League and Fall Guys.
In a generation currently short on new games and heavily reliant on backwards compatibility, PlayStation Plus has offered more AAA titles, as well; Just Cause 4, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Control: Ultimate Edition have all been given away on PS Plus since the PS5 launched, while Series X|S Games with Gold subscribers have only received Gears 5. This generation has so far been defined by a shortage of games and by low PS5 and Xbox Series X|S stock, making online services and free games all that more important. PlayStation Plus and Xbox Games with Gold both have massive subscriber bases that need to be kept happy (or at least complacent), and the PS Plus offerings have recently been doing a much better job.