To celebrate ten years of PlayStation Plus, Sony released some statistics related to the service, and the oft-maligned Sonic Forces is inexplicably popular, to the point of being the second most popular game ever offered as a free bonus to subscribers. Ten years ago, Sony launched their PlayStation Plus initiative, giving out free PlayStation 3 games to subscribers. The service would later extend to PlayStation Vita owners, and then PlayStation 4 users. As of March 2019, only PlayStation 4 games would be offered on PS Plus.
These days, a PlayStation Plus subscription is basically mandatory since online multiplayer functionality is locked behind the paywall. Still, even with PlayStation Now offering a ton of PS3 and PS4 games to users, the appeal of free games with PlayStation Plus is nevertheless as strong as ever. Recent months have seen huge games like Uncharted 4, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and Call of Duty: WWII pop up as free for subscribers, and the PlayStation community rejoiced.
In celebration of ten years of PlayStation Plus, Sony released a tidy infographic showing off some fun facts pertaining to PS Plus. They showed off the five most downloaded PS Plus games, and it included heavy hitters like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, Shadow of the Colossus, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Destiny 2, and Sonic Forces. Yes, Sonic Forces, a title universally acknowledged as nobody's favorite Sonic game. This fact was pointed out by outlet Cultured Vultures.
Sonic Forces released in November 2017, just a few months after the popular throwback title, Sonic Mania. While Sonic Mania is credited with reinvigorating the fading franchise with a tribute to its 2D roots, Sonic Forces was lambasted for being derivative, bland, and uninspired. The 3D title had a novel character creation suite, but it was otherwise easy to dismiss as a lesser version of Sonic Generations, which itself didn't exactly set the world on fire after the initial burst of nostalgia wore off.
So, why is Sonic Forces so popular on PS Plus? The answer may lie with the broad appeal of the character himself. Sonic the Hedgehog holds a special place in the hearts of multiple generations of video game enthusiasts. Those players, who may have slept on recent entries in the series, may have felt compelled to take a chance on Sonic Forces to see if it lives up to their childhood memories with classic Sonic adventures. Additionally, the timing worked in Sonic Forces' favor. The title was released as a PS Plus bonus in March 2020, just a month after the Sonic the Hedgehog movie hit theaters. Finally, March 2020 also marked the official start of the Coronavirus panic in the United States, and PlayStation Plus subscribers may have downloaded Sonic Forces as a precautionary measure in case they ran out of games to play during quarantine. Either way, Sonic Forces is an undisputed success on PlayStation Plus, a fact that pays tribute to the irrepressible popularity of the iconic "blue blur."
Source: Cultured Vultures