Cliff Notes – One of the best games of 2024 is free on PS Plus in May

Balatro’s Success: The indie title Balatro, a poker-themed roguelike deck builder, has sold over 5 million copies and received a Game of the Year nomination.
PS Plus Availability: Starting May 6, Balatro will be free for PlayStation Plus subscribers, available on both PS5 and PS4.
Additional Titles: The May line-up also includes Ark: Survival Ascended and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, offering a mix of genres for players.

One of the best games of 2024 is free on PS Plus in May

Balatro is no joke (Playstack)

Sony has announced the PS Plus line-up for May, and fans of dinosaurs, Warhammer, and deck builders will be very pleased.

While it’s usually possible to predict what the biggest games of the year will be at the AAA level, the best thing about indie titles is they can come out of nowhere and steal the conversation entirely.

That was definitely the case for Balatro, a poker-themed roguelike deck builder created by solo developer LocalThunk, which went onto sell over 5 million copies and secure a Game Of The Year nomination at The Game Awards.

If you haven’t yet been ensnared by its addictive qualities, Balatro will be available as one of the free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers in May.

The game will be available to both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 owners from Tuesday, May 6 for anyone who is subscribed to the PlayStation Plus essential tier. While it’s perhaps better suited to handheld devices like the Nintendo Switch and mobiles, it’s worth taking for a spin on Sony’s console if you haven’t yet tried it – especially if you have a PlayStation Portal.

Other games about to debut include Ark: Survival Ascended, a revamped version of 2017 dinosaur survival sim, Ark: Survival Evolved, in Unreal Engine 5. The game launched in early access in 2023 to a mixed reception, and based on Steam reviews it hasn’t changed much since, but it supports up to 70 players online if you fancy some chaos.

The final game on the May line-up is Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, a retro first person shooter which is a fascinating curiosity – even if it does get repetitive after a while.

All of these games will be available to claim from May 6 to June 2, 2025. It’s worth noting you can just add them to your library during this time and download them later, as long as you have a PlayStation Plus subscription.

You still have until May 5 to pick up this month’s games, which includes RoboCop: Rogue City, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory.

It’s a mixed bag in May (Sony Interactive Entertainment)