Sony has offered PS+ subscribers free games since June 2010 with a program called Instant Game Collection. Every month, Sony gives PS+ members a small selection of games to choose from. All the games are theirs to keep, so long as their subscription is active, and they add the games to their library before the month is over. Since the start of the program, Sony has given away more than 600 different games to PS+ subscribers.
For PlayStation 4 owners, the PS+ service is required to play games online, but the instant game collection was meant to encourage PlayStation 3 owners, who can play online for free, to pay for a subscription, too. PS+ is $60 per year, and the value of the free games certainly covers the price of the membership over the course of 12 months.
The final batch of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita is headlined by "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots," a PlayStation 3 exclusive that remains unplayable on the PlayStation 4 or any other console. The other free PlayStation 3 game is "Divekick," a two-button fighting game that is also playable on PS4. The two free Vita games are "Gunhouse" and "Rogue Aces," both of which are playable on PS4.
PS+ subscribers can download all of these games for free in the PlayStation store starting February 5th. Sony will also offer two free PlayStation 4 games, "Hitman" and "For Honor." The games will remain free until March 8, when Sony plans to offer a new batch of PlayStation 4 games, and discontinue free PS3 and Vita games for good.
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