on average, i would say that i am happy with 10-12 games per year. at the current msrp of $107CAD for the essential plan, that works out to $9-10 per game average which is decent but not great. with the old msrp of $80CAD, the average would work out to $7-8 per game which i considered much better value.

even if sony can continue to release 10-12 games on essential per year that appeal to me, the value just isn’t there anymore unless i can get a steep discount on the subscription. the past few months of essential have been painful — outside of mafia 2, the last good game for me was dreams back in august. i.e. the games have clearly gotten worse since the price hike which is sad to see.

i am happy to see the poll results being what they are. nearly 50% of respondents are not looking forward to any of the games on offer. this means sony will see the complaints online and will continue to lose subscribers. that will force their hand to do better.

“good” 2023 essential releases included:

Axiom Verge 2
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Mafia: The Definitive Edition
OlliOlli World
Code Vein
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Trek to Yomi
Alan Wake Remastered
Endling – Extinction is Forever
Dreams
The Callisto Protocol
Mafia II: Definitive Edition