Sony just lined up the PlayStation Plus monthly games for January, with Need for Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and Core Keeper in it. This announcement is not the best one for sure, as the first thing many gamers did was pour some scathing runts down their throats. They complained a lot about why such selection was made, deeming it boring and nonsensical. Will this storm pass? The Essential tier of PlayStation Plus is already being cited as being a little too much incongruous.
So, PlayStation announced their first line-up of 2026? Absolute online shambles. Spoiler alert: Gusty. The @PlayStation tweet presented the first three games – Need for Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and Core Keeper. What were the replies? There was just a ton of “do better” and “trash.” This really is brutal watching, but, big time revelation of what players are now hoping for with their subscriptions.
It would only be fair to consider the games one by one. First is Need for Speed Unbound, an arcade racer where the latest yet already causes doubts among players. Undoubtedly one of the players states, “Finally gonna try out NFS Unbound.” This one, of course, is nice! But others do not lack much about venting their displeasure. Rubber banding AI is what set off one gamer Hayden Lamon; they hopped from two races and decided to uninstall. “You accidentally hit a traffic cone which will drop your mph by 1 and you’ve basically lost the race,” she said. Ouch! Curtis Liller, another gamer, said that Unbound was “in the lineup about 3 months ago” (which seems a bit of exaggeration; however, he is not so far from the truth) and described the comic book type graphics as “trash.” It really does not look like this one is off to a good start.
Next up should be a legendary one. Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. This game is a remaster of the old Wii game, and the comments suggest a lot of good vibes running through the entire thread. Treestarhunter was obviously happy there and said they would play it because “I want it back on the Wii.” Michael Sinclair, in contrast, said I already installed it on the PS4. There seems to be an apparent lack of other niceties that I might say speaks to their anticipation for. One Disney platformer remaster is just not anything close to the big release they were waiting for to begin the year with high-note-sincerely.
Core Keeper finds itself to be something unique – a multiplayer mining sandbox. One user, wmedo59, was determined to stand by the statement that it’s “clearly underrated” and fun to in two in online co-op with new content coming. But let’s just be impartial here, whenever looking at what the typical PS Plus subscriber was scrolling through in the announcement: a digging-game-but-pixel-art thing is not the thing that would have gotten them super-thrilled. It’s a kind of “um, cool, I guess” for them.
But that is not the important piece of the story at all. The strongest worded reply showcases their already overwhelming disappointment here. “God awful. You have to do better,” AnyTopMan said. “Wow, I don’t expect anything and I’m still disappointed,” said Mark. “Trash month, horrible way to start the year,” lemisszx declared. The term “garbage” is often used. There’s also a Dimiboy2410 who says “there hasn’t been a good ps plus monthly game catalogue since fc24 was in it two years ago,”. WHOA! Was FIFA 24 really two years ago? Time is a flat circle, dude.
Because these random three games are not actually the issue here. Their complaints are slowly seeping in and lots of why stuff. Why isn’t Helldivers 2 on PS Plus Extra already? Why are Premium services so expensive? Are Xbox Game Pass comparisons now considered the new normal? Another user, Natelr79 posted “Nothing special compared to Xbox.” For many, this January line-up will just draw enough last straws on the issue of the service not offering enough value.
The same goes for any random person who has bought any one of these games. Amaris110_ says “I literally got NFSU for Christmas.” Totally sucks, huh? You would have already bought the game only for it to be come free a few short weeks later. Classic gaming oof moment.
What is all this about? Plainly speaking, the bar of PlayStation Plus Essential membership now stands virtually sky-high. Such resolute blasts the past many more for the gaming fans: years filled with thoroughly underrated hits and the very real threat of competition from rival services.
