PS Plus Monthly Games: May 2025

May is here, and it is time to discuss the three games coming to all PS Plus members this month. Sony revealed these games earlier this week, and they will be available for PS Plus to download on May 6th 2025.

PS Plus Essential Games: May 2025

• Ark: Survival Ascended (PS5)

• Balatro (PS4 & PS5)

• Warhammer 40,000: Bolton (PS4 & PS5)

Ark: Survival Ascended

Ark: Survival Ascended is a remaster of the 2015 game Ark: Survival Evolved. Released in early access in 2023, Survival Ascended is currently not a finished product, and the full release date of the game is yet to be confirmed by Studio Wildcard, the game’s developer. This early access remake features updated graphics and new creatures and uses Unreal Engine 5’s capabilities. The release of PS Plus is likely to coincide with the release of Survival Ascended’s final map, Fjordur, which is said to come out in October 2025. 

Despite the mixed reception of 2015’s Ark: Survival Evolved, that version is currently the fourth best-selling video game of all time, with over 79 million copies sold, more than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, PUBG, and Red Dead Redemption 2! The game has an enormous fanbase, and Ark: Survival Ascended is coming to all PS Plus members on May 6th 2025.

Balatro

I did not see this one coming! Balatro, one of my favourite games of this decade, needs no introduction. If you are aware of how addictive, replayable, and layered this game is, then you will understand how exciting it is that it will be available to all PS Plus members.

For those unaware, Balatro is a deck-building roguelike where you play poker hands to earn chips. Earn a certain number of chips, and you move to the next round. If you fail, you go back to the very start. The objective sounds simple, but LocalThunk has taken the mechanics of poker and flipped them on its head. Balatro has special Jokers that alter your hands, Tarot cards to manipulate your deck, Planet cards to upgrade your hand and even different decks that change the gameplay. 

Earlier this year, I wrote a review for Balatro, which you can check out here. Trust me, PS Plus members, you will not regret checking out this indie masterpiece when it comes to PS Plus on May 6th 2025.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a first-person shooter that came out in 2023. The game is a single-player adventure set in the Warhammer universe. You control Malum Caedo, a Space Marine travelling through the galaxy, battling Chaos Space Marines and Chaos daemons. The game has a retro, 1990s polygonal visual style, and it is as charming as it sounds. The game pays homage to some of the most influential shooters of the 90s, such as Doom and Quake. 

At the time, Boltgun received decent reviews. The visual style and graphics received the most attention for their charm and immersion. However, the enemy AI was a sticking point. Some reviewers said that the enemy AI was often too easy and did not challenge the player in the way a first-person shooter should.

I am intrigued by Boltgun because it pays nostalgic homage to the history of first-person shooters. PS Plus members will be able to play Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun when it comes to PS Plus on May 6th, 2025.

PS Plus Essential: April 2025

Now that the next wave of PS Plus Essential games is coming in May, it means that last month’s game will soon be unavailable. April’s PS Plus Essential games will no longer be available from May 5th 2025.

For more information about the PS Plus Essential games of April 2025, click the link here.