PlayStation owners look forward to PlayStation Plus' monthly offerings. The freebies often carry a significant value, easily exceeding the $9.99 price tag of the monthly subscription. As per our earlier report, those with active annual PS Plus subscriptions received nearly $750 worth of games in 2021.
Last year's lineups were even better as Sony started adding one more game consistently, albeit most were limited to PS5 owners. Most PS Plus subscribers were happy so long as they got their money's worth. As it turns out, while it's a "steal" for subscribers, PS Plus isn't so good for developers.
According to Oddworld Inhabitants' studio head Lorne Lanning, agreeing to give away Oddworld: Soulstorm via PS Plus was a "devastating" choice that cost the studio dearly. Lanning explained on the Xbox Expansion Pass podcast that Oddworld Inhabitants lost tens of millions of dollars in sales because of the PS Plus deal for Oddworld: Soulstorm.
Lanning added that the studio agreed to a deal with Sony in exchange for money to make the game for free on PlayStation Plus. At the time, the developers expected Soulstorm to sell 100,000 copies at launch. But, as Lanning reveals, more than 4 million PS Plus subscribers downloaded and got Soulstorm for free.