PlayStation Australia has announced a PlayStation Plus free weekend, during which every PS4 and PS5 owner will be able to play online even if they don’t have a paid subscription. The free online multiplayer weekend starts at 12:01am on Saturday, December 18 and runs until 11:59pm on Sunday, December 19 (AEDT).
Normally, players without a PlayStation Plus membership can’t play online, barring a few titles and free-to-play games. The paid subscription lets you play multiplayer titles like Fortnite, Destiny 2 and Apex Legends. It also lets you download a selection of free games every month — the December offering includes Godfall: Challenger Edition, Lego DC Super-Villains and soulslike Mortal Shell.
It also means you can play online co-op games with friends. One of the most exciting uses for this feature is Deathloop‘s unusual multiplayer mode, where players can invade another person’s game as the main antagonist, Julianna. As Julianna, your mission is to hunt down the main player and generally cause trouble for them. If you’re playing offline, without PlayStation Plus, Julianna can still invade your game but she’s controlled by the computer’s AI, and it’s much less exciting to fight back against her.
The PlayStation Plus free weekend is a great way to get a taste of the console’s online offering if you’ve never paid for the subscription before, or if your subscription has lapsed. A 12-month PlayStation Plus subscription is currently on sale for 50 per cent off ($39.95), if you don’t want to go back to the single-player life after the weekend.
A subscription is also a great gift idea if you’re still finishing up your Christmas shopping. We’ve put together a Christmas gift guide with some of the best gifts for gamers, including spare controllers, a Breath of the Wild jigsaw puzzle and a Far Cry 6 collector’s statue. You’re bound to find something here for the gamer in your life, no matter what console they play on or what games they play.
