That's how Battle Engine Aquila got added.

Exactly how do new retro titles get selected for PS Plus Premium? It’s a question we’ve been pondering for a while, as the rollout has been mixed since the service started a few years ago.

While we’ve seen obvious first-party titles like Sly Cooper and Ape Escape added to the service, there’s so many all-time classics missing – especially when you consider Sony’s emulator now spans PS1, PS2, and PSP.

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Rootin' tootin'.

Call of Juarez probably isn’t the first franchise that springs to mind when you think of first-person shooters, but this author has fond memories of Techland’s gunslingin’ series.

The 2009 sequel Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood was a truly underrated Western escapade on the PS3, and its smaller scale 2013 reboot Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was even better. (We don’t talk about the modern day spin-off Call of Juarez: The Cartel, although even that wasn’t as bad as its legacy would lead you to believe.)

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Just a Fantasy.

Widely regarded to be one of the absolute best games in the series — and perhaps one of the greatest RPGs ever made — Final Fantasy 9 celebrates its 25th Anniversary today (the 7th July).

Back in 2000, the PS1 title was something of a throwback to the older, more traditional fantasy stylings of the franchise. After Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8, both of which featured more technologically advanced settings, 9 was a much more whimsical adventure.

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"I'd buy that for a dollar".

If you’ve already played RoboCop: Rogue City – and, honestly, you should have done – then you’ll have a good idea of what to expect from standalone expansion, Unfinished Business.

Due out on 17th July, which is little over a week away, the game’s promising more of Teyon’s hyper-violent first-person action.

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Manual labour.

The Trophy list for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 has popped up online, and upon inspection, it looks like it won't be quite as tough as the previous game's list.

Don't get us wrong, the game's Platinum gong will still be pretty hard to obtain, but some of the more grindy Trophies in THPS 1 + 2 aren't present, so it shouldn't cause quite so many headaches.

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In the aftermath of massive layoffs.

Microsoft laid off over 9,000 employees this week, with Xbox hit particularly hard. Various games were cancelled, one studio was closed, and too many now find themselves out of work.

In the aftermath of the chaos, people have been looking for answers. In one report by the Seattle Times, it’s claimed that the trillion dollar tech giant is looking to free up capital so it can increase its spending on AI.

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Da ba dee.

For those of you still playing Infinity Nikki, a gacha platformer which was largely beloved upon release, you’ll know it’s been going through a difficult time.

To cut a long story short, in a milestone update recently, the developer meddled with the gacha system, inexplicably retconned the story, and basically broke the whole game.

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Tony Hawk! College Football! More!

We're thick in the slow summer season now, so don't expect a whole lot of new releases to keep your PS5 company.

There are a couple of major standouts, though: EA Sports College Football 26 for all you football fans, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 for everyone else.

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We go again.

It's been an eventful week in the video game industry, so we could all probably do with a bit of a breather, couldn't we? Here's what we're playing.

Jamie O'Neill

Since chatting with @playstation1995 about SEGA's classic beat-'em-ups in last weekend's WAYP, I've been hankering for Lizardcube's artwork to depict some Streets of Rage 4 fisticuffs.

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Teaser trailer released.

We’ve known for a little while that a new Cyberpunk 2077 anime is in the works, but now we have more information: it’ll be a sequel to the outstanding Cyberpunk: Edgerunners – and yes, Japanese animation house Studio Trigger is once again at the helm.

“Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is in production,” an announcement on X (or Twitter) reveals. “It presents a new standalone 10-episode story from the world of Cyberpunk 2077 – a raw chronicle of redemption and revenge. When the world is blinded by spectacle, what extremes do you have to go to make your story matter?”

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Decide Push Square's GOTM.

June marked what was probably the quietest month of the year so far in terms of new releases. Outside of the obvious event that was Death Stranding 2, big budget titles were basically nonexistent.

But to say that June lacked quality would be doing it a disservice. Rematch, for example — the addictive arcade-y soccer sim from Sifu developer SloClap — ended up being a revelation. An instance of a great concept executed upon with charm and confidence, Rematch has proven to be a very popular multiplayer title, and a breakout hit of 2025.

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Rear view mirror.

When it comes to the console wars, the skirmish between sim racers Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport was once a key battleground.

PlayStation’s flagship franchise has obviously always enjoyed enormous attention due to its legacy on the PS1 and PS2, but there was a period on the PS3 where it started to lose its edge.

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Sony has dibs on Chinese title.

There’s a lot to breakdown about the confirmation that Where Winds Meet will be a PS5 console exclusive for at least six months, announced at the end of a new trailer for the game.

Firstly, it follows the news that Sony’s own Helldivers 2 will be launching on Xbox Series X|S next month.

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Special delivery.

We hope you've been having fun trotting around the atmospheric landscapes of Death Stranding 2 over the last week or so, because it's time to give Kojima Productions' latest a rating of your own.

Needless to say, this globe-trotting PS5 sequel has been really well received, both by critics and fans of the first game. The original Death Stranding was somewhat divisive because of its unorthodox gameplay — and Kojima's trademark narrative wackiness — but we like to think that everyone can agree on the title's overall production quality.

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"Real-time strategy optimised for smartphones".

Sony’s very own Aniplex subsidiary, which sits under the Sony Music Entertainment umbrella, is working alongside Capcom and Korean developer JOYCITY to bring Resident Evil to mobile.

A new game, subtitled Survival Unit, will be fully revealed during an online livestream from 3PM PDT/11PM BST on 10th July.

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"Get ready for irrelevance".

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster week in the games industry, and for PS5 fans it’s been underlined by Sony’s sudden decision to publish Helldivers 2 on Xbox Series X|S.

This is an unprecedented decision from the manufacturer: while it’s not the first PlayStation game to launch on Microsoft’s machine, it feels markedly different this time.

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Fun in the sun.

Zenless Zone Zero’s slathering on the sunscreen and heading to the Waifei Peninsula’s coastal Fantasy Resort for a spot of fun in the sun this 17th July.

The next update for the gargantuan gacha will include two new playable characters, a slew of beach-themed minigames – including surfing! – and much, much more.

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Rise up.

Destiny: Rising – a smartphone-focused spin on Bungie’s looter shooter series – will launch on 28th August, potentially giving Sony its first mobile hit.

The Japanese giant has been eager to release its own suite of smartphone games for some time, poaching Apple Arcade talent and even acquiring developer Neon Koi – but it’s failed to really get the initiative off the ground.

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Given away during Days of Play 2024.

PlayStation fans are calling on Sony to make a Diogo Jota PSN avatar available once again so they can commemorate the Liverpool footballer following his and his brother's tragic deaths earlier this week. The avatar was available for free in the Days of Play 2024 campaign, but it was only a limited release and is no longer live on the PS Store.

A thread on Reddit is asking for the PSN avatar to return for those who didn't redeem the digital bundle. If you did, then you can still use it by changing your avatar in the profile settings.

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