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3 new PS Plus games to play this weekend (September 13-15)

Naruto characters in Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker.
Bandai Namco Entertainment

September has been a roller coaster month for PlayStation fans. While Concord was a disappointing flop in August, September brought the lauded launch of Astro Bot and a solid lineup of PS Plus Essential games. We’re still waiting on September’s batch of titles, but that means this weekend is the perfect time to check out any stragglers from August’s PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra catalog drop or PS Plus Essential’s lineup that you have not played yet. That’s what I’m recommending you play this weekend.

Little Nightmares II

mono and six together
Bandai Namco Entertainment

While platformers are a genre often associated with children, the Little Nightmares series puts a more mature spin on it. These are slow-paced puzzle platformers, like Limbo and Inside, where players slowly solve puzzles in a world full of horrific things. Little Nightmares II was one of this month’s PS Plus Essential titles, and it’s worth playing if you like games with an eerie twinge to them. A sequel, Little Nightmares III, will launch sometime in 2025, so that’s another reason to check this out right now. The PS4 and PS5 versions of Little Nightmares II are available to all PS Plus subscribers until October 1. It’s also on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker

Two characters fight in Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker.
Bandai Namco Entertainment

If you’re a fan of manga and anime, you were probably happy with all of the Sword Art Online games that came to PS Plus Extra in August. Rather than recommending any of those, though, you should check out Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker. It’s a 4v4 anime fighter game where you create a ninja with unique abilities and then face off in modes like Capture the Flag. It’s chaotic, but it captures Naruto’s action quite well for a multiplayer-focused game as you run on the wall and use powerful magical attacks. The PS4 version of Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker is available with a PlayStation Plus Extra subscription. It’s also available on PC and Xbox One.

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

Key art for TimeSplitters Future Perfect.
Deep Silver

If you’ve been playing the other two TimeSplitters games since they came to PS Plus Premium’s classic game catalog in August, now’s the time to check out the third game before more PS1 classics hit the service next week. TimeSplitters: Future Perfect features an entertaining campaign where Sergeant Cortez is trying to save the future by stopping the TimeSplitters from being created. It’s just as good as the other games in the series and worth playing now that it doesn’t seem like the franchise will be making a comeback anytime soon. The PS2 version of TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is available on PS4 and PS5 with PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, or it can be bought for $10.

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Tomas Franzese
As a Gaming Staff Writer on Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
3 new PS Plus games you should play this weekend (September 6-8)
Draco Malfoy is a seeker in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.

We are entering another packed month for PlayStation Plus. Not only are we getting our typical monthly Essential and Extra batches of titles, but those will contain some games coming to the subscription service the day they launch as well. One of those launched earlier this week and it's the first Harry Potter game to be released on consoles since Hogwarts Legacy. On top of that, there are still some great games from August's PS Plus Premium lineup that you should get around to playing. Those are the games to check out if you're looking for something to play this weekend.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions

If you were bummed out by Hogwarts Legacy's lack of a quidditch mode, then you'll want to check out one of this month's PS Plus Essential games. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is a full multiplayer game dedicated to the Wizarding World's favorite sport. Quidditch Champions does a surprisingly great job at adapting this fictional sport -- which originated as something to only be read about, not played -- into video game form. It can get surprisingly tense, capturing the energy of some of the Quidditch scenes from the Harry Potter films. Playing a Harry Potter game in 2024 does come with some baggage, but Quidditch Champions is worth it for those who have always found that corner of the Wizarding World enticing. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is available for PS4 and PS5 via PS Plus Essential between now and September 30. It's also available to purchase on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, and it's in development for Nintendo Switch.
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3 games leaving Xbox Game Pass to play this weekend (September 6-8)
Character posing for Payday 3 promo art.

While Age of Mythology: Retold launched on Xbox Game Pass on September 4, several games are also leaving the service. In just over a week, five games will be removed from Xbox Game Pass. This happens around every 15 days, so there's nothing out of the ordinary here. Still, some notable games are leaving the service on September 15, so you should check them out before they are gone. I want to highlight three of those games, ranging from a clever indie to a tense multiplayer game. Check them out this weekend, and if you really enjoy them, you can buy them at a 20% discount while they're still in Xbox Game Pass.
Payday 3

Payday 3 is the latest entry in Starbreeze's long-running first-person shooter series where players work together to pull off heists. For example, you'll work with others to scope out a bank before donning masks, holding people hostage, stealing money, and making a quick escape from the police. It's a tense multiplayer game where failure is likely, and I've had a good time with it. Admittedly, Payday 3 doesn't quite live up to its predecessor, but as something to play free of charge on Xbox Game Pass, it's entertaining enough. The PC and Xbox Series X/S versions of Payday 3 leave Xbox Game Pass on September 15. After that, the game will still be available for purchase on those platforms and PlayStation 5.
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Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is September’s best PS Plus game
A young wizard rides a broom in Harry Potter Quidditch Champions.

I haven’t engaged with much Harry Potter media in recent years (the abhorent views of the series’ creator has soured me on all things Potter), but I still have fond memories of Quidditch, Harry Potter’s unique broomstick-riding sport. The Quidditch scenes in the movie adaptations were always my favorites, and one of the first games I remember playing consistently on PC was 2003’s Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup. I’m no longer actively seeking out Harry Potter media on my own, but when I saw Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions had launched into PlayStation Plus and was a spiritual successor to Quidditch World Cup, I was curious enough to check it out.

I’m glad I did so because developer Unbroken Studios understands just how entertaining the fictional game can be. Quidditch is a wildly novel sport that finds a magical middle ground between soccer, rugby, and racing. It makes the transition to video game form surprisingly smoothly. As a free PS Plus bonus, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is an enjoyable blast from the past for me.
Grab that snitch
In Quidditch Champions, two teams of six fly around on broomsticks, aiming to throw a ball called a Quaffle into one of their opponent's ring-shaped goals suspended high above the ground. Each goal grants players 10 points, and the team with the most points at the end of seven minutes or the first to reach 100 points wins. That alone is satisfying enough, as flying around on broomsticks and bashing into other players feels intuitive. It can feel like Rocket League at times as I drifted around the pitch in order to be the first to a Quaffle flying through the air.

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