Stray was by far PlayStation Plus Extra’s most-played title.
2022 was undoubtedly an extraordinary year for gamers, from Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and God of War Ragnarok all making appearances within one calendar year alone. It’s difficult to believe so many monumental releases arrived all at the same time!
BlueTwelve Studio’s charming third-person adventure game Stray was one of the year’s greatest triumphs. Players take control of a lost cat who wanders into an increasingly hostile cybercity full of robots before trying to return home. Stray was highly lauded; many enjoyed its sandbox elements which allow users to play around freely within its virtual environment while creating havoc akin to real cats (knocking items off shelves and scratching at furniture and rugs); its story was also captivating ( no one managed not shedding at least one tear at some point during playback).
Stray quickly made waves upon its initial reveal, with Sony adding it to PS Plus Extra game catalogue on day one – further cementing its success and rising to become their most-played title over time since revamped service came online. No surprise then when GamesIndustry.biz interviewed PlayStation’s head of subscriptions Nick Maguire who revealed it is PS Plus Extra’s most played title to date since overhauling service launch; I can vouch for that statement myself.
“Stray has generated the highest number of players within its first 12 months of release, while Ghost of Tsushima boasted of having garnered the most hours played; people truly immersed themselves into that game! That shows our PlayStation Studios titles have generated enormous engagement and excitement.”
Although Stray was successful when released day-one, Maguire indicated that PlayStation is “very satisfied” with their strategy of offering slightly older titles instead. According to Maguire: “By doing that we reach more customers 12-24 months post release; people still show excitement for them and jump right in so it works for us!”
“On occasion, there may be opportunities like Stray that arise for investment and we’ll pounce when they arise,” continued Reisman. “But for us, letting first-party games get out to platform outside our service first… that has proven successful for us and will remain our strategy moving forward.
