PlayStation Plus Essential Games for June 2026, Explained

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June 2026’s PlayStation Plus Essential games include three titles: Grounded Fully Yoked Edition, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide. While these games are a bit specialized, they all emphasize multiplayer experiences. If you prefer playing alone, you might have better luck checking out last month’s selection or waiting for the next update.

Here’s a breakdown of the three PlayStation Plus Essential games and how they’ve changed over time. All PlayStation Plus members—regardless of their subscription level—can play these games from June 2nd to July 6th.

3) Grounded Fully Yoked Edition

As a big fan, I was so excited when Grounded: Fully Yolked Edition finally came to PlayStation and Switch in 2024! This is the complete version of the game that everyone loved when it officially launched back in 2022 after being in early access for a while. And it’s been getting great reviews – most people are giving it around an 82 out of 100, which is awesome!

Grounded offers a fresh take on the survival genre by shrinking players down to insect size and setting the action in a typical backyard. This unique perspective allows for a fun and humorous experience, where simple tasks like collecting water from dew drops become epic challenges. Players will explore dangerous environments like a wrecked grill and battle oversized bugs that feel like difficult bosses from the Dark Souls series. The game features deep RPG mechanics, creating a satisfying cycle of gathering resources, fighting insects, and improving both your character and home base. While it shares similarities with other survival games, Grounded stands out thanks to its charming tone, creative premise, and helpful quality-of-life features. It’s a strong foundation, even with a sequel available.

I’ve been following Grounded for ages, and it’s cool to see how far it’s come! The PlayStation version basically bundled in a ton of updates we’d been waiting for – they called it the ‘Fully Yoked’ patch. That update added a whole new layer to the game with ant queen factions, a New Game Plus mode, and loads of new stuff to craft and upgrade. After that, the biggest change was an AFK mode – super handy because it keeps your character from getting thirsty or hungry while you’re away. They also sped up movement, made pets more useful, and let you even play story quests in the freeform Playground mode. Plus, you could upgrade your armor even further! What’s really neat is that the developers didn’t release any paid DLC for the game – everything was free.

2) Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

So, I’ve been checking out Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, the new platform fighter that dropped in 2023. It’s got a ton of characters from all my favorite Nick shows, which is awesome! Honestly, the game got a pretty mixed reaction – most people thought it was okay, landing around a 71 out of 100 on average. Not bad, but not a smash hit either, you know?

While not the most polished platform fighter and developed with a reasonable budget, this game is a significant step up from the original. Combat feels more impactful, combos are deeper, and there’s a much better selection of characters. The unique Slime system adds a lot of depth, letting players modify moves, escape combos, cancel attacks, and improve movement. Online matches run smoothly, and the single-player roguelike mode offers a fun, though limited, diversion. Though the platforming isn’t great and the roguelike elements are a bit weak, it’s still good to see fighting game creators trying new things, similar to the experimental World Tour mode in Street Fighter 6.

As a big fan of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, I was really happy to see how much support the game got after it came out! It wasn’t just about fixing things – though they did balance characters and squash bugs – they kept adding cool stuff. They let you save the campaign in more slots, use the D-pad to move, and even added an announcer for matches. Plus, they introduced fun modes like King of the Hill, Squads (team battles!), and Gauntlet Run, a survival mode. They also boosted the campaign with more power-ups, new items, extra stages, and even a New Game Plus so you could keep playing after beating it!

Players can purchase downloadable content in two ways. A costume pack costs $19.99 and includes outfits for all 25 characters in the base game. Additionally, four new fighters are available for $6.99 each: Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob SquarePants, Rocksteady from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Iroh and Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

1) Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is a team-based action game where players fight waves of enemies within the Warhammer 40,000 setting. It’s been generally well-received, earning an average score of 75.

Darktide is a well-liked cooperative shooter, and it’s easy to see why. The game combines satisfying first-person shooting with surprisingly complex close-quarters combat. An AI system keeps the action fresh by constantly changing enemy types and numbers. Playing with a team and choosing different character classes makes the chaotic experience even better. While the story isn’t essential and some game modes are simpler than others, Darktide excels at the fundamentals. However, the game relies heavily on collecting loot through repetitive gameplay, which can be frustrating. Despite recent changes, it’s designed to keep players engaged for a long time, making it less ideal for those looking for a quick or casual experience.

Man, Darktide has changed so much since it came out in 2022. Being a live-service game, the devs have been constantly updating it, and it really shows. They’ve made tons of balance changes to make everyone feel stronger and keep the combat fun, but also fair. Beyond that, they’ve added a lot – new events, enemies, cosmetics, even a whole extraction-style mode called Expeditions. They’ve reworked the skill trees, added modifiers, more campaigns, totally changed how stamina works, given the characters way more dialogue, added mini-campaigns, another character slot, improved the bots, and even a wave-based roguelike mode. They’ve also revamped the mission board, added a way to report players, and introduced Havoc as the endgame. Plus, they’ve completely overhauled weapon progression and added a party finder! Honestly, that list is just scratching the surface – the amount of content they’ve added is crazy.

Beyond the cosmetic items available in the in-game shop, Darktide offers two premium classes for $11.99 each, or deluxe editions for $18.99 that include extra cosmetics. The developers are still supporting the game almost four years after launch, with another new class planned for release in June. Players can also purchase a deluxe edition upgrade which includes cosmetics, in-game currency, and the game’s soundtrack. The game also features currency packs for its in-game store, which some players find manipulative due to their focus on creating a fear of missing out.

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2026-05-31 16:55