July 2026 PS Plus Essential Games Now Available to Download, but Fans Call Lineup a 'Crap Selection'

Sony's PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for July 2026 are now available to claim, with "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III," "For the King II" and "CrossCode" rolling out to subscribers Tuesday, according to the official PlayStation Blog. The three titles will remain claimable through Monday, August 3, giving PS Plus members nearly a month to add them to their libraries.

The lineup is available across all PlayStation Plus tiers, Essential, Extra and Premium, with the games rolling out first in the UK and Europe before becoming available in the United States later in the day, according to Push Square. Once a subscriber adds a game to their PlayStation Network account during the claim window and maintains an active membership, the title remains permanently accessible and tied to their profile, even after the monthly rotation ends.

The headline addition this month is "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III," available through its Cross-Gen Bundle for both PS5 and PS4. The 2023 shooter continues the rebooted Modern Warfare storyline, following Captain Price and Task Force 141 as they pursue ultranationalist leader Vladimir Makarov. The package includes remastered versions of classic multiplayer maps from the original 2009 Modern Warfare 2, along with an open-world Zombies mode that, for the first time in the series, allows multiple squads to team up and survive together across the franchise's largest Zombies map to date, according to the PlayStation Blog.

Despite its status as the month's marquee title, Modern Warfare III arrives with a mixed reputation among critics and players. According to Gagadget, the game's campaign scored as low as 5 out of 10 in some reviews at launch, with at least one outlet describing it as among the weaker entries in the franchise's history. Reviewers and forum commentators have generally credited the multiplayer component, built around the returning classic maps, as the stronger part of the package, even as the single-player campaign drew more consistent criticism.

Joining Modern Warfare III in July's lineup is "For the King II," a four-player co-op tactical role-playing game developed as a sequel to the well-regarded original "For the King," which blended roguelike mechanics with tabletop-style strategy. The sequel is built on an updated engine and centers on a story involving a corrupted queen who has turned against her own subjects, tasking players with gathering a party to challenge her tyrannical rule across the land of Fahrul, either solo or in cooperative multiplayer.

The third title, "CrossCode," is a retro-inspired 2D action role-playing game that combines 16-bit-style visuals with fast-paced, real-time combat and dungeon-style puzzle mechanics set within a science-fiction narrative. Originally released in 2021, the game was met with strong reviews at launch and has continued to draw praise from critics and players alike, with several commentators describing it as a standout addition to this month's lineup despite its lower profile compared to the Call of Duty title.

Despite the presence of a well-regarded indie title in CrossCode, overall reaction to July's PS Plus Essential lineup has skewed negative among the PlayStation community. According to a weekend reader poll conducted by Push Square, 49 percent of respondents described the month's selection as a "crap selection," while only 6 percent indicated they were even slightly satisfied with the offering. Commentary on gaming forums echoed similar sentiments, with some users on ResetEra and RedFlagDeals describing the month as one of the weaker PS Plus lineups in recent memory, even as others singled out CrossCode specifically as a game worth trying regardless of overall sentiment toward the month's selection.

Some of the frustration surrounding July's lineup appears tied to broader concerns within the PlayStation community following Sony's recent announcement that it will discontinue physical game disc production for new titles starting in January 2028. Forum commentary tracked by RedFlagDeals showed members expressing worry about the company's shift toward an all-digital ecosystem, including concerns about store pricing control, the inability to resell or trade physical copies, and reports that Sony has previously removed digital titles from user libraries after extended periods of inactivity. Some commentators drew a connection between the announcement and this month's all-digital PS Plus offerings, though others in the same threads noted that PlayStation Plus monthly games have always been distributed digitally regardless of the broader disc discontinuation news.

Beyond the three new additions, Sony also confirmed that twelve games will exit the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium game catalog on July 21, according to Gagadget. Notable departures include "Risk of Rain 2," "Tropico 6" and "Clash: Artifacts of Chaos," along with "Röki," "Source of Madness," "Cursed to Golf," "Hundred Days: Winemaking Simulator," "Onee Chanbara Origin," "Get Even," "Bomber Crew," "Space Crew: Legendary Edition" and "Infinite Minigolf." Subscribers hoping to finish any of these titles before they leave the catalog have until July 20 to do so.

July's rotation also arrives roughly two months after Sony raised prices across its PlayStation Plus subscription tiers. According to Gagadget, the Essential tier increased from $9.99 to $10.99 per month in May 2026, while both the Extra and Premium tiers each rose by $2 per month during the same price adjustment, adding further context to some subscribers' frustration with what many have described as a comparatively underwhelming lineup for the price increase.

Separately, Sony also announced that "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and "Black Ops II" are set to arrive on modern PlayStation consoles this month, following years in which the original titles remained largely confined to the PlayStation 3, giving Call of Duty fans an additional reason to stay engaged with the platform even amid the mixed reception to this month's core PS Plus Essential offerings.

Subscribers looking to claim July's Monthly Games can do so through the PlayStation Store, the official PlayStation website, or the PlayStation App, with all three titles set to remain available for claiming through the closing date of Monday, August 3, after which the lineup will rotate to a new set of Monthly Games for August.