Best free PS5 games: Top free-to-play titles on PlayStation 5
You can’t beat free – paying for games is completely fair enough, but if you’re going through a tight stretch and want to tighten your purse strings there are plenty of alternatives out there.
Even on the PlayStation 5, there is a wide range of titles that you can enjoy without spending a cent, making for a smorgasbord of experiences to try out without any upfront cost.
We’ve gathered the very best options for you right here – but if you do fancy buying a game, check out our PS5 best-of lists in the table below.
Our other PS5 game buyer’s guides
• Best games overall• Best RPGs• Best shooters• Best racing games• Best strategy games• Best horror games• Best indie games
Astro’s Playroom
When you first plugged in your PlayStation 5, it will have had this excellent little game installed for you to try out, but if you never bothered to do so, think again! Astro’s Playroom is well worth re-downloading, a lovely little platformer that keeps things simple but is great fun.
Its key boast is that it uses the DualSense controller’s haptics like nothing else on the planet, with incredible feedback that’s immersive on a whole extra level. Be sure to try it out, and see how many of its secret collectables you can find.
Warzone 2.0
The next generation of Warzone arrived with Modern Warfare 2, but this part of Call of Duty is completely free-to-play, letting you explore its massive Al Mazrah map without paying a dime.
Battle Royale is as tense and tactical as ever with new weapons and tools to use, and the game has also added DMZ, an extraction mode that’s a little more chilled-out to play, although still very much capable of some moments of extreme chaos.
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Rocket League
A game of rocket cars, Rocket League is much like football (or soccer), with the aim to score goals against another team, but its physics-based gameplay makes it so much madder than that.
It’s compelling and addictive with short game timers, and while you’ll start having fun almost instantly it can take years to master its more complicated techniques, as you slowly climb the ranking ladder.
Fortnite
Fortnite has gone from strength to strength, reiterating its position at the top of the popularity pile in gaming. This superb shooter now offers modes without its building mechanics, which makes getting started much easier.
It also looks stunning on PS5 thanks to recent updates bringing the latest graphical technologies to bear, for superb lighting and more detailed environments.
Overwatch 2
If you want a shooter with a similarly impressive visual identity, but a very different playstyle, Overwatch 2 offers up tighter maps and team modes to give you a competitive offering.
It’s perhaps not the most feature-rich game on this list for the moment, but if you get some friends together it still offers many opportunities for tactics and team chemistry, making it a potentially special title.
Multiversus
A good brawler is always fun, and Multiversus leverages the world of Warner Bros to bring a whole host of famous characters that you can play as, while they beat each other up.
It’s got surprisingly tight systems and a good combat core running beneath it, making a game that’s really interesting to play as you get more used to its controls.
Genshin Impact
A free sensation that launched in late 2020, Genshin Impact offers up a huge, serene world for you to explore as you collect heroes and weapons to take on dungeons and quests.
It’s basically a fully-fledged MMORPG on your PS5, and one that looks and sounds really gorgeous, but it does also have a slightly more predatory monetisation system than most on this list, so watch out for that as you get further through its wide array of free content.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2’s transition to being free was a logical one and means that it offers up a really compelling taste of its world and how it feels to play in it before you need to pay.
That said, you won’t get massively far without butting up against premium walls, and owning the latest expansion pack is generally the best way to have fun. If you can figure out its complex onboarding, though, there is a huge world of challenge to explore with friends.
