How to get 13 PlayStation and Xbox games for free before the end of the month

Money saved by reading this email? At least $20 (or $40 if you own both PS5 and Xbox). Also, I round up the biggest tech news at the end.

Update: The Xbox Games with Gold February 2022 free games were just announced, so I’ve added them to this news story.

No, you won’t have to steal. I promise.

Quick housekeeping: Remember, paid subscribers can ask me questions 1:1 (comments open to you on all pages) and I have more exciting content – including hard investigative journalism pieces 👀 – coming your way next.

PSA: turn on my Twitter notifications for Friday’s $400 gift card giveaway

🙏 Thank you for your support. Seriously!

I’ve helped you – or I’m helping you – get to a PS5 restock or Xbox restock (and soon PSVR 2 pre-order info), and I’m back. While I got some exclusive news about the GameStop PS5 restock at select stores Thursday morning, I want to move beyond simply offering restock tips.

I’m here to save you money – and time reading – on tech and video games.

➡️ The Shortcut Skinny

Aka. “Matt, I have only 30 seconds to read!”

• Most of my followers don’t know about this

• Amount of money saved in this email: at least $20 per console

  • $16 off PS Plus and $22 off Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

  • $7 off PS Store / Xbox Store gift card (while it lasts)

  • Free games (not even counting that)

• Trick: Download six ‘free’ PlayStation Plus games

  • By January 31:

    • ✅ Persona 5 Strikers

    • ✅ Dirt 5

    • ✅ Deep Rock Galactic

  • Starting February 1:

    • ✅ UFC 4

    • ✅ Planet Rollercoaster

    • ✅ Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep

    • These three PlayStation Plus February 2022 free games were just announced today

• Trick: Download seven ‘free’ Xbox Games with Gold games

  • By January 31

    • ✅ NeuroVoider

    • ✅ Space Invaders Infinity Gene

  • By February 15

    • ✅ Aground

  • Starting February 1

    • ✅ Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse (Feb 1 to Feb 28)

    • ✅ Hydrophobia (Feb 1 to Feb 15)

  • Starting February 16

    • ✅ Band of Bugs (Feb 16 to Feb 28)

    • ✅ Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (Feb 16 to March 15)

• 💡Tip: If you don’t have PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass, DO NOT pay full price

  • 😢Do it now! You won’t be able to go back and add January’s games after Jan 31 if you don’t start this before the end of the month

• Discount: PS Plus 12-month membership: $37.50 (🙅‍♂️$60 from Sony)

  • 🔗 PS Plus for $22.50 off from Eneba

  • ➡️ Use promo code: USPSPLUS365

  • ➡️ If/when that code runs out (lesser $20 off deal): TSCPSPLUS

• Discount: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 3-month: $28.47 (🙅‍♂️$45 at Microsoft)

  • 🔗 Xbox Game Pass for $16 off from Eneba

  • ➡️ Use promo code: TSCXULTI3

• Also: 💰🔥Save $7 on basically any game!

  • This will run out!! as it’s like free gift card money

  • $50 PSN Store Gift Card only $43.50

    • 🔗 $50 PSN Gift card for $6.50 off from Eneba

    • ➡️ Use promo code: PSN50USD

  • $50 Xbox Store Gift Card only $43.50 (very limited)

    • 🔗 $50 Xbox Store Gift Card $7 off from Eneba

    • ➡️ Use Promo code: XBOX50USD

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Now for the longer version – the scenic route? I haven’t come up with the perfect name for ‘The longcut’ yet.

How to get ‘free’ PlayStation and Xbox games

Sony just announced its three PlayStation Plus February 2022 free games, and Microsoft is about to do the same with four Xbox February games as part of its ‘Games with Gold program’ (part of Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass).

➡️ Key: But… until the end of January, you can get both January’s games and then get February’s games on February 1. You’ll end up with at least SIX games per console.

Here’s how:

1️⃣ Sign up for PlayStation Plus or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

You may have these already. They’re required for online multiplayer and also enter you into the PlayStation Plus free games and Xbox Games with Gold programs.

PlayStation Plus costs $60 per year, but I’ve been tracking PlayStation Plus discount codes DAILY, and have one for PS Plus for $37.50 right now ($22.50 off) if you insert promo code USPSPLUS365. If you’re on mobile, just tap the yellow triangle to reveal the discount field. If that code runs out try TSCPSPLUS for a $20 discount.

Xbox Games with Gold is part of both Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass. Game Pass Ultimate (highly recommended, especially as Microsoft is buying Activision) doesn't have to cost you $45 every three months. Using promo code TSCXULTI3 gets you the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $28.47 ($16 off).

🔥 In both cases, you can ‘stack’ these, meaning you redeem them right away and it’ll add 12 months (PS Plus) or 3 months (Xbox Game Pass) onto your existing plan.

➡️ Most people miss this: no need to wait until your current plan exires to renew. I have 3 years of PlayStation Plus and a full 12 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

2️⃣ Download these six games by January 31

PlayStation Plus January 2022 free games – they’re all really GREAT games

• ✅Persona 5 Strikers (before January 31)

• ✅Dirt 5 (before January 31)

• ✅Deep Rock Galactic (before January 31)

Xbox ‘Games with Gold’ January 2022 free games

• ✅NeuroVoider (before January 31)

• ✅Space Invaders Infinity Gene (before January 31)

• ✅ Aground (before February 15, technically one game is always mid-month, so you have until February 15 for this one)

3️⃣ Download these seven games starting February 1

PlayStation Plus February 2022 free games

• ✅UFC 4

• ✅Planet Rollercoaster

• ✅ Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep

Xbox ‘Games with Gold’ February 2022 free games

• ✅ Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse (Feb 1 to Feb 28)

• ✅ Hydrophobia (Feb 1 to Feb 15)

• ✅ Band of Bugs (Feb 16 to Feb 28)

• ✅ Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (Feb 16 to March 15)

4️⃣ Know Sony and Microsoft’s fine print

• 🆓 You get to keep these games as long as you’re a PS Plus or Xbox Live (or Game Pass) subscriber

  • But only if you’ve successfully added them to your library before they expire from availability.

  • You can’t go back in time, Marty (hence this lengthy email)

• 🎮 Both services have other perks: online multiplayer, and Xbox Game Pass has games on-demand (Sony is reportedly copying this idea by merging PlayStation Now into PlayStation Plus very soon – stay tuned)

• 👿Again… if you don’t add them to your library before they expire (aka January 31 for the first set), then you can’t go back and download them for free

• 😅 Yes, you can delete the games from your precious hard drive and download them again. You’re safe. I get asked this a lot!

• 💀 Eureka! If you cancel either service, but reactivate later, the free games can be played again – as long as they were added to your library

5️⃣ Enjoy your games – even if it’s a monthly mystery box

You never know which games are going to be Sony and Microsoft’s free picks each month. Sometimes it’s a 🔥 ‘Bonestorm’ (Sony’s January games were all A+); other times it’s a ⛳ Lee Carvallo’s Putting Challenge (Sony’s February 2021 free games).

But it’s is a fantastic way to nab ‘free’ games. Free is defined loosely, as you’re paying for these services, but most people view PS Plus and Game Pass as either a necessity or great value for online multiplayer and free games as well as store discounts.

I’ll give you a heads-up about these free games right before the end of the month so you don’t miss out, and so you know which games are coming to the services next.

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🏁 The Shortcut Finish Line

News highlights from the week

• 🪖 Despite Microsoft’s Activision buy, the next three Call of Duty games will still launch on PlayStation platforms, reports Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier

• 📱 Samsung Galaxy S22 will be announced on February 9, and S22 pre-order reservations are already live. Stay tuned for more info, just like I brought you info about the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

• ⚙️ The Steam Deck launch date is February 25, announced Valve

  • “We will start sending invites shortly after 10:00 am on February 25th, PST” but only to people who reserved the PC handheld for $5 last year

  • “Order emails are sent in the same order that reservations were made.”

  • “Customers will have 3 days (72 hours) from receipt of their order email to make their purchase”

  • If you didn’t reserve a Steam Deck yet, you can reserve it here, though new orders are expected after Q2 2022 at this point

• 🌌 EA and developer Respawn are making THREE new Star Wars video games, says a joint press release

  • This includes a Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel!

• 😱 Blizzard is working on a new survival horror game, according to its job openings blog post

  • It’s described as “a brand-new survival game for PC and console.”

  • “A place full of heroes we have yet to meet, stories yet to be told, and adventures yet to be lived. A vast realm of possibility, waiting to be explored.”

• 👽 Crysis 4 is coming, and this teaser trailer proves it. No word on platforms or how quickly it’ll melt the RTX graphics card in your PC.

🔜 Stay tuned for more money- and time-saving tech and games content.

✅ Remember: paid subscribers can ask me questions 1:1, like a concierge service. I’ll help you with tech advice just like I did with restock information

✅ More subscriber benefits to come in February along with a groundbreaking investigative journalism piece 👀

Thank you!