Big Walk on PS Plus

Big Walk is one of three PlayStation Plus Essential monthly games for August 2026, available from launch day rather than arriving later. The other two are Signalis and Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition.

For a game with no single-player mode, no matchmaking and a hard requirement that everyone in your group owns a copy, a free month is more useful than it usually is — it is the cheapest way to get four or five people into the same session at once.

Big Walk went into this line-up carrying the highest Metacritic aggregate of any 2026 release at the time of the announcement. On PS5 specifically it sits at 86.

1. Make sure your PS Plus subscription is active — Essential is enough.
2. Open the PlayStation Store on your PS5, or the store on the web or mobile app while signed in.
3. Find Big Walk in the monthly games section and add it to your library.
4. That is the claim. You do not have to download or play it in August.

Adding it to the library is what locks it in. Once added, it remains playable as long as you stay subscribed — lapse the subscription and access pauses until you resubscribe.

The offer covers the game, not everything the game needs.

A PS Plus subscription to actually play. Big Walk is online-only with no offline mode, so PS Plus is required for play on PS5 whether you paid for the game or claimed it free. If your subscription lapses, this title stops being playable entirely rather than just losing multiplayer.

Friends with their own copies. There is no single-player mode and no matchmaking. Everyone in your session needs the game, and — because there is no split screen — their own screen. Crossplay means the rest of your group can be on Steam, Mac App Store or Switch 2.

Someone to host. The host machine holds the only save, and everyone disconnects when the host stops. Pick that person before the first session; see hosting and saves.

Not a catalogue addition. This is a monthly-games claim with a deadline, not a title that sits in the PS Plus Extra or Premium catalogue indefinitely. Miss 31 August and it goes back to being a paid purchase.

Not on PS4. PlayStation 5 only. The official FAQ confirms the full platform list and adds that no other platforms are planned.

Not a trial. There is no time limit on play once claimed, no restricted content, and no separate full-game upgrade to buy.

Not available on other platforms. Steam and Switch 2 are both $14.99 as of 5 August 2026; the Steam discount is 25% off $19.99 and the Switch 2 sale runs to 18 August. See platforms for the comparison.

Big Walk arrived alongside two other titles in the PlayStation Plus Essential monthly games for August 2026: Signalis, a survival horror game, and Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition, an open-world zombie game.

All three follow the same rules — claimable from 4 August, available until 31 August, and retained for as long as your subscription stays active. There is no requirement to claim all three, and claiming one does not affect the others.

Big Walk was the headline of the three at announcement, since it carried the highest Metacritic aggregate of any 2026 release at the time and was launching into the line-up on its release day rather than months later.

The monthly games are part of PlayStation Plus Essential, the entry tier. Higher tiers — Extra and Premium — include Essential’s monthly games as well, so any active subscription works.

What the tier does not change: the claim window, the retention rules, or the fact that PS Plus is separately required to play Big Walk online. Since the game has no single-player mode at all, an expired subscription means the game stops being playable rather than just losing multiplayer.

If some of your group is on PS5 and some is not, crossplay means the platform split costs you nothing socially — but it does change what each person pays:

For a group where most people already subscribe to PS Plus, claiming it there is the obvious call. For a group where nobody does, the subscription cost outweighs the $14.99 and Steam is cheaper overall.

One planning note for a mixed group: the PS Plus copy does not expire at the end of August, but access to it is tied to the subscription staying live. If your group’s Big Walk run stretches over months — which it will, given the game is built for repeated sessions with the same people — a PS5 player who lets PS Plus lapse partway through drops out of the run entirely, and cannot rejoin until they resubscribe. If that person is your host, the whole group stops. Worth checking before you decide who hosts.