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Sony selects the next batch of freebies for PlayStation Plus

Sony announced May’s incoming lineup of PlayStation Plus freebies, revealing that members of its console-focused gaming subscription service will receive free digital copies of Tropico 5, Switch Galaxy Ultra, and more starting next week.

PlayStation Plus will also host the debut of the miniaturized racer Table Top Racing: World Tour for the PlayStation 4, and service subscribers can check out the full version free of charge on launch day.

Kalypso’s city-building strategy game Tropico 5 headlines next month’s PlayStation Plus lineup, arriving as one of three planned PS4 freebies for May. In the Tropico games, players seize control of an island nation and begin amassing a fortune either as a benevolent ruler or a cruel dictator.

Tropico 5 introduces online multiplayer for the first time in series history, letting up to four players build independent settlements simultaneously on any of the game’s included maps. Other notable additions include dynasty mechanics, multiple playable eras, and an advanced trade system.

PlayStation 4 owners with an active PlayStation Plus subscription will also receive free copies of developer Playrise’s Table Top Racing: World Tour starting next week. Inspired by classic racers like Micro Machines for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Table Top Racing: World Tour puts players behind the wheel of a miniature car within a series of oversized environments.

Over on the PS3, PlayStation Plus serves up free downloadable copies of Capcom’s side-scrolling run-and-gun shooter Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 and the physics-based puzzler LocoRoco Cocoreccho! in May. PS Vita owners, meanwhile, can look forward to digital versions of the PSP God of War series spinoff God of War: Ghost of Sparta and Switch Galaxy Ultra, a futuristic railway racer from developer Atomicom.

The PlayStation 4 edition of Switch Galaxy Ultra will also be free to download for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Next month’s PS Plus lineup goes live on Tuesday, May 3.

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