NBA 2K16 will be free to PlayStation Plus members on PS4

The free games that are provided monthly as a part of the PlayStation Plus service have helped justify the costs beyond the ability to just access online features on the PlayStation 4. Very often they’ve been compelling titles and even included brand new ones like Rocket League. Sony today announced the lineup of games for June, and while it’s unclear what date they’ll be first made available for free (possibly tomorrow) the big news is that NBA 2K16 is one of them!

Sports games have generally not been included in the free games program. That’s due in part to their limited cycle of relevance and need to maximize sales during that period, but also because there’s the EA Access program on Xbox One pulling in the EA Sports games which the company won’t be giving to a competing subscription service. That leaves only a few games on the table.

NBA 2K16 remains relevant as the NBA Finals begin later this week and could stretch as long as June 19. There’s still nearly four full months until 2K17 arrives. Though the majority with heavy interest in the game may already own it, there will now be the opportunity to grab it for free and sell/trade-in those copies and it could attract new players that will then spend money digitally within the game and/or buy NBA 2K17 when it releases at the end of September.