Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III leads July PlayStation Plus lineup

Sony put Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, For the King II and CrossCode into July’s PlayStation Plus Essential lineup, and all three games will be available to claim from July 7 through August 3. The headliner is the Cross-Gen Bundle version of Modern Warfare III, which means PS5 and PS4 players can both grab it, and keep access as long as they stay subscribed to any PlayStation Plus tier.

That makes this month more than a routine refresh. PlayStation Plus Essential is Sony’s base tier, built around monthly games, cloud storage, online multiplayer access and discounts, and it has carried those core benefits since Sony launched the current three-tier structure in June 2022. Dropping a current-era Call of Duty campaign and multiplayer package into that lane is a clear attempt to make the entry tier feel less like an afterthought and more like a reason to stay inside Sony’s ecosystem.

Modern Warfare III is doing the heavy lifting here. Sony describes it as a direct sequel to Modern Warfare II, with Captain Price and Task Force 141 facing ultranationalist villain Vladimir Makarov, while the game also leans on its open-world PvE Zombies mode and modernized classic multiplayer maps. The timing matters too: Metacritic lists the PlayStation 5 version at a 56 Metascore, so this is not just a prestige add, it is also a cheap way for holdouts to sample a mixed-reception release before the next major Call of Duty arrives in October.

The rest of July’s trio gives the month some much-needed range. For the King II brings tactical RPG systems, roguelite structure and tabletop-inspired mechanics, the kind of co-op-friendly pick that can make Essential feel better than a one-game headline. CrossCode adds a retro-styled action RPG, rounding out the month with something that speaks to players who want a sharper indie throwback instead of another blockbuster chase.

Sony also created a small overlap window for anyone still sitting on June’s lineup, which includes Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, all claimable until July 7. Put together with Sony’s July 1 decision to stop releasing physical discs for games starting in 2028, the month reads like another step toward a business built around digital access, subscription retention and bigger-value drops at the bottom of the stack.