Thanks To PS Plus, Suspenseful Multiplayer Game Sees Killer Boost In Player Numbers

Summary

A PS1 horror classic offered in April’s PS Plus Essential tier saw over 1,000% increase in player count.
The game, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, by Gun Interactive offers asymmetrical survival horror gameplay.
Despite not being as popular as Dead by Daylight, it receives updates, new cosmetics, and positive reviews.

With how many players are subscribed to PlayStation Plus (Sony’s last publicly revealed figure was 47 million in 2023), games offered in the service’s most basic tier (Essential) will more than likely get some play time from gamers eager to try something new for free.

One such game, which was offered as part of April’s free titles, has benefited greatly. This multiplayer game has a legendary name among horror fans.

PlayStation Sneaks In PS1 Horror Classic to PS Plus Members

The PS1 classic is from a long-standing horror franchise.

Multiplayer Game Sees An Increase Of Over 1,000% Thanks To PS Plus

Girl Hiding from Killers in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Thanks to stat-tracking site TrueTrophies, it looks like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’s inclusion in the PlayStation Plus Essential tier for this month reinvigorated the game’s player base. With a sample size of over 3.4 million players with active PSN accounts, it mentions that in the week immediately after April 2025’s PS Plus free games went live on Tuesday, April 1, the asymmetrical multiplayer horror game saw a player boost of over 1275.49% week-on-week!

It doesn’t take a math genius to calculate that this is a ridiculous surge in player count. Thankfully, the title is still available for free for Essential members now, so you can try it for yourself to see what all the ruckus is about.

Released in August 2023, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was developed by Gun Interactive and continues the asymmetrical survival horror gameplay found in titles like Dead by Daylight.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Achieves What Dead by Daylight Couldn’t

Asymmetrical horror is a family activity.

While The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game might not have thrived as much as Dead by Daylight, it’s still getting support up to this day with gameplay updates, new cosmetics and an occasional content drop or two.

Over on review aggregating site Open Critic, the horror game has an impressive “Strong” rating from 73 reviews. Mind, it’s harder to average a good score as a multiplayer game than a single-player title, so if an entirely online game gets a good score, then it must have done something well.

With how Sony has been increasing the price of all the PlayStation Plus tiers recently, I suggest players try the horror game now before your membership lapses, and have to pony up a higher price just to resubscribe.

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It’s part of a long-running franchise.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Released: August 18, 2023
ESRB: M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
Developer(s): Sumo Nottingham
Publisher(s): Gun Interactive
Engine: Unreal Engine 4
Franchise: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre