Each game was added in January 2025

PlayStation Plus used to be a subscription service that got you a few free games every month and access to other titles' online features. Needing to come up with something a little more reminiscent of Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation shook things up in 2022 and introduced a tiered PS Plus system. There are now three options to choose from: Essential, Extra and Premium. Each tier costs more than the last, but paying more gets you access to more features and a larger game library.

Essential is the same as the old PS Plus. The cheapest option that lets you play online and get a handful of free games every month. Extra gives you much more, opening up a library of PS4 and PS5 games that you can download and play for the price of your subscription. Last but not least, there's Premium, which includes everything you get with Extra, plus access to PlayStation's library of classics as well as demos for various new games. New games are added to each tier every month. Below you'll find what you'll get throughout January, regardless of the tier you're subscribed to, as well as links to where you can upgrade your subscription or sign up if you'd like to. I don't currently have PS Plus.

PS Plus Essential

Even if you're only subscribed to Essential, the lowest tier of PS Plus, you'll get at least three free games in your subscription every month. Even though they are only available to download for a month, once you claim them you can keep them until your subscription expires. PlayStation has started 2025 with some big essential additions, one of which isn't even a year old yet.

This game is Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. I won't sugarcoat it – Kill The Justice League didn't have the first year that Rocksteady probably envisioned. The regular updates end this month, but that means the version Essential subscribers get for free is the full game. The entire campaign, all the additional content, and regardless of what you've heard, I promise you it's worth your time, especially if it won't cost you anything more.

Harley Quinn and the boys on Essential are joined by a few slightly older games this month. The Need For Speed ​​Hot Pursuit remaster and The Stanely Parable: Ultra Deluxe will be available to purchase starting January 7th. Another example of PlayStation somehow offering something for almost everyone in just three games. If you're reading this on January 6, 2025 or earlier, it's not too late to claim It Takes Two and the other December essential games for free.

If you subscribe to Extra, you'll get the free Essential games as well as access to a library of other PS4 and PS5 games. PlayStation won't announce what new games it will be adding to Extra until mid-month. However, everything added in December can be found above, with some very strong games arriving just in time for the holidays.

Sonic Frontiers is the biggest of these heavyweights, and it's no coincidence that Blue Blur's latest brand new 3D adventure is currently arriving on Extra. Frontiers will join PS Plus just four days before Sonic 3 hits theaters. Perfect for either getting Plus subscribers to watch the movie after they start playing the game, or giving moviegoers a Sonic game to play after they watch the movie at no additional cost.

Right behind Frontiers in the December Extra line-up is Forspoken. The Square Enix game had a lackluster release, which is a shame since it's nowhere near as bad as its poor launch suggested. If you have extra, it's worth investing some time over the holidays. Who knows? It could become your new favorite game.

Joining Frontiers and Forspoken on Extra this month are a few Coffee Talk games, WRC Generations, the sequel to Jurassic World Evolution and five other games. It's really impressive that the monthly additions are always so widespread that there is almost always at least one game that catches every subscriber's eye.

PS Plus Premium

Premium is the highest PS Plus tier available, and similar to Extra, new games are added every month, but what new games they are are usually not announced until around the middle of the month. However, you can still check out which classics and PS VR2 games were added to Premium in December.

PlayStation greeted us a little early last month as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations, confirming that Sly 2, Sly 3 and Jak & Daxter would all be joining its Premium Classics catalog. All three of these iconic platformers are available now after being added to Premium on December 10th, and yes, that means the entire Sly Cooper trilogy can be played natively on PS5. What a time to be alive.

What PlayStation gave us in early December was no idea what this month's free PS VR2 game would be, or if we would ever get one. Thankfully, that tradition continues and this month's VR game might be the best premium offering yet – Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy's Edge. Take on the role of a droid technician and venture into a VR Star Wars experience that really isn't talked about enough, and do it at no additional cost if you're already subscribed to Premium.

PS Plus Premium isn't just about old games and VR titles. You also get access to premium trials, which are a few hours of newer games to try before you buy. The still very new Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 is entering premium trials this month and the first part of the game will be playable for subscribers from December 3rd.

I'm leaving PS Plus

Unfortunately, as new games arrive, others have to go. Yes, I know there isn't a limited amount of space and technically no games should have to be left out, but don't complain to me, I don't make the rules. So far, PlayStation has confirmed that 11 games will be leaving the Extra and Premium libraries this month. The fantastic remake of Resident Evil 2 is about to be released, as are the two most recent Just Cause games. If you are reading this before January 14, 2025 and want to play any of the games listed above without having to pay for them, do it now before it's too late.