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Winter is nearly upon us, as evidenced by the season’s first snowfall blanketing the mountains, transforming the landscape into a scene reminiscent of Christmas. In line with this festive atmosphere, anticipation is building for Sony’s announcement of the PlayStation Plus Essential games for December. Although the official list is yet to be revealed, the wait has sparked excitement.
While concrete details remain under wraps, it’s never too early to start speculating about the upcoming PS Plus offerings. Historical trends, potential leaks, and the timing of upcoming releases often serve as clues. Occasionally, these educated guesses hit the mark!
Recent months have been rewarding for PS Plus subscribers. October saw the inclusion of Until Dawn, Silent Hill 2, and V Rising in the Extra and Premium tiers. November brought the fan-favorite feline adventure, Stray, to the Essential tier, captivating players everywhere.
Everything You Need To Know About December 2025 PS Plus Essential Lineup
The November Premium selection featured a stellar lineup: the return of GTA V, the classic Red Dead Redemption, the engaging puzzle adventure The Talos Principle II, and the intense FPS, Insurgency: Sandstorm. Also included were the indie hit Pacific Drive and a unique, humor-infused platformer, Thank Goodness You’re Here!, which has been on my must-play list.
In December of last year, Sony offered a trio of titles, including the acclaimed co-op game, It Takes Two, from the same creative minds behind this year’s remarkable Split Fiction. The 2024 PS Plus Essential lineup also featured Aliens: Dark Descent and the creature-collecting adventure, Temtem.
November’s Premium roster includes the return of GTA V, the original Red Dead Redemption, the excellent puzzle-game The Talos Principle II, the gritty FPS, Insurgency: Sandstorm, the hit indie game, Pacific Drive and one game I’ve been itching to play: the comedic, hand-drawn “slapformer” Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
Last Year’s December PS Plus Essential Lineup
It Takes Two
Credit: Hazelight
Last December, Sony gave away three games, including one Game Of The Year winner, the excellent co-op adventure game, It Takes Two from the same developer behind this year’s incredible Split Fiction. The Ps Plus Essential lineup for December 2024 also included Aliens: Dark Descent and the Pokemon-like, Temtem.
PS Plus Black Friday Deals
Since it’s almost Thanksgiving, it’s worth noting that Sony is offering some Black Friday deals for PlayStation Plus subscribers. You can save 33% if you sign up for a 12-month membership or upgrade from Essential/Extra to Premium/Deluxe. Obviously, if you have a Premium/Deluxe membership already, you can’t get the deal, but you can be strategic about this and simply cancel your subscription and then resubscribe at the lower rate.
What Is PlayStation Plus And How Much Does It Cost?
PS Plus is Sony’s monthly membership program that grants access to online gaming. You don’t need it for streaming movies or TV shows on Netflix and other services, or for free-to-play games like Warzone or Fortnite. Any paid online games, however, require a subscription.
There are three PS Plus tiers—Essential, Extra and Premium. Premium grants the most benefits, including the largest game catalog and classic games from older consoles like PS2, PS3 and PS4. PS Plus Essential costs $9.99/month or $79.99/year; PS Plus Extra costs $14.99/month or $134.99/year; PS Plus Premium costs $17.99/month or $159.99/year.
For the purposes of this post, we’ll only be discussing the three free monthly titles coming to PS Plus Essential in December. The Extra and Premium titles are revealed midway through the month they release.
When Will Sony Reveal Next Month’s PS Plus Games?
Thank Goodness You’re Here! came to PS Plus in November.
Credit: Coal Supper
Sony typically reveals the following month’s games on the last Wednesday of the month, though this isn’t always the case. The actual rule of thumb is that the new lineup (almost) always releases on the first Tuesday of the month and the games are revealed the previous Wednesday.
This means, we should get our big December 2025 reveal on Wednesday, November 26. December’s Essentials lineup will go live on Tuesday, December 2nd. You’ll have until then to download November’s free games.
PS Plus December Leaks, Rumors And Predictions
Elden Ring
Credit: FromSoftware
Past December PS Plus releases don’t really give us many insights into this coming month’s lineup. These have ranged from indie games like Sable to blockbuster RPGs like Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.
As of now, there are no leaks or rumors, either, though I will update this post if that changes before next Wednesday. We can look at the December 2nd release lineup and get a few possible clues. Games coming out on PlayStation 5 that day include:
Marvel Cosmic Invasion — A beat’em up game set in the Marvel universe. This is also releasing on Nintendo, Xbox and PC.
BROK: The Brawl Bar — A point-and-click adventure / beat’em up game, also releasing on Nintendo and Xbox.
Red Dead Redemption — A remaster of the beloved classic from Rockstar, and perhaps a little something to tide us over after the GTA VI delay. This is also coming to Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series S/X and mobile. It would make a very cool PS Plus Essential game!
Sleep Awake — A psychological horror game from one of the devs of the excellent Spec Ops: The Line and Robin Finck of Nine Inch Nails. Looks cool.
December 2025 PS Plus Predictions & Wishlist Games
Some of these are more likely candidates than others and some of these are quite obviously just wishful thinking.
Resident Evil 4 Remake — The remake of the popular action-horror game from 2005 was released in 2023 to wide acclaim. It’s old enough to be a contender for a PS Plus release and would definitely be a crowd-pleaser.
Elden Ring — FromSoftware’s mega-hit action-RPG would be a huge win for Sony and PlayStation Plus gamers. Even Demon’s Souls Remake would be a massive win, though I put both of these in the “wishful thinking” column. Still, Elden Ring might make sense given the recent release of the standalone multiplayer spinoff Nightreign.
Star Wars Outlaws — Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars game wasn’t the hit they needed, but it’s still a pretty fun way to head to a galaxy far, far away and rub shoulders with scum and villainy. It would make a really perfect PS Plus release.
Death Stranding — Hideo Kojima’s weirdest game was a big enough hit to commission a sequel and that sequel just came out. There’s really no better time to release Death Stranding on PS+ than right now (though maybe a month or two ago would have been more ideal).
Street Fighter 6 — The popular fighting game franchise continues to be a crowd-pleaser, and releasing this 2023 game on PS Plus would be fun despite getting a fighting game last month. That makes me doubtful we’ll see this one, but I’d play it if Sony put it out there.
Cocoon — Indie developer Jeppe Carlsen (Limbo, Inside) released this innovative and unique puzzle game back in 2023 to stellar reviews. It’s been on the wishlist of various PS Plus guessers for a long time now and would certainly be the exact sort of small title that would make gamers happy in August.
Trine 5 — I used to absolutely love the Trine games. I remember playing them with my kids when they were little. The gorgeous artwork in those games plus the couch co-op just made them such a delight. Then I forgot about them, and I actually never did play the fifth game. I’d love to, though. It would be super nostalgic for the whole family. Here’s hoping!
All The PS Plus Essential Games Released In 2025
It’s been one of the best years for PS Plus I can remember, with some really big titles released each month and a great deal of variety. Here are all the games released to the PS Plus Essential tier in 2025 by month.
January
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
- Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered
- The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
February
- Payday 3
- High on Life
- Pac-Man World Re-Pac
March
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Sonic Colors: Ultimate
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection
April
- RoboCop: Rogue City
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory
May
- Ark: Survival Ascended
- Balatro
- Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
June
- NBA 2K25
- Alone in the Dark
- Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
- Destiny 2: The Final Shape
July
- Diablo IV
- The King of Fighters XV
- Jusant
August
- Lies of P
- DayZ
- My Hero One’s Justice 2
September
- Psychonauts 2
- Stardew Valley
- Viewfinder
October
- Alan Wake 2
- Goat Simulator 3
- Cocoon
November
- Stray
- EA Sports WRC 24
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
What games would you like to see come to PS Plus this December? Any insights or predictions? Any leaks I should know about? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. You can also sign up for my Substack newsletter, Diabolical, where I talk culture and politics and the arts.
