Sony has yet to announce the PS Plus free games for December 2022 but is otherwise expected to on November 30. These titles will then likely become available on December 6, with a proper announcement for the PS Plus Extra and Premium games coming roughly two weeks later. This new pattern, alternating reveals and releases with a small break between, has proven popular early on in the new PS Plus free game tier system, but following an established pattern is nothing new for PS Plus. Indeed, because of this reliance on patterns, it's a safe bet that the PS Plus games for December 2022 will be much better than December 2021.
Sony constantly changes it up, but when it comes to PS Plus as a whole, it jumps from pattern to pattern. This doesn't make predicting PS Plus games any easier, but just as the reveal and release pattern established over the past few months has become easy to follow (minus one exception), this is the case for PS Plus too. At one point, Sony offered one big game and one niche game every month. Ahead of and shortly after the PS5 release, Sony was using PS Plus to push its new console by including massively popular games and those specifically for PS5 owners.
However, this type of pattern jumping often results in ruts, and that was the case as 2021 games to an end. The service began strong in 2021 thanks to the PS5, but as it entered this rut, PS Plus ended 2021 weakly and with controversy.
PS Plus Free, Extra, and Premium Games for December 2022 vs. December 2021
In December 2021, PS Plus subscribers received Godfall: Challenge Edition, LEGO DC Super-Villains, and Mortal Shell. How each month as a whole is received is entirely subjective to players, but a looter, a soulslike game, and a LEGO game is a nice variety, meaning there should have been a little something for everyone. The big problem here is that the free PS5 title was Godfall: Challenger Edition, a "cut-price, limited-feature edition" that many said was basically a demo. Perhaps this was preparing for demos on the new PS Plus tier system, but at the time, it upset many fans because PS Plus was supposed to give out free games, not free limited-feature editions. It left a sour in many mouths, as the entire story is removed, the Fire and Darkness expansion is not playable, and players jump right to endgame content with an endgame build that they don't really get the joy of putting together.
Of course, this controversy is long in the past, but it set a bad tone for the end of 2021 and the start of 2022. The good news is that this fit into the rut pattern PS Plus found itself in the time. PS Plus has another pattern right now that's going to basically guarantee there is no repeat of the PS Plus free games for December 2021. Because of the new PS Plus tier system, Sony has been pushing great games on the service, both on the free game end and on the premium end. If nothing else, the sheer quantity stomps out the controversy, but the quality has a new bar right now.
Sony has been adding basically entire franchises with PS Plus Extra like Assassin's Creed and Yakuza, while ensuring quality games both big and small are gracing the service in the middle of the month. Sony is sticking to the three-game pattern for PS Plus' free games, but it's hard to be mad when fans are getting access to 20+ legitimate games and not "cut-price, limited feature editions." It does remain to be seen what gets added, but a betting man would think that PS Plus is going to end its 2022 run on a high, not a low, and set an even stronger tone for 2023.
PS Plus subscribers get a handful of games every month.