December PS Plus Essential Games Leak With Mass Effect Leading The Charge

It looks like we're getting a bit of an early preview of December 2022's PlayStation Plus Essential freebies courtesy of a leak from French deal-sharing website Dealabs. This leak comes on the heels of a content drop for PlayStation Plus Premium earlier this month in which Sony added five classic "Ratchet & Clank" games to the service. Sadly, it seems that Essential subscribers will have to settle for three free games in December. 

Okay — technically there are also five games in this assortment because "Mass Effect Legendary Edition" is three games in one. But regardless of the individual title count, there's a little more gameplay variety on offer with this batch of games. You've got a far-future action (arguably tactical) RPG trilogy, a post-apocalyptic action RPG, and a brand new third-person platform fighter.

According to Dealabs, the new roster of free PS+ Essential games will be available from December 6, 2022 through January 3, 2023 at 5am ET (2am PT). As per usual, you need to be a PS+ member (either Essential, Extra, or Premium) in order to take advantage of the free games on offer, which will set you back between $59.99 to $119.99 per year depending on the plan.

The biggest name of the bunch is "Mass Effect Legendary Edition," which packs all three "Mass Effect" titles — and their respective DLC add-ons — in one collection. Granted, this isn't sporting huge graphical improvements or anything like that, but the visuals have been updated somewhat and it's a convenient way to check out one of Bioware's most popular series or revisit it if you've already played through the whole thing. While the visuals may not have gotten an immense overhaul, some of the behind-the-scenes elements have, meaning you can play through the games with a little less old-school jank and a bit more modern polish. 

"Biomutant" (via THQ Nordic) is something of a different beast, as it's an open-world action RPG with kung fu fantasy stylings and a mixture of melee and gun-based combat. Players guide your creature through the hostile world as a plague spreads through it and various factions begin fighting for control.

Being open-world there's an emphasis on exploration (when you're not fighting for your life) throughout a number of underground bunkers, mountains, and other forms of wilderness. Your combat repertoire will also expand as you play, with more moves and forms being added as you progress and find new masters dotted throughout the world.

Rounding out the package is "Divine Knockout," a third-person platform fighter developed by Red Beard Games and published by Hi-Rez Studios. It's akin to multiplayer free-for-all fighting game like "Super Smash Bros." but with a more free-roaming third-person approach and a roster full of deities to smack around in various versus modes.

What makes "Divine Knockout" stand out from the other two free PlayStation Plus downloads for the month is that it's not out yet. "Divine Knockout" will be a day-one release for PlayStation Plus, meaning subscribers will get it from launch day on. It also happens to be the sole PlayStation 5 game of the bunch, though both "Mass Effect Legendary Edition" and "Biomutant" will run fine on Sony's latest console. With December right around the corner, Sony should be officially confirming these PlayStation Plus Essential games in just a few days, so we'll see if this leak pans out soon enough.