The latest titles for PlayStation Plus Essential are available now. The selections for this November include Stray, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, and EA Sports WRC 24. The service has had a strong year overall, especially picking up during the summer when Sony was in the midst of celebrating the 15th year of PlayStation Plus, which continued through the fall with a number of great horror and thriller entries for October.
This year has seen the PS Plus catalog add a number of notable and well-received games like Lies of P, Sword of the Sea, Stardew Valley, and Diablo 4. Of the three Essential titles for this month, though, Stray stands out not only as an excellent experience, but as part of a group of games that have a rather strange connection to PS Plus.
The PS Plus games for November 2025 will be available for members to claim from now until December 1.
Stray On PS Plus Essential For November 2025 Is a Repeat of an Odd Circumstance
PlayStation Plus' History of 'Double-Dipping' Games Between Tiers
Stray is the latest title that finds itself in the situation of having already been on PS Plus previously, albeit only on the higher Extra and Premium tiers. Originally coming to the service as a day one title for those in July 2022, it was then removed just about a year later before being added back to the Essential catalog for this month. And there are a few other titles that have also shared this approach in the past:
- Ghostwire: Tokyo- First added to PS Plus Extra in March 2023 before coming to Essential in November 2024.
- It Takes Two- Included on Extra in July 2023, then added to Essential in December 2024.
- Little Nightmares- Arrived on all three tiers (Essential, Extra, and Premium) in August 2022 and was removed in June 2023.
It Takes Two and Ghostwire: Tokyo were spaced out about a little more than a year between service tiers, while Stray marks the longest time gap between a title being on PS Plus Extra/Premium and Essential. Little Nightmares is the oddest of the bunch, as it was on all PS Plus tiers at the same time before being removed, which seems to be the only instance of this ever occurring in the service's history, and certainly far from the norm.
This practice can be a boon for those members who subscribe only to Essential, allowing them to grab games later that were initially on the higher priced tiers. However, it also presents something of a contentious double-edged sword in the long run, since it essentially means that members of those higher tiers would've already been able to claim these games beforehand, and thus did not technically receive a new title at those times — something that is true of Stray now as well.
Stray Being Included on PS Plus Essential After Being On Extra Could Inspire This Pattern to Continue
Although the above circumstances are exceptions to the rule, and by and large, Sony offers distinct titles for each tier month to month, it does set some precedent for this possibly happening again in the future, at least in certain cases. One potential recent example in the same category as Stray could be Sword of the Sea, a day one PS Plus Extra game for August. Like Stray, Sword of the Sea was highly acclaimed by fans and critics, but is currently only available on the upper two tiers. As it stands, the fact that some PS Plus titles have followed this pattern suggests that it could be the case down the line. And if it follows suit in the manner that Stray and the above-mentioned games have, members might see it or other titles likewise come to Essential in a few years.