Every month PlayStation Plus gives subscribers a handful of games at no extra cost. The system is simple once you know it, but it has three rules that regularly cost people games they thought they had.
The one that matters most: you must actively claim a monthly game while it is available. Being subscribed is not enough — an unclaimed game is gone when the month rolls over.
The three rules
1. You have to claim them. They do not appear in your library automatically. You add them to your account from the store or the PS Plus section of the console while they are the current month's offering. It takes about ten seconds and does not require downloading anything.
2. Claimed games are yours while you stay subscribed. Not "forever" — while subscribed. There is a real difference, and the phrase "free games" muddies it.
3. A lapse locks them, it does not delete them. If your subscription ends, claimed monthly games become unplayable. They stay attached to your account, and the moment you resubscribe they work again. Nothing is lost permanently; it is suspended.
Claim now, download later
The single most useful habit: claim every monthly game whether or not you want it.
Claiming costs nothing, takes seconds, and requires no storage — you are adding an entitlement, not a file. A game you shrug at today is a game you might want in two years, and by then the window is long closed.
You can claim from a browser or the mobile app as well as the console, which makes the habit easy to keep even in a month you are not playing.
What happens to trophies
Trophies you earn in a monthly game are ordinary trophies. They are stored against your PSN account, not against the game or the subscription, and nothing takes them away — not a lapse, not deleting the game, not the title leaving the service.
What a lapse costs you is the ability to earn more of them. If you are 80% through a platinum and your subscription ends, the trophies you have stay on your profile and your save stays on the console, but you cannot launch the game to finish until you resubscribe.
Worth planning around if you are mid-completion when a renewal date approaches.
Monthly games are not the Game Catalog
These are two different things, and conflating them is the most common PS Plus misunderstanding.
Monthly games are claimed, and kept while subscribed. Game Catalog titles (Extra and Premium) are not claimed at all — you install them from a rotating library, and when a title rotates out you lose access whether you were mid-game or not.
The distinction matters enormously when planning a long completion. We break it down in Game Catalog vs monthly games.
A practical monthly routine
Under a minute:
- When new games drop, claim all of them — from your phone if you are not at the console.
- Glance at the trophy lists before installing. A short, dense list is often worth an evening even in a game you would never have bought.
- If you are mid-completion on a catalog title, check whether it has a departure date.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I forget to claim a game?
You miss it. Once the month's offering rotates out, an unclaimed game can no longer be added, and there are no exceptions.
Do I keep monthly games if I cancel?
They lock while you are unsubscribed and unlock if you resubscribe. They are never deleted from your account.
Do I need to download a game to claim it?
No. Claiming adds the entitlement and uses no storage. Download whenever you like.
Which tier gets monthly games?
All three. Essential, Extra and Premium all receive them — the higher tiers add catalogues on top rather than replacing them. See the tier comparison.
Do monthly games include both PS4 and PS5 versions?
Sometimes. When both are offered, claim both — they usually carry separate trophy lists, which means two platinums from one month's offering.
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