Sony just dropped the January 2026 update for the Game Catalog, and honestly, it’s one of those months where the "Extra" tier finally feels like it's earning its keep. Usually, we get a mix of "I already played that" and "Why is this here?" but the new playstation plus extra game list additions for this month actually have some teeth. Specifically, giant, vampire-lady teeth and a whole lot of Yakuza-style Hawaiian vacation vibes.
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether to keep your subscription active or maybe upgrade from the Essential tier, the current landscape is shifting. Sony is clearly pivoting. They’re leaning harder into PS5-native experiences and slowing down on the PS4 backfill, which is a bit of a bummer if you haven't upgraded your hardware yet, but great if you want to see what your console can actually do.
The Big Heavy Hitters for January 2026
The headliner is obviously Resident Evil Village. If you haven't played this yet, you’re in for a trip. It’s basically Capcom’s "Greatest Hits" album. You’ve got the gothic horror of Castle Dimitrescu, the psychological "what is even happening" vibes of House Beneviento, and then it just turns into a full-blown action movie by the end. It’s weird, it’s beautiful on the PS5, and it’s finally sitting there for "free" (well, subscription-free) starting January 20.
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Then there is Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. This is a massive get. We’re talking a 100-hour RPG where you play as Ichiban Kasuga in Honolulu. It’s got turn-based combat that somehow feels more kinetic than most real-time games, and the mini-games are basically entire games themselves. There’s a whole Animal Crossing style island-building mode tucked inside this thing.
Other Notable Additions This Month
- A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead: A stealth-heavy horror game that actually uses your controller’s haptic feedback to tell you if you’re about to step on something crunchy.
- Darkest Dungeon II: A punishing, roguelike road trip that will make you hate your own decisions. It’s much more focused than the first game but just as brutal.
- Expeditions: A MudRunner Game: Think of it as a "slow-burn puzzle game" but with trucks. You’re not racing; you’re just trying not to get stuck in a bog in the middle of nowhere.
- The Exit 8: A short, surreal "spot the difference" game set in a Japanese subway. If you see something weird, turn around. If you don't, keep walking. It’s oddly terrifying.
Why the Extra List is Better Than Premium for Most People
I get asked this a lot: "Is Premium actually worth the extra twenty bucks?"
In 2026, the answer is still mostly "probably not" unless you’re a die-hard retro fan. The playstation plus extra game list contains the meat of the service—the modern PS4 and PS5 blockbusters. Premium gives you the "Classics Catalog" (mostly PS1, PS2, and PSP games) and cloud streaming. This month, Premium users only got one exclusive title: Ridge Racer. While Ridge Racer is a legend, is it worth the price jump alone? Probably not.
The Extra tier is where the value lives. You get games like Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, God of War Ragnarök, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (which moved over to the service late last year). These are the games people actually buy consoles for.
What’s Leaving Soon (Don't Sleep on These)
The double-edged sword of a "Netflix-style" service is that games leave. On January 20, four titles are hitting the bricks. If you’re halfway through Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, you better hurry up and finish it. It’s leaving the service along with Monopoly Plus, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and SD Gundam Battle Alliance.
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Sony usually gives about a month's notice, but it’s easy to miss the "Last Chance to Play" tab in the store. Once they’re gone, they’re gone unless you buy them outright.
Practical Advice for Managing Your Library
Don't just add everything to your library. It makes the UI a nightmare to navigate. Instead, use the "Collection" feature to tag games you actually intend to play.
Also, a pro tip: if you’re running low on SSD space (which, let's face it, we all are), focus on the smaller "Indie" gems in the playstation plus extra game list. Games like Art of Rally or A Little to the Left take up almost no space but offer dozens of hours of high-quality gameplay. Art of Rally in particular is a masterpiece of minimalist design—it looks like a tilt-shift toy world but drives like a hardcore simulator.
What to Do Next
If you’re already a subscriber, head to the PlayStation Store on your console and go to the Plus tab. Make sure you’ve manually "claimed" the Essential monthly games (Need for Speed Unbound and Epic Mickey: Rebrushed), as those stay in your library as long as you have a sub. Then, scroll down to the "Newly Added" section for the Extra catalog to start the download for Resident Evil Village.
If you're looking for a deep dive into a specific genre, I’d suggest starting with the "Ubisoft+ Classics" section that comes bundled with Extra. It’s basically every Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry game ever made, which is a great safety net for when you finish the big January releases and have nothing left to play.
Check your storage before you hit download—Infinite Wealth and Village together are going to eat up a significant chunk of your internal drive. You might need to move some older titles to an external M.2 drive if you’ve got one installed.
The service has definitely gotten more expensive over the last two years, but when months like January 2026 happen, the "cost per hour" of entertainment stays pretty unbeatable compared to buying these games at $70 a pop.
Actionable Insight: Go to your settings and check your "Auto-Download" status. With the size of modern games like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, you’ll want those updates happening while you’re at work so you can actually play when you get home. Also, prioritize playing Sayonara Wild Hearts before January 20; it’s only two hours long and one of the best rhythmic experiences on the platform.