PlayStation console exclusive Stray is all anyone's talking about, and you can get in on the conversation by playing it for free.
Sony is currently offering a weeklong PS Plus trial for the Premium and Extra tiers of its revamped subscription service that rolled out last month. If you're a cat who's been mesmerized by the game, this is the news you've been waiting for. Just make sure your humans know about it.
The free PS Plus trial means you don't have to spend $17.99 / £13.49 to give PS Plus Premium a whirl. But keep in mind that you'll only be eligible for it if you're a completely new PS Plus subscriber who's never paid for the service in the past.
It also extends to the Australian equivalent – PS Plus Deluxe – which usually costs AU$21.95. This isn't immediately obvious on PS Plus's Australian website, but the fine print on the US site states that the trial is for "PlayStation Plus Extra, Deluxe or Premium."
How to get PS Plus Premium for free
Getting PS Plus Premium or PS Plus Extra for free is super easy. Just head to the PS Plus page on the PlayStation Store and hit 'view all membership plans'. If you're eligible for a free trial, you'll see the option pop up as shown in the handy screenshot above.
Given that it's a free trial with strict caveats, we suggest you give PS Plus Premium a go. If you don't want to carry on paying after the seven days, or don't like what's on offer, set a reminder to cancel, so you don't get charged.
The trial will give you free reign of what's available on PS Plus Premium. The library includes some of the best PS5 games and a chunky selection of last-gen PS4 titles. Retro fans can also check out the growing collection of PS1, PS2 and PSP games.
And rounding out the collection is a roster of PS3 titles, though these can only be streamed, not downloaded. Sadly, though, the PS3 library still isn't available in Australia. Hopefully the region will get access to these games at a later date.
Best of all, the new PS Plus Premium free trial will let you try out the newly released (and critically acclaimed) Stray, at no extra cost. This creative cyberpunk adventure sees you playing as an adorable kitty, doing its best to survive in a perilous futuristic city.
If you've been looking forward to Stray, and have yet to try out PS Plus for yourself, this free trial pretty much lets you kill two birds with one... um... cat.
And as the old PS Plus service rolled into the new, you unfortunately won't be eligible for the free trial if you were a PS Plus subscriber before the June revamp.
PS Plus's new Extra and Premium tiers are still young, having only launched last month. It's taken a rather scattershot approach to the games included in its library – especially with the older PS Now's cloud-based PS3 library feeling unceremoniously bolted on.
It's not as well-curated as Xbox Game Pass, but we're already seeing some high-profile games come to the new PS Plus. This month, for example, sees Final Fantasy 7 Remake (and its Intergrade expansion) and Marvel's Avengers land on the service alongside Stray. And for retro fans, games from older generations are set to come to PS Plus at a steady clip.
As a result, the gap between new PS Plus vs. old PS Plus is already widening. And we hope the service continues to add value like this for years to come.
