A user by the name of billbil-kun on the French website Dealabs has correctly leaked the monthly PlayStation Plus Essential (previously just PlayStation Plus) games, prior to their official announcement, for several months now, and he's back again, claiming that this upcoming December's monthly games are Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Biomutant, and Divine Knockout (DKO). These games will reportedly become available on December 6, for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
PlayStation Plus was restructured a few months ago into a three-tiered system. It was previously a simple $9.99-a-month subscription that allowed PlayStation users online play, cloud saves, and the added perk of a few monthly games handed out at no additional cost. This standard model was renamed PlayStation Plus Essential, as there are now two higher-priced tiers that offer a much larger library of available games. For Essential, you have to add these monthly games to your download list in order to claim them. By doing so, they will always be playable, so long as you have an active PlayStation Plus subscription.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is the 2021 collection of the original Mass Effect trilogy that released from 2007 to 2012. The collection touts visual enhancements, technical improvements, and certain quality-of-life changes, but the core gameplay mechanics, as well as the game's story, remain unchanged. The first three Mass Effect games are considered some of the best examples of branching narratives in video games, so it's undoubtedly a worthy addition.
Biomutant, also released in 2021, is a third-person action game where the player controls a mutated animal and uses its mutant abilities, as well as its guns, to battle enemies throughout an open world. It was the first game of Swedish development studio Experiment 101, and though the game sold fairly well at 1 million units, it was subject to a mixed critical reception due to what some considered to be a repetitive mission structure.
Finally, Divine Knockout (DKO), published by Hi-Rez Studios, is an interesting one, as it's an unusual PlayStation Plus day-1 release. The game officially launches on December 6, also available on Steam and Xbox consoles. It is touted as "the world's only 3rd-person platform fighter." Similar to Smash Bros or MultiVersus, hitting your opponent racks up damage, which makes it easier to knock them off the stage; the difference is it's all in 3D. The characters are based on mythological Gods, just like another Hi-Rez Studios game, Smite.