Stray was PlayStation Plus Extra's most-played game by far, obviously

It’s undeniable that 2022 was a fantastic year to be a gamer. From Horizon Forbidden West to Elden Ring, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and God of War Ragnarök, it’s hard to believe so many huge titles all landed within the same 12 months.

One of last year’s greatest gems was BlueTwelve Studio’s adorable adventure game, Stray. The third-person title puts players into the toe-beaned paws of a lost cat, who falls into a decaying cybercity full of robots, and must find its way back home. The game was highly praised by many - its sandbox elements, which allow you to just mess around with the environment and cause all the havoc a real cat would (knocking things off shelves and scratching at rugs and furniture) are delightful, and the story is also a treat (if you claim that you didn’t shed a tear at the end, you’re probably lying).

Take a look at some very cute real-life kitties reacting to Stray below.

Right from its reveal, it was clear that Stray was going to be popular, but it was boosted even further by the fact that it was added to the PS Plus Extra game catalogue on day one. It’s now been revealed in an interview by GamesIndustry.biz with PlayStation’s head of subscriptions Nick Maguire that Stray was PS Plus Extra’s most-played game in the time since the overhauled service launched, and I can’t say I’m surprised.

“Stray has brought in the highest number of players that have accessed that title over the first 12 months,” Maguire said. “And Ghost of Tsushima has brought in the highest number of hours of gameplay. People have really stuck around and really invested in that game. That goes to the strength of our PS Studios titles, which have seen great engagement and lots of excitement.”

Despite Stray’s success as a day-one release, Maguire said that PlayStation is “happy with our strategy” of generally releasing slightly older games on the service, instead. He explained: “We can reach more customers 12, 18, 24 months after they have released. We're seeing customers still get excited about those games and jumping in. For us, that's working.

“Occasionally, there will be an opportunity to invest in a day-and-date like Stray and we will jump on those when they come in,” he continued. “But for us, letting those [first-party] games go out to the platform outside the service first… that's working and that will continue to be our strategy moving forward.”