PlayStation Plus Officially Replaces October 2026 Free Game

Published Oct 2, 2026, 6:01 AM EDT

Known as 'Cyberpunk 2077's' biggest fan, Angharad is a Welsh games writer who thrives in anything related to digital storytelling. If a video game explores the intricacies and horrors of womanhood, she is there.

Thanks to previous work at GAMINGbible, GameByte, The Loadout, Game Luster, Angharad has built a strong understanding of both the digital world and what fans want from it and is eager to share her thoughts and expertise with readers.

A new month is upon us, and a spooky one at that, and as always, PlayStation Plus subscribers can look forward to another batch of free titles heading to the ever-growing library. Whilst September's line-up left quite a bit to the imagination, we always live in hope that the next month will fare better, and whilst one October PS Plus addition has already been confirmed, as well as just some of the month's full offerings, the full list will be made clear over the next few weeks.

What we do know is that October's PlayStation Plus titles will include F1 25, Hunt: Showdown 1896, and Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2. Each arriving on the service on 6 October, it is clear to see that F1 25 is the biggest pick here, whilst Hunt: Showdown 1986 offers a dark twist on the extraction shooter genre.

However, it seems as though, for some PlayStation Plus subscribers, one of these titles will not be available after being swapped out by another game entirely. According to one user over on r/PlayStationPlus, "PS Plus subscribers in Japan get Hello Neighbor instead of Hunt: Showdown 1896."

So, if you are in Japan, do not be confused if you do not gain free access to Hunt: Showdown 1896 as part of the PS Plus library this month. Instead, you will get to potentially grab Hello Neighbor, a 2017 stealth horror game which tasks players with sneaking into their neighbor's home to figure out what secret he is hiding in the basement.

It was Hello Neighbor that birthed a brand-new franchise, with it since welcoming a prequel, two multiplayer spin-offs, and a standalone sequel. Now, at time of writing, yet another sequel is currently in development, titled Hello Neighbor 3. On top of that, back in July, it was revealed that the Hello Neighbor franchise could also welcome a possible collaboration with none other than Fortnite.

It is safe to say that the Hello Neighbor series has made a name for itself over the past decade, but if you missed out on the game that started it all, and you just so happen to live in Japan, you will be able to experience Hello Neighbor at no extra cost as part of your PlayStation Plus subscription with the title being added on 6 October. However, as the Reddit user shares, "The game has also been available in the PS Plus Extra catalog for a long time (free PS5 version was added recently)."

That being said, one comment details how Hello Neighbor does not make a good replacement title, saying, "Metacritic rating of 38 on PC and 42 on Xbox, no rating for PS4/PS5. And the game has already been on Extra for a long time. It's baffling that they couldn't think of adding any other game as a replacement."

It seems as though Sony has struck again with this latest batch of titles, but if you want to ignore the reviews and check out Hello Neighbor for yourself, you can at least do so without having to spend any extra cash.

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