PS Plus October 2026: F1 25, Hunt: Showdown 1896 — and September Expires Oct 5

Two deadlines, one library: September's four Monthly Games stop being claimable on October 5, and October's three replacements — F1 25, Hunt: Showdown 1896 and EDF: World Brothers 2 — open for claiming on October 6. Here is what to add, what to download first, and the dates that matter.

Act first: September's games leave on October 5

Before anything new arrives, there is a library to protect. PS Plus members have until Monday, October 5, 2026 to add September's four Monthly Games to their libraries: Sniper Elite: Resistance, MLB The Show 26, Wobbly Life and Chained Echoes. Once a Monthly Game is added to your library, it stays available to download and play for as long as your PS Plus membership remains active — but if the claim window closes first, the chance to add it goes with it.

That makes the next two minutes the highest-value thing on this page. You do not need to download any of these today, and you do not need to intend to play them this month. Adding a game to your library costs nothing beyond the membership you already have, and it keeps the option open permanently. A stealth-shooter campaign, a full baseball season sim, an open-world sandbox and a retro-styled RPG is a varied haul to secure for the price of a few button presses — and after October 5, none of them can be added through this offer anymore.

October's lineup: three games built for multiplayer

From Tuesday, October 6 until Monday, November 2, 2026, PS Plus members can claim three new Monthly Games. The theme this month is playing together: a squad-based racer, a co-op extraction shooter and a four-player co-op action game. Here is what each one actually is.

F1 25 (PS5)

F1 25 is the official game of the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship, and it is the headline act of October's lineup. The solo side is built around Career mode and My Team 2.0, where you run your own outfit across a season. The multiplayer side lives in F1 World, which supports squad-based racing against AI opposition — a gentler on-ramp than jumping straight into ranked lobbies against experienced players. If your group chats already light up on race weekends, this is the download that turns that energy into actual sessions, and because it is a PS5 release, it is also the most technically current game in this month's trio.

Hunt: Showdown 1896 (PS5)

Hunt: Showdown 1896 is an extraction shooter set in a haunted, decaying America. You enter a map to track and kill boss targets, collect the bounty, and then try to escape with it — while every other hunter on the map has reason to stop you. It can be played solo, but the game is at its best in a team of up to three, where callouts and coordination decide whether a hunt ends in an extraction or an empty-handed walk back to the menu. It is the tensest game in this month's lineup, and the one most likely to produce stories your group retells. New players should expect a learning curve: permadeath for hunters and a deliberately sparse interface are part of the design, not rough edges.

Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 (PS5, PS4)

The friendliest option of the three. Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 is a voxel-styled spin on the long-running series about defending Earth from waves of giant invaders, built here with a blockier, more playful look than the mainline games. It supports four-player online co-op and two-player local split-screen, which makes it the easiest game on this list to start on a shared couch. It is also the only one of October's games available on PS4 as well as PS5, so mixed-console households — one player on each generation — are not split up by this month's offer.

Which should you download first?

Start with F1 25 if your group races. It is the biggest name in the lineup, the Career and My Team 2.0 modes give you something to play between multiplayer sessions, and F1 World's squad racing against AI is the most welcoming competitive structure of the three games.

Start with Hunt: Showdown 1896 if your group prefers co-op tension over competition. Nothing else in the October lineup creates the same pressure: one bounty, a map full of threats, and a long walk to the extraction point. Give it more than one evening before judging it — the systems open up once the basics click.

Start with EDF: World Brothers 2 if game night means a shared screen or a mixed group. Four-player online co-op, two-player split-screen, PS4 and PS5 support, and a tone that stays light even when the screen fills with giant insects. It is the lowest-friction download of the month.

Whichever you pick, check your free space before the download starts. Big installs are easier to plan than to improvise — our PS5 Storage Calculator estimates how much room your library needs.

Also worth knowing

PlayStation is also listing a Hunt: Showdown 1896 Starter Pack as a PS Plus Exclusive Pack from October 6, noted in its HorrorFest packs announcement. If Hunt becomes your group's game this month, it is worth a look on the Store alongside the base game claim.

Set up for game night

All three October games reward having more than one controller ready. Hunt is built for three-player teams, EDF supports split-screen on one console, and F1 World's squads are better with friends than with strangers. If your setup currently runs on a single controller and a charging cable, our Best PS5 Accessories guide covers second controllers, twin charging stations and headsets organized by the problem each one solves — it is the right next read before October 6.

FAQ

Lineup and dates: PlayStation Blog — PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for October (September 30, 2026).