PlayStation Plus Officially Replaces November 2026 Free Game With Alternative Title

PlayStation has officially replaced one of the planned November 2026 games on the PlayStation Plus Essential lineup for millions of subscribers, in what can only be described as a pretty raw deal. The PlayStation Plus Essential free games for November 2026 were officially announced earlier this week, confirming that Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, Monster Train 2, and Dead Island 2 will be joining the service from November 3.

That’s a pretty great lineup, and a huge step-up from the middling October offering. Tomb Raider is three games in one, so you’re already getting extra bang for your buck. Monster Train 2 is also a fantastic roguelike deckbuilder that’s impossible to put down once you’ve picked it up. Finally, Dead Island 2 is a genuinely satisfying open-world zombie RPG with crunchy, grungy, visceral combat. It’s just a shame some subscribers will be going without one of these games.

Unfortunately, PlayStation Plus subscribers in Japan won’t be getting Dead Island 2. The game has instead been replaced with Secret Neighbor, a multiplayer stealth/horror hybrid. It’s a pretty decent game, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no Dead Island 2. It’s not entirely clear why Japan isn’t getting Dead Island 2, but it’s worth noting last month, PlayStation Plus Japan swapped Hunt: Showdown 1896 with Hello Neighbor, unsurprisingly from the same publisher. Given that both Neighbor games are part of the PlayStation Plus Extra library, it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth that these were offered up as alternatives.

“Secret Neighbor is a multiplayer Social Horror game set in the Hello Neighbor universe,” reads the official description for the new PS Plus Essential game. “Explore the Hello Neighbor house with your friends, but beware — one of you is the Neighbor in disguise. Use teamwork and rescue your friend from the basement, or mess with everyone’s heads as the Neighbor!”

One gamer on the PlayStation Plus subreddit joked: “The Japanese must really enjoy neighbors to get a game about neighbors twice in a row.”

To be clear, this swap only seems to have affected PlayStation Plus Japan, so everyone else can access the previously confirmed three games. While it’s coming a little too late for Halloween, Dead Island 2 is absolutely worth checking out when you can. There’s something incredibly satisfying about slicing through zombies in increasingly creative ways.

In other global PlayStation Plus news, PlayStation officially launched its cloud streaming service for PS5 games in South Korea on October 28. This is a PlayStation Plus Premium-exclusive feature that allows subscribers to stream over 300 supported games included in the Game Catalog on PS5 consoles and via PlayStation Portal. PS Plus Extra subscribers were even upgraded at no extra cost.

Supported titles in the Game Catalog include the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon Forbidden West, Ghost of Tsushima, Final Fantasy 15, and Hogwarts Legacy. You can also stream games you own without having to download them first, like Crimson Desert, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Ghost of Yōtei.