When it comes to subscription services like Xbox Game Pass andPS Plus Premium, losing games is as much part of the package as getting access to new ones. However, the specific titles being lost at certain times is sometimes questionable. One recent example was the loss ofA Plague Tale: Innocencefrom Xbox Game Pass in September, just a month before the sequelA Plague Tale: Requiemwas released as a day-one game on the service. This time around, it’sPS Plus Premiumchanges that are feeling a bit poorly timed.
PS Plus Premium is losing the originalRed Dead Redemptionon October 17, which also means it’s losing the standalone expansionRed Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. Then, on October 18,SOMAwill also be leaving the service. PlayStation hopefully makes up for these losses with an impressive list ofgames coming to PS Plus in October, including one more horror game on the way, but the timing of removing some greatly received horror games right before Halloween is an odd occurrence.
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PS Plus Losing Horror Games as Halloween Arrives
Even with great games such as theYakuza3, 4, and5remasters,multipleAssassin’s Creedtitles, andGrand Theft Auto: Vice City - The Definitive Editioncoming to the service in October, PS Plus Premium losing some great horror games during spooky season seems like a tough deal. It’s an especially hard pill to swallow considering the range and quality that the two titles in question offered horror fans, with the departing games featuring different experiences.
An expansion to the universally acclaimedRed Dead Redemption,Undead Nightmaregives its take on the genre in classic Rockstar fashion. It’s a more light-hearted zombie-horror experience than some other entries of the genre. The premise of Wild West zombies, combined with the signature satirical tone of the developer, makes the game more akin to zombie comedy flicks likeShaun of the DeadorZombielandas opposed to a hardcore horror experience. That would have made it a great game for anyone looking to get in on Halloween gaming without the stress of something too spooky.
Undead Nightmareleaving PS Plus Premium is especially upsetting news as it’s the only way to play the game on Sony’s current-gen hardware. SinceRed Dead Redemptionand its DLC content weren’t released on PlayStation 4 and 5, nor are they available via backward compatibility on the consoles, losing it from PS Plus renders it unplayable in the PlayStation ecosystem without access to the now 16-year-old PlayStation 3. Developments like this are part of the reason for the increasing relevance of conversation around video game streaming andsubscription services and video game preservation, especially with regard to accessibility to consumers.
Meanwhile,SOMAis leaving PS Plus Premium on October 18, just one day afterUndead Nightmareis lost. The 2015 title comes from Frictional Games, best known as the developers ofAmnesia. Like other first-person horror games of its time,SOMAputs the player in an isolated setting to solve puzzles while being chased down by unsettling horrors. While it’s definitelyless scary than counterparts likeAmnesiaorOutlast,SOMAis arguably a more well-realized game overall when it comes to aspects like gameplay and story. Given the lighter approach ofUndead Nightmareand the more classic horror feeling ofSOMA, PS Plus Premium’s losses are likely to disappoint horror fans of every kind.
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PS Plus Is Overshadowed by Xbox Game Pass This Halloween
In terms of day-one releases for October, Xbox Game Pass has already received theH.R. Giger-inspired gameScorn, a first-person survival horror game set in maybe one of the most grotesquely disturbing worlds for a video game. Then, on October 18 comesA Plague Tale: Requiem, a slightly less horror-oriented game that is still suitably spooky thanks to tense stealth gameplay in its grim plague-stricken medieval setting. Finally, the indie cosmic horror gameSignalislaunches on Xbox Game Pass just days before Halloween on October 27, taking place in an ominous dystopian future.
As licenses expire and interests move on, it’s unavoidable that games are removed from certain services, but it’s still disappointing forPS Plus Premiumto be losing spooky games during spooky season, while other services double down on their availability. For now, it seems subscription gaming is the forte of Xbox Game Pass, building its library with regular additions and even acquisitions like Bethesda and potentially Activision Blizzard; while Sony’s focus seems to be on adding to its critically acclaimed library ofsingle-player exclusives for PlayStation, such asGod of War Ragnarokcoming in November andMarvel’s Spider-Man 2in 2023.
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