PlayStation Plus’ Essential (free) games for November 2026 are available to download right now, and as usual, they’re a fairly varied bunch. There’s the well-received roguelike deckbuilder Monster Train 2, the remastered collection of the second Tomb Raider trilogy, and the zombie-killing co-op game Dead Island 2. However, it’s this final game that stands out most, and not only because it’s being treated as a headliner. Specifically, PS Plus Extra (and Premium) subscribers are frustrated with Dead Island 2 joining the PS Plus Free games for November 2026 because it only just left the PS Plus Extra Game Catalog.
Dead Island 2 is a solid zombie game, especially so after the brutal trek it took from its original reveal to its launch. It’s frankly shocking how well the game turned out after being passed from developer to developer, and it’s a good sign for Dead Island 3 that Dambuster Studios was able to get a quality product across the finish line. However, though Dead Island 2 is an easy recommendation for co-op groups and fans of zombie games in general, that doesn’t excuse the fact that Sony is double-dipping with PS Plus subscribers. After spending several months within the Extra tier, Dead Island 2 left in August, only to be re-offered in a lower tier 3 months later.
Dead Island 2 Left PS Plus and Joined Another Tier Months Later
It’s not hard to grasp why some PlayStation Plus subscribers are so frustrated by the decision to re-use Dead Island 2 in such a way. For those subscribed to higher tiers, it feels frustrating to have one of the games that could have pushed them to invest more in PS Plus being offered to those subscribed to a lesser tier. More importantly, though, it essentially wastes one of the November PS Plus slots on a game that’s already been part of PS Plus before, and for such a long window of time. Dead Island 2 first came to the PS Plus Extra Game Catalog in October 2024, and only left in August 2026, giving players nearly two full years to play through the game. Many will have surely done so by this point, then, making Dead Island 2 feel like a relatively pointless inclusion to some Extra subscribers.
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Obviously, there’s something to be said for Essential/free games being the most popular tier of PS Plus, as even those simply subscribing for access to multiplayer content will be able to play its monthly games. Dead Island 2 being an Essential game, then, could provide it with a far larger audience of new fans, something that Dambuster will surely be happy with in the lead-up to Dead Island 3. Still, it’s frustrating to see the higher tiers being devalued in any way, and it’s particularly annoying that the “big AAA game” slot for November is occupied by a title that so many will have already played—either through PS Plus Extra or elsewhere. That slot could have gone to one of the many games that haven’t been a part of PS Plus at all, but instead, it was given to a game that sat in Extra’s catalog for almost two years. And sadly, this is far from the only time this has happened.
Unfortunately, Dead Island 2 is Hardly the First Case of PS Plus Double-Dipping
Dead Island 2 is the latest title in a long trend of PS Plus games traveling down the Extra to Essential pipeline. Other examples of games leaving the Games Catalog, only to become Essential offerings, include:
- Stray
- Little Nightmares
- It Takes Two
- Borderlands 3
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Monster Hunter Rise
There are also a few games that took the opposite path, such as Slay the Spire and LEGO Horizon Adventures, which began as Essential drops but moved to Extra afterward.
Perhaps the greatest example of PlayStation Plus and double dipping is Grand Theft Auto 5, a title that has been a part of the service on three separate occasions. Its initial PS Plus Extra run began in December 2023 and ended in mid 2024, then it returned in November of that year before leaving again in the middle of 2025. Like clockwork, GTA 5 returned to PS Plus Extra on November 15, 2025, and this lengthy run ends on November 17 of this year, just in time for the highly anticipated release of GTA 6. There were certainly some complaints about PS Plus constantly losing and bringing back Grand Theft Auto 5, but given that PS Plus Extra gets roughly six games every month, the criticism didn’t go as far as it could have.
Clearly, Dead Island 2 isn’t a fluke, but a legitimate strategy used by PlayStation from time to time. It’s unclear why this happens. Perhaps it’s cheaper to re-secure the rights to a game that’s been on PS Plus before, or there’s less red tape when working with studios that have already been through a version of the PS Plus process. Alternatively, more casual gamers subscribed at the Essential level could pay little attention to the other tiers and the ins and outs of PS Plus, being genuinely excited whenever a big game comes to their tier—even if it has been seen in another before.
Whatever the case, it’s likely to keep happening if the pushback isn’t severe enough. And while some forum users and commenters have deeply expressed their frustration with Dead Island 2’s PS Plus return, the pushback is nowhere near the level of the outcry there’s been regarding PlayStation’s abandonment of discs. So, while double-dipping may have created a lacking November 2026 lineup, at this rate it won’t be the last time that something like this occurs.
