October's PS Plus: F1 25 and Hunt: Showdown 1896 lead the competitive grid

September is wrapping up, and Sony has already revealed the October 2026 lineup for PlayStation Plus. As reported by Vida Extra, every subscriber, whatever their tier, will be able to add three games for PS5 and PS4 to their library. Two of them hit close to home for us: F1 25, the official simulator of the 2025 Formula 1 season, and Hunt: Showdown 1896, Crytek's bounty hunter shooter.

Why does it matter? Because these aren't filler titles padding out the list. They're two games with a strong competitive side. One lives and dies by the stopwatch and every tenth of a second; the other by the tension of each match and knowing when to shoot and when to stay hidden. For a community like ours, spread across the Americas and Europe, getting two games like these at no extra cost means more new players on the servers, more rivals and, with any luck, more content.

What you need to know

• Sony has confirmed three games for PlayStation Plus in October 2026, available on PS5 and PS4.
• All subscription tiers can claim them, not just the most expensive ones.
• F1 25 includes modes such as Career and My Team 2.0, plus online multiplayer.
• Hunt: Showdown 1896 is the pick for anyone who prefers gunfights to hairpin turns.
• The games stay on your account, but you can only play them as long as your subscription remains active.

What's coming and who it's for

The big draw for racing fans is F1 25, which recreates the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship. According to Vida Extra, the game lets you build your own story with the driver of your choice, either in Career mode or in My Team 2.0, where you run your own team. And, most importantly for us as a team, it features online multiplayer so you can go head to head with other players. That makes it perfect ground for internal leagues, time trials between community members and streams with plenty of last-lap drama.

On the other side is Hunt: Showdown 1896, made for those who'd rather pull the trigger. It blends player-versus-player combat with AI-controlled creatures, and any match can end in disaster because of a single badly judged noise. It's a demanding game with an unforgiving learning curve, but it's also hugely rewarding for those who stick with it: few shooters can match the feeling of winning a tight fight.

The third game and the fine print

The source confirms there are three games in total, although the available excerpt doesn't say which one rounds out the lineup, so we'd rather not speculate. What's worth remembering is the usual condition: the games stay in your library, but they depend on your subscription staying active. If you cancel, you lose access until you pay again. It's not a gift in the strict sense; it's an incentive not to unsubscribe.

Our take

Here at Underworld Lordz, we're in no doubt: this is a good month for competitive players. F1 25 arrives with its real-world season already over, which makes it a game many people were hesitant to buy at full price. Getting it as part of the subscription is the perfect excuse to give it a try, and if the player base grows on PlayStation, online lobbies will be busier than ever. For content creators, F1 also has a loyal audience that watches races, setups and reactions.

Hunt: Showdown 1896 leaves us with more questions than answers. Its arrival could bring in a wave of newcomers, and that cuts both ways: more matches and more people to play with, but also a chaotic stretch where veterans will be cleaning house. If you're new, our advice is not to judge it by your first few hours. If you're a veteran, get ready for a few very entertaining weeks to record.

Our criticism is aimed at the model itself: we're still not comfortable with something being sold as games you keep forever when it disappears the moment you stop paying. It's a good month, yes, but it's still renting by another name.

What do you think?

Are you going to build your own team in My Team 2.0, or would you rather go hunting in Hunt: Showdown 1896? Tell us which game you're downloading first and whether you'd sign up for an internal team league. See you on Discord to set it up?