Red Dead Redemption 2 Dares You To Finish It Now That It's Back On PS Plus

The selection of games rotating into PS Plus at the end of May isn’t that impressive, save for one: Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar Games’ open-world Western returns to the subscription service after a nearly two-year hiatus. Will you beat it this time?

There’s a good chance many of you already own Red Dead Redemption 2 since it has sold over 60 million copies since its 2018 release. But in the event that you don’t, now’s your chance to finally play, and maybe even finish, one of the best games from the PlayStation 4 (a native PS5 version somehow still hasn’t materialized yet). The pacing, cinematic delivery, and sprawling simulation of American life at the turn of the century make it overwhelming, relentless, and irresistible.

I like how former Kotaku editor-at-large Kirk Hamilton put it in his review:

…there is a pulse pumping through this techno-artistic marvel. This game has heart; the kind of heart that is difficult to pin down but impossible to deny. It is a wonderful story about terrible people, and a vivacious, tremendously sad tribute to nature itself. There is so much beauty and joy in this expensive, exhausting thing. Somehow that makes it even more perfect—a breathtaking eulogy for a ruined world, created by, about, and for a society that ruined it.

It’s only 50 hours to beat if you mainline the main campaign. But if you stay and enjoy yourself in its brutal prairie lands and mountain ranges as you should, it can take nearly 200 hours. The last time the game came to PS Plus it hung around for four months. Plenty of time, right?

What’s coming to PS Plus in May 2024?

Red Dead Redemption 2 isn’t the only game joining the Extra tier of PS Plus on May 21. Here is the full list of games:

• Red Dead Redemption 2 | PS4
• Deceive Inc. | PS5
• The Sims 4 City Living | PS4 (expansion only)
• Crime Boss: Rockay City | PS5
• The Settlers: New Allies | PS4
• Stranded: Alien Dawn | PS4, PS5
• Cat Quest | PS4
• Cat Quest II | PS4
• The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame | PS4
• Watch Dogs | PS4

Don’t sleep on Cat Quest 1 and 2! There are also three more PlayStation classics coming to the more expensive Premium tier:

• 2Xtreme | PS4, PS5
• G-Police | PS4, PS5
• Worms Pinball | PS4, PS5

Why is Horizon Zero Dawn leaving PS Plus?

And finally there’s a bunch of games leaving the PS Plus subscription library this month, most notably Guerrilla Games’ sci-fi open world scavenger-fest, Horizon Zero Dawn. If you haven’t concluded Aloy’s initial dino-bot hunting adventure, you’ll have to buy it to do so beginning May 21.

Given that Horizon Zero Dawn is a first-party Sony game and also required playing for those who want to jump into Horizon Forbidden West and its Burning Shores expansion, you’d think the company might want to keep it around. One possible reason it might be leaving is if Sony is working on a PS5 remaster of the RPG. That would be surprising considering there’s already a great free 60fps upgrade for the game, but stranger things have happened.

Here’s the full list of games leaving in May:

• Abzu | PS4
• Ad1ft | PS4
• Ashen | PS4
• Darksiders: Warmastered Edition | PS4
• Darksiders 2: Deathinitive Edition | PS4
• Darksiders 3 | PS4
• Darksiders: Genesis | PS4
• Elex | PS4
• Elex 2 | PS4
• Final Fantasy VII | PS4
• Final Fantasy VIII Remastered | PS4
• Final Fantasy IX | PS4
• Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster | PS4
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age | PS4
• Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition | PS4
• Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition | PS4
• I Am Dead | PS5, PS4
• Jotun: Valhalla Edition | PS4
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning | PS4
• Last Stop – PS5, PS4
• How To Survive 2 | PS4
• Minit | PS4
• Monster Jam Steel Titan 2 | PS4
• MX vs. ATV Legends | PS5, PS4
• My Friend Pedro | PS4
• Observation | PS4
• Sundered: Eldritch Edition | PS4
• Teardown | PS5, PS4
• The Artful Escape | PS5, PS4
• The Messenger | PS4
• This Is The Police | PS4
• This Is The Police 2 | PS4
• World of Final Fantasy | PS4
• Wreckfest | PS5, PS4

A sad month for PS Plus Extra, but at least Red Dead Redemption 2 is back.