PlayStation Plus: Disney’s Calculated Play Hides Behind the September 15 Game Purge
Buzz, Madden, and the Shadowrun runners are all getting the boot at once. PS Plus is doing its fall cleaning, dropping seven games in one go on September 15—right as Disney rolls out its remastered classics. Calculated coincidence? You bet.
The PS Plus Extra and Premium catalog rotation is ruthless: out with the old to make room for the new, even if it means sacrificing some fan favorites. Of the seven games on the chopping block, Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue and Toy Story 3 are making way for the imminent arrival of Disney/Pixar Toy Story: Retro Roundup, while Madden NFL 26 naturally steps aside for its successor. This wave of departures hits just before a PS5 fall season packed with big releases.
Image credit: Sony
The 7 games leaving PS Plus on September 15, 2026
The “Last Chance to Play” section on PS5 just got updated, and the departures are now official. Seven titles will vanish from the Extra and Premium catalogs simultaneously on September 15. It’s a mixed bag: from annual sports to tactical RPGs, a 27-year-old PS1 classic, and a full cyberpunk RPG trilogy.
Here’s the full list of games on their way out:
- EA Sports Madden NFL 26 (PS5 – Extra/Premium)
- Persona 5 Tactica (PS5, PS4 – Extra/Premium)
- Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue (PS5, PS4 – Premium)
- Toy Story 3 (PS5, PS4 – Premium)
- Shadowrun Returns (PS5, PS4 – Extra/Premium)
- Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut (PS5, PS4 – Extra/Premium)
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong – Extended Edition (PS5, PS4 – Extra/Premium)
The most symbolic loss? Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue, released in 1999 on PS1. Back when movie tie-in games rarely rose above mediocrity, this 3D platformer actually stood out from the crowd. Big Gamescom announcements might help nostalgic players forget these losses, but on Metacritic, its 7.2 user score shows the love is still real. “Why are they taking Buzz away from us?” fumed one Reddit user—pretty much summing up the mood.
Why these games are disappearing now
Every removal follows a crystal-clear business logic. Madden NFL 26 is out because Madden 27 just dropped. EA has zero reason to keep last year’s edition free when they want everyone jumping to the new one. The endless cycle of annual sports franchises—PS Plus subscribers know the drill.
For the two Toy Story games, the timing is even more telling. Disney/Pixar Toy Story: Retro Roundup lands on September 15—the very same day the originals leave. This collection bundles four classic Toy Story games plus A Bug’s Life, all remastered for modern consoles. Naturally, Atari would rather you pay for this shiny new compilation than keep playing the originals via subscription. Can you blame them?
As for Shadowrun and Persona 5 Tactica, it’s the usual rotation. Games typically stick around in the Extra/Premium catalog for six to twelve months, sometimes a bit more. Their time was simply up. The good news: if you’ve started any of these, your saves and trophies are safe. If you buy the game later on the PS Store, you’ll pick up right where you left off.
What’s coming to PS Plus in September
Even if these departures sting, the PS Plus catalog is always in flux. August’s additions raised the bar with Vampire Survivors, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams—a trio that covers everything from addictive roguelikes to ambitious medieval RPGs and Japanese action-adventure.
For September, PlayStation hasn’t shown its hand yet. The monthly free games (available with Essential) should be announced next week for a September 1 launch. The new Extra/Premium titles will be revealed later, around mid-September. With a PS5 fall lineup bursting with AAA releases, while Sony faces player backlash on other fronts, September’s lineup could pack a punch to keep the service attractive.
So you’ve got less than a month to finish—or at least try—these seven games before they vanish from the catalog on September 15. If you’re especially attached to Buzz Lightyear or the Shadowrun trilogy, keep an eye out for possible PS Store deals in the weeks after they’re gone.
PlayStation 5, PlayStation Plus
