April 2026 PS Plus Essential Games Leaked: Lords of the Fallen and Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream
Sony hasn’t made it official yet, but the two biggest names in April’s PlayStation Plus Essential lineup are already out in the open. As usual, reliable Dealabs insider Billbil-kun has beaten Sony to the punch — and this month the leaks point to a decent double-header for RPG fans.
What’s Coming to PS Plus Essential in April 2026
According to Dealabs’ Billbil-kun — who has maintained a near-perfect track record on PS Plus leaks — April 2026’s Essential lineup will include:
- Lords of the Fallen (2023, PS5)
- Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream (2024, PS5)
There’s a third slot still unaccounted for, which Sony will reveal officially on Wednesday, April 1st. Games go live to claim from Tuesday, April 7th through Monday, May 5th.
Worth noting upfront: both leaked titles are PS5-only, which may frustrate anyone still on PS4.
Lords of the Fallen — The Headliner
Let’s clear up the confusion that always follows this title around: the Lords of the Fallen coming to PS Plus is the 2023 version developed by Hexworks, not the 2014 original published under the same name. CI Games made the somewhat baffling decision to reuse the identical title for what is effectively a soft reboot set 1,000 years after the events of the first game — so yes, they share a name, but they’re completely different experiences.
The 2023 version carries a Metacritic score of 70 on PS5, and opinions on it range fairly widely. The headline mechanic that divides players most is the dual-world system. The world of the living — called Axiom — serves as your default state, while the Umbral realm is where things get genuinely interesting. Dying in Axiom doesn’t kill you outright; instead, it drops you into Umbral and gives you a second chance to survive. The catch is that Umbral is actively hostile — enemies from both worlds can hound you simultaneously, and a red Reaper will eventually come for you if you overstay your welcome. It’s a tense risk-versus-reward loop, and it’s the best idea in the game.
Visually, it’s one of the most impressive Souls-likes on PS5. Built on Unreal Engine 5, the gothic world of Mournstead looks genuinely stunning, and watching your surroundings warp into a mutated hellscape as you shift into Umbral never really gets old. Character customisation is also solid, with nine starting classes ranging from the heavy-hitting Dark Crusader to magic-focused builds using Radiance or Rhogar spells.
The criticisms that trailed it at launch — rough performance, inconsistent difficulty spikes, and an overly punishing checkpoint system in certain areas — were largely addressed through post-launch patches. The experience you’ll get today is meaningfully better than what reviewers played in October 2023. If you bounced off it early or never picked it up, PS Plus is the right time to revisit.
Sword Art Online: Fractured Daydream — Know What You’re Getting Into
Fractured Daydream launched in October 2024 as a 10th anniversary celebration for the SAO franchise, developed by Dimps — the same studio behind the well-regarded Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet. The concept is ambitious: bring together 21 characters from across the entire Sword Art Online universe, spanning seasons 1 through 4 and even Gun Gale Online, and let up to 20 players team up to take on large-scale boss raids.
The story centers on a new VR system called Galaxia within ALfheim Online that allows players to relive past experiences — but when it malfunctions, characters from different timelines collide. It’s a fun premise for a fan-service crossover, even if its delivery through chapter-by-chapter story missions gets repetitive quickly. The story mode exists mainly to unlock characters and give you an offline option; the game is clearly built around its online modes.
Each of the 21 characters is genuinely distinct — different classes, movesets, and playstyles keep things interesting even when the underlying loop is fairly simple. The 20-player co-op raids are the highlight: teams of four split off for separate objectives before converging on a final boss, with MVP bonuses rewarding the group that lands the killing blow. It captures the MMO fantasy the anime always revolves around more effectively than any previous SAO game.
The downsides are real though. The gear system leans heavily on RNG loot, the progression can feel grindy without a clear sense of direction, and if you’re not already invested in Sword Art Online’s characters and lore, a lot of the appeal won’t land. It holds a Metacritic score of 68, and most critics landed in the “decent for fans, hard to recommend otherwise” camp. At PS Plus pricing, that calculus shifts considerably — especially if you have a friend or two to raid with.
What’s Leaving PS Plus Essential in April
Before the new games go live on April 7th, March’s lineup rotates out. Current Essential offerings — PGA Tour 2K25, Monster Hunter Rise, Slime Rancher 2, and The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road — are available until April 6th. Monster Hunter Rise in particular is worth grabbing before it disappears if you haven’t already. It’s one of the best games in the entire franchise.
When Will Sony Officially Announce the April PS Plus Lineup?
The official announcement lands on Wednesday, April 1st, 2026. Games go live to claim the following Tuesday on April 7th, which is a slightly unusual schedule — but that’s how the calendar falls this month with the first Tuesday of April not arriving until the 7th.
At this point Billbil-kun’s leaks have been accurate enough that treating these as confirmed is reasonable — but Sony’s word is final until then.
Looking for more gaming to fill your April? Check out our complete Pokémon GO April 2026 event and raid schedule — it’s one of the busier months the game has had in a while. And if you’re watching what’s coming later in 2026, Wuthering Waves is heading to Xbox in July with Game Pass support — worth keeping on your radar now.
