Here’s when October’s free PS Plus games are releasing

Next month's lineup of free PlayStation Plus games are on track to go live on October 8 in Europe, meaning those of us in North America can expect it on Tuesday, October 7. If that's the case, then expect an announcement revealing what October's free games will be sometime next week — around October 1st.

This is all according to PlayStation Europe community manager Fred Dutton who said, "At present it looks like the next batch of Plus games will go live on October 8th, so look out for the announcement on or around October 1st."

Dutton didn't elaborate on the reasoning behind the date selection, but I have a feeling it has something to do with how the dates fall on the calendar. Even though October 1 is the first Wednesday of the month, which is usually when the new back of games goes live in Europe, the first Tuesday (when the North America PS Store updates) isn't until October 7. For Europe to get their games on October 1 it would mean that North America would have to get it on September 30, and that probably isn't happening.

Regardless of reasoning, these are the important dates you should remember:

• "around" October 1: October's PS Plus games will be announced
• October 7: likely, but not confirmed, October PS Plus will go live in North America
• October 8: October PS Plus will go live in Europe

On the bright side, we do know one game PS Plus members are getting for free: Driveclub PS Plus Edition. Although this slightly watered down version of the retail edition will be available for free in October, Sony has already confirmed that it won't replace any of the already planned games.