It was a shame that a subscription as grand as Sony’s PlayStation Plus, which had 48 million subscribers as of December 31, 2021, remained stagnant innovation-wise for almost a decade.
With Xbox Game Pass creating waves in the community and amassing immense popularity all this while, it was high time for Sony to start a service capable of taking on Microsoft.
Now, after years and months of speculation, the Japanese giants have finally unveiled a revamp of PlayStation Plus service via a detailed blog post.
Sony announced that it will merge PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus services into one revitalized subscription with three membership tiers: PS Plus Essential, PS Plus Extra, and PS Plus Premium.
Here, the Essential category will follow the current PS Plus model that offers monthly games, cloud storage, online multiplayer access, and exclusive discounts with no change in the price structure. However, instead of 3 or 4, the number of monthly games will reduce to 2 titles.
The Extra tier, on the other hand, will give members access to a massive library that consists of up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games along with every benefit that the Essential section provides at the cost of $99.99 yearly.
Subscribing to this plan will allow enthusiasts to get their hands on crowd-pullers like Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal on launch.
On top of this, Sony also promised that the library would be frequently refreshed with more first-party and third-party games.
The Premium version, without any shock, is the finest and most expensive tier of the three as it includes all the benefits from Essential and Extra and a catalog of PS1, PS2, and PSP games with an option to download and stream. This category will cost $119.99 yearly and offer time-limited game trials.
Sony announced that the all-new PlayStation Plus would roll out in a phased regional manner at the end of its detailed blog. Therefore, the service will launch in Asia in June, followed by North America, Europe, and other countries.
Sony expects this revamped service to extend to most territories by the end of 2022’s first half.
You will find an overview of the three membership tiers down below:
PlayStation Plus Essential
Benefits
- Provides the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members are getting today, such as:
- Two monthly downloadable games
- Exclusive discounts
- Cloud storage for saved games
- Online multiplayer access
- There are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier.
Price* for PlayStation Plus Essential remains the same as the current price for PlayStation Plus.
United States
$9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly
Europe
€8.99 monthly / €24.99 quarterly / €59.99 yearly
United Kingdom
£6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly
Japan
¥850 monthly / ¥2,150 quarterly / ¥5,143 yearly
PlayStation Plus Extra
Benefits
- Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
- Adds a catalog of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.
Price*:
United States
- $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly
Europe
- €13.99 monthly / €39.99 quarterly / €99.99 yearly
United Kingdom
- £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly
Japan
- ¥1,300 monthly / ¥3,600 quarterly / ¥8,600 yearly
PlayStation Plus Premium**
Benefits:
- Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
- Adds up to 340* additional games, including:
- PS3 games available via cloud streaming
- A catalog of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations
- Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets** where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.***
- Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.
Price*:
United States
- $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly
Europe
- €16.99 monthly / €49.99 quarterly / €119.99 yearly
United Kingdom
- £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly
Japan
- ¥1,550 – monthly / ¥4,300 – quarterly / ¥10,250 yearly
About Sony
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. The company operates as one of the most comprehensive media companies on the planet and also holds the distinctions of being the largest video game console company and the second largest video game publisher in the world.
Its gaming and network services arm Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment) is best known for producing the popular line of PlayStation consoles.
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