PS Plus’s new and improved version is likely to give much of what you presently get while also including features from PlayStation Now, the company’s other subscription service that allows users to play games via cloud streaming. With this new evolution, PlayStation is retiring PS Now and combining the two services into a single mega membership. Here’s everything you need to know about PS Plus’s relaunch.
The most significant change that PS Plus subscribers will have to adjust to is the introduction of new tiers. PS Plus has always been one service that gave everyone who bought in the same benefits—online multiplayer, exclusive discounts, cloud storage, and, most significantly, free monthly games—since its debut. With the PS5, Sony also introduced the PS Plus Collection, which gave PS5 owners free access to a selection of PS4 games as long as they kept their subscription active. More features are being introduced to PS Plus, but only if people are prepared to pay a greater price for the two new tiers.
The following is a list of the new tiers and what they include:
PlayStation Plus Essential
This is the cheapest PS Plus subscription option, and it’s just a rebranding of the current service. This is the one for you if you want to keep the same service at the same price. That means you’ll get monthly access to multiplayer, PS Plus discounts, cloud storage, and a selection of free games for PS4 and PS5. You’ll also keep your PS Plus membership, which includes games like Bloodborne and The Last of Us Remastered.
PlayStation Plus Extra
This is a step up from the Essential tier and the intermediate tier of PS Plus’ new offers. It comes with everything from the previous tier, plus a catalog of up to 400 games from the PS4 and PS5 libraries to download. This is a relic from PS Now’s early days when it merely allowed players to broadcast games. Later on, the membership included the option to download titles from the PS4 library to your system.
PlayStation Plus Premium
This tier reflects the new premium edition of PS Plus, complete with all of the extras. It has all of the benefits of the Essential and Extra tiers, plus an additional 340 games to play. These bonus games are from the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation libraries. While PS3 games will only be available to stream, the rest of the system libraries will be available for download and streaming. Trials for upcoming titles will also be available in this tier for a limited time. As a proviso, PlayStation Plus Deluxe will be provided at a slightly reduced price in areas where cloud streaming isn’t accessible. It will have many of the same features as the PS3, but it will no longer be possible to play PS3 games; instead, they will have to be streamed.
New PS Plus Prices
With all this talk of tiers, you’re probably wondering how much this is all going to cost you at the end of the day.
PlayStation Plus Essential, the lowest tier which will resemble the service as it is now, will not have a change in pricing. In the US, that breaks down to $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly. For the UK, it’s £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly. In Australia, it’ll cost you $11.95 monthly / $33.95 quarterly / $79.95 yearly
The new middle tier, PlayStation Plus Extra, will naturally cost you a bit more, but the pricing isn’t anything too unfamiliar. In the US, it’ll cost you $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly. In the UK, that’ll be £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly. For Australia, that’ll come out to $18.95 monthly / $54.95 quarterly / $134.95 yearly.
And finally PlayStation Plus Premium costs the most. For the US, it’ll be priced at $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly. In the UK, that’ll come out to £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly. Australian prices will be $21.95 monthly / $63.95 quarterly / $154.95 yearly.
In markets where cloud streaming isn’t available, PlayStation Plus Deluxe will be available rather than Premium. The price of this service will vary by the market.
The most appropriate parallel for the relaunch of PS Plus is Xbox Game Pass, which has consistently grown in popularity and subscriptions since its inception in 2017. All Xbox exclusive games are available on Game Pass from the start, which was and continues to be an unparalleled gesture. This has made Game Pass extremely popular (not to mention economical) among Xbox fans, but it has sparked debate in the industry, with some fearing that it would stifle game sales at launch. PlayStation fans were naturally hoping for day one exclusives but were disappointed when Sony CEO Jim Ryan told Gamesindustry.biz that the company would not be publishing its games on PS Plus right once.
According to PlayStation’s forecasts, the new PS Plus will not be available in every major area at the same time, but it will begin rolling out by the end of May and should be available in every major market by the end of June. PS Plus is set to relaunch on May 23 in Asian markets (excluding Japan), followed by June 1 in Japan. Following that, on June 13, the Americas will arrive, followed by Europe on June 22.
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