Highlights
- Sony is raising the prices of its PlayStation Plus subscription service, with the cost of a 12-month subscription increasing to $79.99 for the basic tier, $134.99 for the Extra tier, and $159.99 for the premium tier.
- Despite the price increase, it is unlikely that many subscribers will cancel their subscriptions since PS Plus is required for online multiplayer, although some fans may choose not to renew their subscriptions in the future.
Sony has officially announced that its PlayStation Plus subscription service is about to get more expensive. PlayStation Plus was first introduced over a decade ago, giving subscribers the chance to take advantage of exclusive deals and download free games. PS Plus has evolved quite a bit since then, becoming a requirement for online multiplayer starting with the PlayStation 4 generation and eventually evolving into a three-tiered service.
Last year, Sony revamped PS Plus by essentially combining it with PlayStation Now and spreading the benefits across three tiers. PS Plus Essential is the basic version of PlayStation Plus that fans have been using for years, giving them access to online multiplayer and the monthly free games. PS Plus Extra, meanwhile, has everything available in the PS Plus Essential tier, but also gives subscribers access to a wide variety of PS4 and PS5 games. And finally, PS Plus Premium gives users the most bang for their buck, throwing retro PS1, PS2, PSP, and PS3 games into the mix along with cloud streaming benefits.
Soon PlayStation Plus subscribers will have to pay more money to enjoy the benefits associated with the service and its three different tiers. Starting September 6, PS Plus is getting a price hike. The cost of 12-month subscriptions for PS Plus Essential are going from $59.99 to $79.99, while PS Plus Extra will now cost $134.99. PS Plus Premium will be the most expensive of course, retailing for $159.99.
Some fans may view this PS Plus price increase as being poorly-timed, for a couple of different reasons. For one, the free PS Plus games for September 2023 have not been received well at all. The lineup consists of Saints Row, Black Desert: Traveler Edition, and Generation Zero. None of these games earned particularly strong reviews, with Generation Zero outright panned by most critics and Saints Row earning significantly lower scores than its predecessors.
Secondly, the price increase is happening the very same day that Xbox is releasing Starfield on Xbox Game Pass. Sony's PS Plus subscription tiers are trying to compete with Xbox Game Pass, and a price increase happening on the same day that Microsoft's service is getting its biggest game of the year is a puzzling decision.
It remains to be seen how this PS Plus price increase might impact the service's subscriber count. Since PS Plus is necessary to play PS4 and PS5 games online, it seems unlikely that many subscribers will bow out because of the increase, though it's possible some fans will opt out of renewing the next time their subscription expires.
