Thanks to the ongoing success of Microsoft’s Game Pass membership plans, Sony was pressured into pushing forward with its plans to do something similar. It seemed the company wanted to wait a little longer initially, but it didn’t have a choice but to announce something or get left behind as users likely would have felt tempted to switch sides to gain access to such an option. Now, Sony has officially announced the new PlayStation Plus, to hopefully feed this hunger with anticipation.
Of course, Sony already has both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services. The new subscription service simply brings the two together under multiple tiers to best compete with Microsoft. The company seems to be trying to match Microsoft’s three-tier options with similar benefits.
The new service will begin rolling out in June, starting with a focus on the Asian and North American markets. It will continue forward to all other markets, including them all by the end of the year. Users will gain access to features like access to multiplayer features, downloadable or streamable games (including from multiple platforms depending on the tier), downloadable demos, cloud storage for saves, and more.
Here is a breakdown:
- PlayStation Plus Essential (same as current PlayStation Plus plan)
- 9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly
- Two monthly downloadable games
- Exclusive discounts
- Cloud storage for saved games
- Online multiplayer access
- Current Plus subscribers will be automatically rolled into this come time
- PlayStation Plus Extra
- $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly
- Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
- Adds a catalog of up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games (downloadable for play)
- PlayStation Plus Premium
- $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly
- 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 classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2, and PSP generations
- Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation (PSX), 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 (demos)
Basically, close to being the same as Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The biggest difference is that Sony’s Extra and Premium plans are a bit more expensive. On the flip side, Sony’s plans promise a lot more games than what Microsoft currently offers (which is “over 100” titles to choose from).
The Premium tier kind of takes me back to the days of subscribing to monthly magazines that came with playable demo discs inside. Honestly, for the price, the company could have considered including a monthly magazine in the mix. Then again, the company is offering a lot more games, so this might be its excuse for the higher price tag.
Sony plans to include multiple major titles, including Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal.
Again, it won’t start rolling out until June. So you do have a few months before you’ll be able to see any of this. In the meantime, the company could still modify some of these features or even pricing. Current PlayStation Plus subscribers will be automatically converted to the Essential plan.
