PlayStation Plus prices are increasing from September 6th
Sony has announced that it is increasing its PlayStation Plus. The changes will come into effect next week.
Here is what the current prices of the PlayStation Plus plans (annual subscription) cost in the U.S., Europe, the U.K. and Japan.
- PlayStation Plus Essential - $59.99 | €59,99 | £49.99 | 5143 Yen
- PlayStation Plus Extra - $99.99 | €99,99 | £83.99 | 8600 Yen
- PlayStation Plus Premium - $119.99 | €119,99 | £99.99 | 10250 Yen
New PlayStation Plus prices (from September 6th 2023)
Sony's announcement mentions the following prices for the 12-Month Subscription.
PlayStation Plus Essential - 79.99 USD | 71,99 Euro | 59.99 GBP | 6800 Yen
PlayStation Plus Extra - 134.99 USD | 125,99 Euro | 99.99 GBP | 11700 Yen
PlayStation Plus Premium - 159.99 USD | 151,99 Euro | 119.99 GBP | 13900 Yen
The new prices have gone up by $20 for the Essential tier (about 33% higher), while the Extra tier got a $35 price hike (35% increase), and the cost of the Premium tier has gone up by $40 (33% costlier). The plan prices will be increased globally from September 6th, 2023.
Why does every subscription have to hike their prices? You could argue about the impact of inflation, of course, but these changes are astronomical. Inflation was not bad enough to justify a 33% price hike. It's quite ridiculous. Sony's statement says that the price adjustment would enable the company to bring high-quality games and benefits to the service. Meanwhile, the same article announced the addition of three games to the PS Plus library, all of which have a Metacritic rating of around 60 or below. These are the high-quality games Sony wants to give its subscribers? Xbox Game Pass prices were hiked recently too, but not by this much, and it has been adding much better titles to its lineup. This is perhaps the one area where Xbox beats PlayStation hands down.
The news about the price hike has not gone down well among users of the service. Several long-time PlayStation Plus subscribers say that they have decided to cancel their payment, because it has become too expensive. Perhaps they feel that they aren't getting their money's worth, and the fact that Sony has been adding mediocre games to the PS Plus library isn't helping. I can't really blame them for wanting out. Users who wish to cancel their PlayStation Plus subscription can find more details here.
Sony says that users who have an active 12-month plan will not be affected by the change until the next renewal date, if it falls on November 6 or after. But, if you make any changes to your membership, such as upgrades, downgrades or buying additional time, the new prices will kick in.
Many members would have auto-renewing subscriptions, and Sony states that it will notify current subscribers about the price changes via email. That is the right move, as it would be unethical to just charge their credit cards at the new prices.
What's tragically funny is that these price changes cannot be related to Sony's upcoming handheld, the PlayStation Portal, since the remote player does not support streaming of PlayStation Plus games. The fact that cloud saves are locked behind PlayStation Plus' paywall is also laughable, why not allow users to upload the saves through a different storage provider of their choice?
