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Sony announces revamped PlayStation Plus, including PlayStation Now features

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Bringing PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now together is definitely an improvement, but it’s still not exactly Xbox Game Pass, is it?

In a world where the lowest tier of Xbox Game Pass is only a quid more than Xbox Games With Gold or PlayStation Plus, PlayStation’s subscription offerings have looked a bit out of touch for a while now.

That all changes, and soon.

After months of speculation that a “proper” Xbox Game Pass competitor would be coming, Sony has today announced that PlayStation Plus will be revamped, rolling up the PlayStation Now service into the PlayStation Plus subscription.

There will be three tiers of PlayStation Plus:

  • PlayStation Plus Essential, which is basically as rubbish as the current service;
  • PlayStation Plus Extra, which incorporates the PlayStation Now library over and above PlayStation Plus Essential;
  • PlayStation Plus Premium, which takes everything in Extra and adds in a catalogue of PS2 and PS3 classics.

And they will be priced as follows:

  • PlayStation Plus Essential
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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

It’s a step in the right direction, for sure. But there is one area where the revamped PlayStation Plus will be lacking, and one that we’ve grown accustomed to on Xbox Game Pass: day one releases.

PlayStation boss Jim Ryan explained the reasons in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, but it mostly reads as “we want you to keep paying full retail price for new releases in addition to the subscription, thanks”.

The revamped PlayStation Plus service will be rolled out in a phased way this Summer, in “several markets in Asia, followed by North America, Europe and the rest of the world where PlayStation Plus is offered”. The ultimate aim is to have “most PlayStation Network territories live with our new PlayStation Plus game subscription service by the end of the first half of 2022”, according to the announcement on the PlayStation blog.

A step in the right direction, then, and certainly a soothing salve for the PlayStation fans who struggle to hide how irksome the value proposition of Xbox Game Pass is. But it’s still not quite there.


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