Sony has officially unveiled its revamped PlayStation Plus subscription service, which essentially combines the best parts of PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into one package.
It’s split into three tiers – Essential, Extra, and Premium – and each offers a slightly different experience. The question is, is that enough to compete with Microsoft’s popular Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription?
Here’s everything you need to know about the new PlayStation Plus service – the competitor to Xbox Game Pass – including release date, price and what each new tier will offer.
When will the new PlayStation Plus be released?
As expected, Sony unveiled the new, revamped PlayStation Plus service on March 29, 2022, but there’s a catch. Although Sony has confirmed the service is on the way, it won’t launch until June 2022, with a specific launch date for PS4, PS5, and PC gamers yet to be announced.
We will update this section with more information as it becomes available.
How much will the new PlayStation Plus cost?
According to pre-launch rumors, Sony’s new PlayStation Plus service is split into three tiers.
start with the essential diet, which is essentially the equivalent of PS Plus in its current version, and as such will cost the same, $8.99 for the monthly plan, $24.99 for the quarterly plan and $59.99 for the annual plan.
The next step is the Additional packagehow much will it cost 13.99 $ per month or 99.99 $ per year, and provides you with a library of PS4 and PS5 titles available for download.
For those who want the ultimate PlayStation Plus experience, the premium level is the one to choose. Essentially a combination of PS Plus and PS Now with cloud functionality, it’s slightly cheaper than current prices for the services combined.
Latest rumors about the PlayStation Game Pass equivalent
So what will the new PlayStation Plus subscription offer offer that allows it to better compete with the popular Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service?
As we’ve already mentioned, the new service is split into three tiers – Essential, Extra and Premium – ranging from a bundle that’s essentially PlayStation Plus as we currently know it to a combination of PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now with cloud gaming capabilities. .
PlayStation Plus Essential
PlayStation Plus Essential is the entry level of Sony’s new subscription service and for the most part it’s basically PlayStation Plus as we know it, but there’s one key downgrade that Sony hasn’t mentioned during his presentation.
While you’ll still get access to online multiplayer, exclusive discounts, and cloud storage for game save files, you’ll only get two free games per month instead of the three currently offered.
This is also the tier that current PlayStation Plus subscribers will automatically be moved to when launching in June.
Additional PlayStation Plus
The next step up from Sony’s new subscription service is PlayStation Plus Extra, which will give you all the same benefits as the Essential plan with an added bonus: a huge library of games to play.
Although specific games for the service have yet to be confirmed, Sony has announced that Extra subscribers will have access to a library of “up to” 400 PS4 and PS5 titles, including first- and third-hand versions. which will be freely downloadable. . on consoles at any time.
Considering the $5 difference between Essential and Extra tiers, that’s not a bad deal, although it will depend on the games available at launch.
PlayStation Plus Premium
The top plan of Sony’s new offering is PlayStation Plus Premium, which offers a mix of PS Plus and PS Now that includes cloud gaming features and even backwards compatibility.
Although you can’t play your own classic PlayStation games, Sony offers the same library of 400 PS4 and PS5 games as in the extra tier, along with 340 other PlayStation, PS2, PS3 and PSP games.
Unlike the Extra tier, you’ll be able to stream these titles to your console via the cloud, without having to wait for the game to download: just select it and play right away.
In regions where PS Now game streaming isn’t currently available, it will be called PlayStation Plus Deluxe and will cost a little less per month.
An added bonus is that subscribers will be able to try “selected” games before purchasing.
Will the new PlayStation Plus get new games on launch day?
There’s an air of uncertainty over which games are included as part of the subscription, with a list not yet provided by Sony. One of the main features of Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate is the ability to play platform-exclusive titles at launch at no additional cost, and that’s also the great feature PlayStation gamers have been waiting for as well.
However, a GI.biz interview with SIE boss Jim Ryan from September 2020 suggests that may not be the case.
The PlayStation boss said a subscription model wouldn’t be viable for PlayStation Studios (which creates most of the exclusives for the PS platform) as budgets are growing rapidly “well over $100 million “, and those comments were echoed by former PlayStation head Shawn Layden earlier this summer. .
Layden questions the long-term prospects of Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate business model, saying “it’s very difficult to launch a $120 million game on a subscription service that costs $9.99 a month” .
Doing the math, the former executive suggests that “you’re going to have to have 500 million subscribers before you recoup your investment” and explains that “if you only have 250 million consoles, you’re not going to have 500 million subscribers. .”
This statement seems to be supported by Sony itself, which on the PlayStation blog explained the type of games that can be found on the service. “En el lanzamiento, tenemos previsto incluir títulos como Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11 y Returnal”, todos ellos juegos que tienen al menos un año de antigüedad, si no more.
The good news is that new content will be added on a fairly regular basis, as Sony “works closely with our imaginative developers at PlayStation Studios and third-party partners to include some of the best gaming experiences available with a regularly updated library”.
Original article published in English on our sister site TechAdvisor UK.
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