Sony’s PlayStation Plus Rebooting has been an interesting experiment so far. Some people are very supportive of the newly updated service, which has classic PlayStation games as well as new ones (sometimes). But there are also some who are annoyed by the update – they think it definitely offers better value for money. Especially on the more expensive tiers.
The number of people subscribing to Sony’s PlayStation Plus has dropped from 47.3 million to 45.4 million this quarter, new data revealed in Sony’s latest earnings report this week. The fact that this is the third straight quarter of PS Plus subscription declines is bad news in itself, but when you consider that it’s also going to be on the PS Plus reboot… well, that might make Sony feel a bit angry.
But strangely, there is good news hidden in the data.Sony just had its best quarter once Subscription revenue.Every a tweet Data from industry analyst and all-round smart Daniel Ahmad shows that Sony’s revenue per user in the PS+ space has increased by 21%. to be honest? Fewer people are spending more on PS Plus. This basically translates to: People are paying for more expensive tiers.
So even if we’re all annoyed that no PS1 games make it into the PS Plus Premium tier, or even if we’re a little annoyed that the only everyday games are third-party curios like Stray, the numbers are good for Sony: many PS Plus users have converted Available at the Extra or Premium level.
Whichever way you go, the fact remains: PS Plus is more popular with consumers than Xbox Game Pass. Our latest update to Game Pass started in January of this year, and we learned that the service has over 25 million subscribers. This is for a console ecosystem of about 63 million consoles. Xbox games generated a jaw-dropping $16.28 billion in total revenue for Microsoft in calendar 2021, with Xbox Game Pass accounting for 18%. So while these numbers are lower than Sony’s PS Plus subscriptions, overall, the profits made by these subscription services shouldn’t be underestimated.
Last month, we learned how much Xbox and PlayStation are spending on their services, thanks to a list of the publishers behind Ark: Survival Evolved. The game PlayStation Plus is available for members to apply for five weeks between March 1st and April 4th, and based on the information above, we know that Sony acquired the game for $3.5 million during that time period. Meanwhile, Microsoft is paying slightly less — $2.5 million to showcase the game on Game Pass in the first half of 2022, and another $2.3 million to bring ARK 2 to the service when it launches in 2023.
So, what is takeaway? Both Sony and Microsoft have invested heavily in their respective subscription services — but all for a good outcome. Obviously rich. Yes, Sony probably has about 20 million more subscribers than Microsoft, and Xbox’s subscriber base is growing to match its PlayStation rival.
No matter how you look at it, subscription services are here to stay.
