PlayStation subscribers were left disappointed as Sony announced an unexpected PS Plus price increase on Wednesday. As the company revealed this month's lineup of free games for subscribers, it also unveiled pricing changes to its 12-month plans.
First Price Hike Since Relaunch
Sony's PlayStation Plus subscription service is seeing a first price hike since its relaunch in June 2022. PlayStation Plus subscribers who pay for an annual subscription upfront have been enjoying a nice discount over the monthly price. Sony is now slashing this incentive for its most loyal fans, alleging the price hike is a necessary step.
New Pricing Details
The price increase only affects 12-month subscriptions across all markets and PS Plus subscription tiers. Here are the new PS Plus prices, which will be in effect from September 6, 2023:
- PlayStation Plus Essential (12 months) – £59.99/$79.99 (was £49.99/$59.99)
- PlayStation Plus Extra (12 months) – £99.99/$134.99 (was £83.99/$99.99)
- PlayStation Plus Premium (12 months) – £119.99/$159.99 (was £99.99/$119.99)
The annual Essential tier subscription is going up by £10/$20, while one year of Extra will cost £17/$35 more. Premium subscribers will have to pay an additional £20/$40 per year. These price changes amount to hikes of 17 to 35 per cent, depending on currency and subscription tier.
US Subscribers Facing Higher Increase
It looks like US subscribers are seeing an overall higher percentage increase than their UK peers.
Incentives and Lacklustre Lineup
The news comes not long after PlayStation announced that it's adding PS5 game streaming to PS Plus. The feature allows subscribers of the highest tier, PS Plus Premium, to stream current-gen games in 4K resolution without installing them to their consoles. The announcement also came together with a rather lacklustre lineup of September 2023 PS Plus Essential games.
Is Stacking Worth It?
PlayStation Plus' newly hiked yearly prices still offer a discount over purchasing one-month or three-month subscriptions, but this is now reduced. Subscribers have a few days until the new prices take effect to stack a year or two (or more) to their membership at the current lower price. However, stacking is only an option if you have the extra cash to spare and if you're confident that you'll be using your subscription in the next couple of years.
Considerations and Final Thoughts
PlayStation usually offers discounts on its subscriptions around Black Friday, but there's no way of knowing if the deals in late November will be better than the price right now. Stacking years at the lower price will only work before September 6, 2023. Current 12-month subscribers won't see a change until their next renewal, if that occurs on or after November 6, 2023. However, any changes made after September 6 will cause the subscriber's plan to recalculate based on the new higher prices. These changes include stacking additional subscription time and upgrading or downgrading the subscription tier.
Written by Stoyan Ovcharov on behalf of GLHF.
