Sony is officially introducing its revamped PlayStation Plus gaming subscription service, the company announced on Tuesday. The new offering is called PlayStation Plus and will bundle Sony’s two current subscription services, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into one. PlayStation Plus is seen as Sony’s take on Microsoft’s popular Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
PlayStation Plus will start rolling out in June and will debut in some countries in Asia before expanding to North America, Europe and other regions. The company will likely release more information about specific release dates in the coming weeks.
The new subscription service will come in three tiers. The lowest tier is called “PlayStation Plus Essential” and comes with the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members have today, which includes two monthly downloadable games, exclusive discounts, cloud storage for saved games and online multiplayer access. The price for PlayStation Plus Essential remains the same as the current price for PlayStation Plus, which is $9.99 per month, $24.99 per quarter or $59.99 per year. In Europe, the price is €8.99 per month, €24.99 per quarter or €59.99 per year.
Next is the middle tier, which is called “PlayStation Plus Extra,” It comes with all the same perks as the Essential tier but includes a selection up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games. Sony notes that games in the Extra tier can be downloaded for online play. The Extra tier costs $14.99 per month, $39.99 per quarter or $99.99 per year. In Europe, the price is €13.99 per month, €39.99 per quarter or €99.99 per year.
The top tier of the subscription service is called “PlayStation Plus Premium” and comes with access to everything in the Essential and Extra tiers along with 340 game, including PS3 titles you can stream via the cloud. The tier will also have classic games available in both streaming and download options, including original PlayStation, PS2, and PSP games. Sony notes that time-limited game trials will also be offered in the tier, so customers will be able to try select games before buying them. The Premium tier costs $17.99 per month, $49.99 per quarter or $119.99 per year. In Europe, the price is €16.99 per month, €49.99 per quarter or €119.99 per year.
At launch, Sony plans to offer games including “Death Stranding,” “God of War,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales,” “Mortal Kombat 11” and more. Sony doesn’t plan to make all of its upcoming exclusive PlayStation games available on launch day.
“The new Extra and Premium tiers represent a major evolution for PlayStation Plus,” said PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan in a statement. “With these tiers, our key focus is to ensure that the hundreds of games we offer will include the best quality content that sets us apart. We’re working closely with our imaginative developers from PlayStation Studios and third-party partners to include some of the best gaming experiences available with a library that will be regularly refreshed. More details to come on the games we’ll have on our new PlayStation Plus service.”
Today’s news follows months of speculation that Sony was looking to revamp its gaming subscription service to take on Microsoft’s popular Xbox Game Pass offering. Microsoft has been spending big on Game Pass, as the company has acquired large video game publishers such as Activision Blizzard and Bethesda for $68.7 billion and $7.4 billion, respectively.
Sony says that when the new PlayStation Plus service launches, PlayStation Now will transition into the new PlayStation Plus offering and will no longer be available as a standalone service. PlayStation Now customers will migrate over to PlayStation Plus Premium with no increase to their current subscription fees at launch.
