PlayStation Plus has officially changed, and with it there’s a new cost to go along with the new plan tiers that Sony is offering. Though the new cost really only comes into play for those looking at the second two plan tiers.
Which are Extra and Premium. Or Deluxe for those who live in countries where the game streaming isn’t available. So, what exactly is changing? And why do you need to concern yourself with it? The biggest things changing with PlayStation Plus aside from the cost, are the features that are included with Extra and Premium. Sony is merging the features of PlayStation Now with PlayStation Plus.
While also adding in some new stuff that wasn’t previously available with either one. Such as game trials. The Essential tier, which is the least expensive PlayStation Plus plan, is staying the same and the cost isn’t increasing.
But if you wanted to upgrade, then you’ll want to know the difference so you can decide which one to upgrade to. And if you’re interested in learning how to upgrade your plan, we have a guide to help with that.
What do the new PlayStation Plus plans cost?
The price is going to be the same for all subscribers. However, if you’re upgrading to either Extra or Premium, then you’ll also need to pay an upfront cost of the price difference based on how much time is left on your currently active subscription. If you’re new to PlayStation Plus, don’t have an active subscription, or yours is about to renew, and are simply going to pay monthly, quarterly, or yearly, then you’ll be following the prices listed below.
PlayStation Plus Essential cost
- Monthly – $9.99 for 1 month of use
- Quarterly – $24.99 for 3 months of use
- Annually – $59.99 for 12 months of use
All monthly subscription payments will renew based on the time frame you select
PlayStation Plus Extra cost
- Monthly – $14.99 for 1 month of use
- Quarterly – $39.99 for 3 months of use
- Annually – $99.99 for 12 months of use
All monthly subscription payments will renew based on the time frame you select
PlayStation Plus Premium cost
- Monthly – $17.99 for 1 month of use
- Quarterly – $49.99 for 3 months of use
- Annually – $119.99 for 12 months of use
All monthly subscription payments will renew based on the time frame you select
Again, keep in mind that these prices may vary if you’re upgrading and are needing to pay the difference between your current plan and the new plan. Especially if you have leftover time on the quarterly or annually subscriptions. As mentioned in our How To Upgrade post on PlayStation Plus, Sony will tell you what you need to pay upfront when go to change your plan.
We’ve also broken down the costs for each tier of PlayStation Plus based on the other regions where it will be available. You can find those prices below.
Essential
- Europe – €8.99 monthly/€24.99 quarterly/€59.99 annually
- UK – £6.99 monthly/£19.99 quarterly/£49.99 annually
- Japan – ¥850 monthly/¥2,150 quarterly/¥5,143 annually
Extra
- Europe – €13.99 monthly/€39.99 quarterly/€99.99 annually
- UK – £10.99 monthly/£31.99 quarterly/£83.99 annually
- Japan – ¥1,300 monthly/3,600 quarterly/8,600 annually
Premium
- Europe – €16.99 monthly/€49.99 quarterly/€119.99 annually
- UK – £13.49 monthly/£39.99 quarterly/£99.99 annually
- Japan – ¥1,550 monthly/¥4,300 quarterly/10,250 annually
What sorts of benefits does each plan give you?
Each tier of the plan gives you something a little bit different. But really, all three plans give you the same thing. It’s just that each step up gives you a little bit more. And it’s that little bit more that you’ll want to consider when weighing out if it’s worth paying the extra money.
For some, it may not be. And that’s perfectly ok. When Sony first announced the new plans, I personally looked at PlayStation Plus Premium and thought, “There’s no way I’m going to pay $120 a year for this service. I’ll never use the game trials or the cloud streaming.”
But as it got closer and closer to the launch of these new plans, the more I started to think it would be nice to have things like the trials to test games before I have to pay for them. As it would help me avoid having to apply for refunds. You might end up feeling the same way. Maybe you won’t. Regardless, here’s what you get with each plan.
PlayStation Plus Essential
There’s nothing different here from the previous version of PlayStation Plus. You get free monthly games just like before. As well as access to multiplayer online gameplay, exclusive discounts on games, and the ability to store game saves in the cloud for easy transfer and backup.
This also costs the same across the board for monthly, quarterly, and yearly prices for the subscription.
PlayStation Plus Extra
PlayStation Plus Extra subscribers will get all of the above, but they will also get access to a catalog of up to 400 games they can download to their console to play. All included with the subscription cost. The catalog will include PS4 and PS5 titles, some of which come from PlayStation Studios, in addition to third-party partners.
Games like God Of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, inFAMOUS Second Son and more are a few good examples.
PlayStation Plus Premium
Subscribing to Premium grants access to everything from the first two plan tiers. But it also adds in cloud streaming of a big list of games, some of which are PS3 titles only available through the cloud gaming catalog. All told there are 340 additional games added to the games catalog on top of the 400 that come with the Extra plan.
Some of these games are the PS3 titles available through cloud streaming, some are classic PS1 and PS2 titles that can be downloaded. Premium subscribers also get access to game trials to test out games before they buy them.
If you want to learn more about the games catalog titles, you can find the full list of games in the games catalog for downloadable titles here, and the full list of games in the cloud catalog that you can stream here (this list also includes all currently available game trials).
PlayStation Plus conversion rates
If you’re an existing subscriber of PlayStation Plus and you had time left on your account, you’d have to pay a difference between your current plan and the new plan that you upgrade to. But what about people with vouchers for PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now that haven’t been redeemed yet?
Sony has had a plan in place for that since before the launch of these new plans. And now that the plans are active in Asia, Japan, and North America, subscribers in these areas can now redeem their vouchers. But you probably want to know how much time you’re getting.
Earlier this year, people had a brief window of buying up PlayStation Now cards through various retailers in an attempt to get the new PlayStation Plus Premium plan for half the price. As it was confirmed that PlayStation Now subscriptions would convert over to PlayStation Premium subscriptions when the new plans went live. People assumed one month would convert to one month.
But that wasn’t the case. There’s actually not a straight 1:1 conversion of the two plans. And things can get a little bit convoluted. So we’ve broken everything down for you below.
1-month voucher
- Converts to 31 days of PlayStation Plus Essential. Or gives new subscribers 31 days of PlayStation Plus Essential
- Converts to 20 days of PlayStation Plus Extra
- Converts to 17 days of PlayStation Plus Premium
3-month voucher
- Converts to 92 days of PlayStation Plus Essential
- Converts to 58 days of PlayStation Plus Extra
- Converts to 46 days of PlayStation Plus Premium
12-month voucher
- Converts to 365 days of PlayStation Plus Essential
- Converts to 219 days of PlayStation Plus Extra
- Converts to 183 days of PlayStation Plus Premium
PlayStation Now conversion rates
Sony is more or less doing the same thing with PlayStation Now vouchers in the sense that they will still be good for redemption. Meaning you won’t lose out on them completely. But just like with the PlayStation Plus vouchers, those for PlayStation Now will not be a 1:1 conversion. You will lose some time on them in terms of what you paid since you aren’t getting 31 days for 31 days.
PlayStation Now voucher cards are of course no longer available and haven’t been since earlier this year when Sony cut off purchases for them. But for any users that were able to snag some before that happened, here’s what you’ll get once you redeem those vouchers.
1-month voucher
- Converts to 21 days of PlayStation Plus Premium for new subscriptions
- Converts to 40 days of PlayStation Plus Essential
- Converts to 25 days of PlayStation Plus Extra
- Converts to 21 days of PlayStation Plus Premium
3-month voucher
- Converts to 53 days of PlayStation Plus Premium for new subscriptions
- Converts to 105 days of PlayStation Plus Essential
- Converts to 66 days of PlayStation Plus Extra
- Converts to 53 days of PlayStation Plus Premium
12-month voucher
- Converts to 183 days of PlayStation Plus for new subscriptions
- Converts to 365 days of PlayStation Plus Essential
- Converts to 219 days of PlayStation Plus Extra
- Converts to 183 days of PlayStation Plus Premium
As you can see, conversions give you about half of what you would normally get. Not exactly of course, but close to it. For example, if things were a straight 1:1 conversion you’d be getting 365 days of PlayStation Plus Premium for a 12-month PlayStation Now voucher. Instead you’re getting 183. Which is half a day more than half of 365.
This makes sense given that the cost of an annual PlayStation Now voucher was $60 before they were pulled, and the PlayStation Plus Premium annual cost is $120. This was Sony’s way of ensuring that people weren’t getting a bunch of months of PlayStation Plus Premium without having to pay the cost.
Which is what some people thought was going to happen before stacking years of these vouchers. In the end, those consumers are going to end up paying the same amount since they’ll need to renew earlier than they had anticipated.
Which plan should you pick?
It kind of all depends on what you want access to. If you’re happy with the discounts, the few free games every month, and online multiplayer, stick with Essential. You won’t be paying any more money and you’ll get the same service you always had. Nothing more, and nothing less. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But there’s a case to be made for either of the two more expensive plans. If you do see the value in having a large catalog of games you can download at no additional charge, then definitely spring the extra money for Extra or Premium. Yes, it’s true that the most games in the catalog wouldn’t fall into a category of “new” by today’s standards. But there are a few titles that were released for both the PS4 and PS5.
Which means you are getting some games that are still fairly new. You also get the nostalgia trip from the classic PS1 and PS2 games if you decide to go for PlayStation Plus Premium over the other two options. Not to mention the option for cloud streaming titles.
Where we think Premium is really worth it though is with the game trials. As more new games are released, you’ll see the game trials catalog expand to include more games. These may very well be games you want to try out before buying them. And as we’ve already mentioned this can be a great perk if you want to avoid buying a game, testing it out, then requesting a refund if you end up not liking it. Instead, you can play the trial, then decide if you want to put down your money.
Closing thoughts
All three plans are great and have something to offer. We’re starting to lean towards PlayStation Plus Premium being the best value, mostly because of the game trials. Although, it would be nice if this was something that was offered to all tiers and Sony had something else special that it could give to Premium subscribers.
In any case, PlayStation Plus is a good service to have if you own a PS4 or PS5. Even if you go with the Essential plan, you’ll still get 2-3 free monthly games, and discounts on purchases.
2022-12-29 15:08:24