PlayStation Lifts the Veil on New PlayStation Plus Subscriptions

We’ve been hearing about Project Spartacus for some time now as PlayStation’s revised subscription offerings. This morning, PlayStation finally lifted the veil and we now know the full details.

Detailed on the PlayStation Blog, the new PS Plus will come in three different plans. The details are as follows:

PlayStation Plus Essential

• Benefits:
  • Provides the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members are getting today, such as:
    • Two monthly downloadable games
    • Exclusive discounts
    • Cloud storage for saved games
    • Online multiplayer access
  • There are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier.

Price* for PlayStation Plus Essential remains the same as the current price for PlayStation Plus.

• • • United States
      • $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly
    • Europe
      • €8.99 monthly / €24.99 quarterly / €59.99 yearly
    • United Kingdom
      • £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly
    • Japan
      • ¥850 monthly / ¥2,150 quarterly / ¥5,143 yearly

PlayStation Plus Extra

• Benefits:
  • Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
  • Adds a catalog of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.

• Price*:
  • United States
    • $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly
  • Europe
    • €13.99 monthly / €39.99 quarterly / €99.99 yearly
  • United Kingdom
    • £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly
  • Japan
    • ¥1,300 monthly / ¥3,600 quarterly / ¥8,600 yearly

PlayStation Plus Premium

• Benefits:
  • Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
  • Adds up to 340* additional games, including:
    • PS3 games available via cloud streaming
    • A catalog of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations
  • Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets** where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.***
  • Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.

• Price*:
  • United States
    • $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly
  • Europe
    • €16.99 monthly / €49.99 quarterly / €119.99 yearly
  • United Kingdom
    • £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly
  • Japan
    • ¥1,550 – monthly / ¥4,300 – quarterly / ¥10,250 yearly

There are additional notes to be aware of as well.

• 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.
• As this is a massive launch effort, we’re rolling out the new PlayStation Plus offering in a phased regional approach. In the June timeframe, we’ll begin with an initial launch in several markets in Asia, followed by North America, Europe and the rest of the world where PlayStation Plus is offered. We aim to have most PlayStation Network territories live with our new PlayStation Plus game subscription service by the end of the first half of 2022. We also plan to expand our cloud streaming benefit to additional markets, and will provide more details at a later date.

Our Take

We’ll be having a long conversation about these options on our upcoming Bitcast so definitely tune in to join the conversation. In the meantime, we’re mixed on the offering here. While the Premium tier offers some backwards compatibility options, the fact that it’s more expensive than Game Pass Ultimate but offers no new games in the service (besides the two monthly Plus games already provided) seems odd. We’d love to hear what the community thinks!