PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now is getting an overhaul this Summer when both services are merged together in a 3-tier subscription service. This might not be the answer to Gamepass you were expecting, but more on that below. What this is, is a consolidation of two services that perhaps should be have been this way all along.
The first tier is called PlayStation Plus Essential and is basically what you expect from PlayStation Plus today, and at the same price:
· Two monthly downloadable games
· Exclusive discounts
· Cloud storage for saved games
· Online multiplayer access
It’s priced at $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly in the US, €8.99 monthly / €24.99 quarterly / €59.99 yearly in Europe, £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly in the UK and ¥850 monthly / ¥2,150 quarterly / ¥5,143 yearly in Japan.
The second tier is where it starts getting interesting, aptly named PlayStation Plus Extra and comes with the following:
· All of the above
· Upwards of 400 PS4 and PS5 games
It’s priced at $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly in the US, €13.99 monthly / €39.99 quarterly / €99.99 yearly in Europe, £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly in the UK and ¥1,300 monthly / ¥3,600 quarterly / ¥8,600 yearly in Japan.
The last tier, known as PlayStation Plus Premium contains the following:
· All of the above
· Upwards of 340 additional games, including PS3 games (streaming only) and games from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations which you can download or stream
· Time trials for certain games
Pricing as follows: $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly in the US, €16.99 monthly / €49.99 quarterly / €119.99 yearly in Europe, £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly in the UK and ¥1,550 – monthly / ¥4,300 – quarterly / ¥10,250 yearly in Japan
The streaming options are available in markets where PlayStation Now is currently available. A slightly cheaper option than Premium will be offered in markets without Now, with a selection of PS1/PS2/PSP games available for download.
PlayStation is also throwing in a couple of big hitters in the service at launch, including God of War, Death Stranding, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal. If you’re an existing PlayStation Now customer you will be converted to a Premium subscriber at no extra charge.
The rollout of the service will be step-by-step, starting in Asia. So much information, but you can check out the nuances in the official blog post.
So, what about day 1 first party titles? Not happening, at least not yet. This minor evolution of the service was never intended to be a Gamepass killer, but PlayStation CEO is not ruling it out in the future. He does have something to say about the reasoning for not doing it now, according to this interview with gameindustry.biz
