The Playstation Plus is now experiencing a profound change with the arrival of a brand new offer comprising three subscription levels. Add to that an impressive catalog of games on demand, and you have the little console event at the end of June.
[Mis à jour le 23 juin 2022 à 15h21] Sony is celebrating today the arrival of the new Playstation Plus, the new subscription offer for owners of Playstation consoles. It includes the ex-Playstation Plus and the ex-Playstation Now grouped into three different subscriptions, ranging from simple access to multiplayer mode to a service of games from all generations of Playstation consoles on demand. An offer that promises to be massive, and which intends to shake up Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. Little news today, the Playstation 1 games available in the Playstation Plus Premium will soon be offered a 60 Hz option.
What are the new PS+ subscriptions?
As we told you in the introduction, the new Playstation Plus subscriptions will be divided into three different levels. We will first find the Playstation Plus Essential, which will include all the advantages of the current PS+ (multiplayer game, two games to download, cloud, promotions) and generally keep the same pricing as today. Then we will find the Playstation Plus Extra, which adds a catalog of 400 downloadable on-demand games to their subscription. Finally, the Playstation Plus Premium adds even more games to this catalog, offering PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 titles for a clearly retrogaming-centric experience. Subscription prices and content:
Playstation Plus Essential:
- Online multiplayer game
- Two monthly games to download
- Promotions and discounts
- Europe: €8.99/month, €24.99/quarter, €59.99/year.
- United States: $9.99/month, $24.99/quarter, $59.99/year.
- UK: £6.99/month, £19.99/quarter, £49.99/year.
Playstation Plus Extra:
- All the benefits of Playstation Plus Essential
- A catalog of over 400 on-demand games for PS4 and PS5
- Europe: €13.99/month, €39.99/quarter, €99.99/year.
- United States: $14.99/month, $39.99/quarter, $99.99/year.
- UK: £10.99/month, £31.99/quarter, £83.99/year.
Playstation Plus Premium:
- All the benefits of Playstation Plus Extra
- A catalog of more than 300 games on demand for PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP
- A game streaming service via the cloud, available on PS4, PS5 and PC
- Limited trials of recent games
- Europe: €16.99/month, €49.99/quarter, €119.99/year.
- United States: $17.99/month, $49.99/quarter, $119.99/year.
- UK: £13.49/month, £39.99/quarter, £99.99/year.
The two new Extra and Premium subscription levels both include a catalog of video games on demand. There are of course different titles and platforms depending on the two subscriptions, but it is possible to wonder about the content of the said catalog when it is released next June. To reassure players a little lost by this sudden change in subscription offer, Playstation has published an explanatory video and detailed in-depth content for each level of Playstation Plus subscription. You can find all the information on blog post from Playstation, but we have summarized the essentials for you:
Playstation Plus Essential games:
The new Playstation Plus Essential subscription includes online play and two monthly free games that we do not yet know for the month of June 2022.
Playstation Plus Extra games:
From June, we will find a catalog of several dozen games on PS4 and PS5 for the Playstation Plus Extra. The full list can be found in playstation blog post, but some of the more well-known names include big PS4 and PS5 exclusives like Bloodborne, Death Stranding, Demon’s Souls, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Returnal, Uncharted and many more. But also many titles from third-party partners like Ubisoft and Bandai Namco (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Final Fantasy XVI, For Honor, 2K22, Red Dead Redemption 2, and more). Note that the association between Sony and Ubisoft is very recent and allows the French publisher to offer no less than seven games in Playstation Plus, as well as a new subscription service called Ubisoft + Classics, offering no less than 27 games (subject to an additional subscription of course). An offer that resembles the association between EA Play and the Xbox Game Pass.
Playstation Plus Premium / Deluxe games
For those who want the full Playstation Plus Premium experience, you’ll find all the games found in the Playstation Plus Extra, plus a whole bunch of classics from the PSP, Playstation 1, 2 and 3 consoles. Again, the full list of these vintage games is available on playstation article. It will include games in their original format such as Ape Escape, Kurushi or Jumping Flash, Worms Armageddon… but also remastered titles, Ape Escape 2, Bioshock, Borderlands, LEGO Harry Potter and many others. Finally, some original titles on Playstation 3 will also be available for streaming such as Infamous, FEAR, three Ratchet & Clank, Tokyo Jungle, Devil May Cry and Lost Planet 2, among others.
60Hz for PS1 games?
Also note that Sony has confirmed that it wants to offer more for the most veteran games in its catalog. Indeed, the games of the first Playstation, which at the time did not benefit from support for screen refresh rates beyond 30 Hz, could soon be offered a mode of up to 60 Hz. This would make the retrogaming experience offered by the Playstation Plus Premium a little more fluid, at a time when the screens all support 60 Hz (therefore 60 frames per second in game) or even 120 Hz. a little bomb for retrogaming enthusiasts.
What is the launch date for subscriptions?
Such a change takes a little time to be properly implemented, even for a company as massive as Sony its Playstation. This is why Jim Ryan explains in his blog post that the new subscriptions will be implemented from June 23, i.e. today, in a precise order taking into account the different regions of the world. Asia will therefore be the first continent to benefit from it, followed closely by North America and Europe. Also note that at launch, current PS Now subscribers will see their offer migrate to PS+ Premium at no additional cost.