Sony is hiking PlayStation Plus price by up to 33% next week

There’s a nasty sting in the tail of Sony’s PS Plus monthly games announcement, as they have confirmed that the prices for all 12-month PS Plus subscription plans (Essential, Extra and Premium) will be increasing from 6th September 2023.

“This price adjustment will enable us to continue bringing high-quality games and value-added benefits to your PlayStation Plus subscription service,” the company states, as they jump on the price hike bandwagon that we’ve seen spreading across pretty much every media subscription service, from Netflix to Disney+ and beyond.

From 6th September 2023, the new PS Plus prices for a 12-month subscription will be:

PlayStation Plus Essential 12-Month Subscription
$79.99 USD | €71,99 Euro | £59.99 GBP | 6,800¥ Yen

PlayStation Plus Extra 12-Month Subscription
$134.99 USD | €125,99 Euro | £99.99 GBP | 11,700¥ Yen

PlayStation Plus Premium 12-Month Subscription
$159.99 USD | €151,99 Euro | £119.99 GBP | 13,900¥ Yen

Compared to when Sony relaunched PlayStation Plus in the summer of last year, bringing with it the three tiers and a revitalised library of games, PS Plus Essential will now be £10 more expensive, PS Plus Extra will be £16 more expensive, and PS Plus Premium is £20 more expensive.

Basically prices are increasing 20% in the UK, which is bad enough, but spare a thought for other regions. Europe is being stung with a 26% jump, while the US is leaping up an eye-watering 33%! We’ve seen strange regional variations and equivalences to pricing over the years – the US and Euro have been $1:€1 for digital gaming for a long time – but that will make these increases far more painful as the needle swings in a different direction.

Honestly, these percentage increases make Microsoft’s recent Game Pass price increases look tame by comparison (though Xbox doesn’t have 12-month pricing for anything except the relaunched Xbox Live Gold as Game Pass Core).

For people with auto-renewals active for 12-month subs, the price increase won’t hit you immediately. Auto-renewals up until 6th November will remain at the old price. However, if you make any changes to your subscription, such as upgrading, downgrading or buy additional time within that window, you’ll be charged in relation to the new prices.

All in all, there’s even more reason to look out for PS Plus subscriptions being included in rare promotional discounts. Typically around the new year and late spring/early summer, you can often get 30% off on a PS Plus subscription, so it’s a great time to stock up.

If you’re already subscribed as much as you can be, then you probably just care about the latest monthly games, don’t you? Well, there’s a fresh trio to look forward to in September, including Saints Row, Black Desert and Generation Zero. Head here for more details.

Source: PS Blog