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Sony announces all-new PlayStation Plus: A true rival to Game Pass
- Sony has announced the all-new PlayStation Plus service.
- This is an overhaul to take on the Game Pass service.
We’ve heard rumors for months now that Sony was working on a rival to Microsoft’s Game Pass service, being an overhaul of its PlayStation Plus service. Now, the company has finally made it official, confirming that the all-new PlayStation Plus service will be available from June.
The new service is divided into three tiers, namely PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra, and PlayStation Plus Premium. The Essential tier is identical to the existing PlayStation Plus offering, delivering two free games to download each month, cloud storage for saves, online multiplayer, and exclusive discounts.
The other two tiers are where we see major changes though. PlayStation Plus Extra includes the aforementioned Essential perks but tosses in up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games for download.
Related: Everything you need to know about Sony’s PlayStation consoles
Meanwhile, the PlayStation Plus Premium tier offers both the Essential and Extra perks, but also brings up to 340 additional titles. These additional titles include PS3 games via cloud streaming, as well as PS1, PS2, and PSP titles in streaming and download flavors. You’ve also got access to time-limited game trials as well as the existing PlayStation Now streaming library in markets where the service was already available.
Sony specifically mentioned that games such as Returnal, Death Stranding, Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and God of War will be included in the Extra and Premium tiers.
All three tiers are available in Europe, Japan, the UK, and the US. You can check out pricing below.
| Europe | Japan | UK | US | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
PlayStation Plus Essential | Europe €8.99 monthly / €24.99 quarterly / €59.99 yearly | Japan 850 yen monthly / 2,150 yen quarterly / 5,143 yen yearly | UK £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly | US $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly |
PlayStation Plus Extra | Europe €13.99 monthly / €39.99 quarterly / €99.99 yearly | Japan 1,300 yen monthly / 3,600 yen quarterly / 8,600 yen yearly | UK £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly | US $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly |
PlayStation Plus Premium | Europe €16.99 monthly / €49.99 quarterly / €119.99 yearly | Japan 1,550 yen monthly / 4,300 yen quarterly / 10,250 yen yearly | UK £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly | US $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly |
What if you’re in a market without cloud streaming? Well, Sony has announced a PlayStation Plus Deluxe service for these regions. The company says this service includes original PlayStation, PS2, and PSP titles for download, as well as time-limited game trials. Furthermore, Sony says Extra and Essential perks are also available to these users.
There’s no word on pricing for the Deluxe service save for Sony saying it will vary by region and that it will be cheaper than the Premium tier.
The PlayStation platform-holder says several markets in Asia will be first with the service in June, followed by North America, Europe, and the rest of the world. It’s aiming to have the service rolled out to “most” markets with the PlayStation Network by the end of June. Furthermore, Sony confirmed that it’s aiming to bring cloud streaming to more regions, although it didn’t give a release window.