Sony announced today that an all-new PlayStation Plus is set to launch in June complete with PlayStation Now integrated and access to games from the original PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS3, PS4, and PS5.
As the PlayStation.Blog details, the relaunch of PlayStation Plus will happen in June, with three main membership tiers available, and a fourth for select markets where cloud streaming simply isn’t an option. The main tiers are called PlayStaion Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium, and the features they offer are as follows:
PlayStation Plus Essential
- Equivalent of the existing PlayStation Plus membership
- Two downloadable games per month
- Cloud storage for saved games
- Online multiplayer
- Exclusive discounts
- Costs $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly
PlayStation Plus Extra
- Everything included with the Essential tiers
- Up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games to download and play
- Costs $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly
PlayStation Plus Premium
- Everything included with the Essential and Extra tiers
- Up to 340 games taken from the original PlayStation, PS2, and PSP to download and play
- Cloud streaming access to PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS3, and PS4 games via a PS4, PS5, or PC
- Time-limited game trials
- Costs $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly
The fourth tier is called PlayStation Plus Deluxe, and will only be available in select markets where cloud streaming isn’t viable/reliable yet. It will be priced lower than the Premium tier, but offer a similar set of features minus the cloud streaming. The final price of Deluxe has not been announced.
If you’re a PlayStation Now user, you’ll be automatically migrated to PlayStation Plus Premium in June with no increase in the current subscription price. PlayStation Now will then cease to be as an independent service.
As predicted, this is Sony’s answer to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, albeit slightly more expensive at $17.99 per month for the Premium tier compared to $14.99 for Game Pass. Even so, Sony is promising a launch line-up of games including Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal, which is sure to tempt many gamers to sign-up.
The reason we only have June stated as a launch window rather than a specific date is because Sony intends to carry out a phased regional approach to the launch. As the blog explains, “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.” No doubt we’ll all get to see what the new experience looks like from the marketing Sony will carry out in the months prior to the launch.
