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PlayStation Plus Relaunches with New Features, Tiers on June 1 in Japan, June 13 in Americas, June 22 in Europe
posted on by Alex Mateo
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced on Friday that it will launch previously announced new features and tiers for its PlayStation Plus service on May 23 in Asian markets excluding Japan, June 1 in Japan, June 13 in the Americas, and June 22 in Europe.
In addition, cloud streaming access will be expanded to the following locations for a total of 30 markets with cloud streaming access: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The new features will allow players to access modern titles through the subscription service, as well as catalog titles from past PlayStation platforms. PlayStation Plus will also merge with SIE's PlayStation Now subscription service (PlayStation Now will no longer be available as a standalone service after the features launch).
The additional features are consistent with a previous report by Bloomberg in December 2021 of Sony planning to launch a service codenamed "Spartacus" that would rival Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service.
The new features and subscription plan tiers for PlayStation Plus include:
- PlayStation Plus Essential: this service remains the same as the current PlayStation Plus service and is priced the same.
- PlayStation Plus Extra: this service has the features from the Essential tier, as well as access to "up to 400" PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 titles that are downloadable to play.
- PlayStation Plus Premium: this service has the features from the previous two tiers, as well as access to "up to 340" more games such as PlayStation 3 games for cloud streaming; PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable games for download and/or streaming; the ability to stream games through PS4, PS5, and PC; and time-limited game trials on some games.
Players can pay for the subscription tiers on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. The Essential tier costs US$9.99 monthly, US$24.99 quarterly, or US$59.99 yearly. The Extra tier costs US$14.99 monthly, US$39.99 quarterly, or US$99.99 yearly. The Premium tier costs US$17.99 monthly, US$49.99 quarterly, or US$119.99 yearly.
Sony will offer markets without cloud streaming availability a separate third tier at a lower price that does not include any cloud streaming options.
PlayStation Plus is required for many online multiplayer games, and the service also offers several free games each month. PlayStation Now allows subscribers to stream or download older games.
Xbox Game Pass is a service that allows users to pay a monthly subscription fee to access a library of games without needing to individually purchase them. The service launched in June 2017, and is also available for PC.
