After months of rumors, Sony has released a blog post finally confirming what everyone suspected was true:PlayStation Nowis going away, and a newtiered structure is coming to PlayStation Plus.
The new strategy breaks up the former subscription plan into three different tiers with their own offerings and pricing that are incorporated into the Plus branding. Starting in June, PlayStation users will have three options for their subscription models to choose from: Essential, Extra, and the top tier called Premium. That structure was teased invarious rumors, but Sony has nowofficially confirmedall those details and more.
What is PlayStation Plus Essential?
What is PlayStation Plus Extra?
PlayStation Plus Extra is where features pulled from PlayStation Now begin to come into play. With this level, you not only get everything from the PlayStation Plus Essential level but also a catalog of around 400 PS4 and PS5 games available to download. This will include both first-party titles as well as third-party games, likely starting with the catalog that already exists on Now and perhaps the PlayStation Plus Collection. A full list hasn’t been revealed yet, nor if the cadence of games being added monthly will continue, but Sony did say thatDeath Stranding,God of War,Marvel’s Spider-Man,Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales,Mortal Kombat 11, andReturnalwill be there at the start.
PlayStation Plus Extra will cost you, as you could probably guess, a bit extra over the Essential level. Here’s the pricing structure for the different regions:
In terms of U.S. prices, that would make this tier cost $40 more than the Essential tier if purchased annually.
What is PlayStation Plus Premium?
For the last (and most expensive) level, we have PlayStation Plus Premium. This one is a bit more complicated than the rest, but in short, it’s an expanded version of having both PlayStation Plus and Now as they exist today. With this level, you get everything from both lower tiers plus around 340 more titles from the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP libraries. You also get the ability to stream PS3 games, the option to stream or download PS1, PS2, and PSP games, and an extra option to stream PS4 games in addition to just downloading them. They can all be streamed to your PS4, PS5, or even PC. However, streaming any of these games is only available in regions where PlayStation Now is currently offered.
The next major perk is the availability of “time-limited game trials” that will let you play a portion of a game before purchasing it. What games will offer these trials, as well as how long these trials will last, was not detailed.
The pricing structure for each region looks like this:
The rollout of this service is going to be done region by region, beginning in June with Asian markets, then North America and Europe, and then the rest of the world with a goal of a full transition by the middle of 2022. Sony’s target dates for launching the service in each region are as follows:
