At the end of each month, PlayStation Plus subscribers can discover the identity of the next free games offered by Sony. A now democratized way of retaining subscribers, at a time when competition is raging, especially on the side of Xbox’s Game Pass. And a few weeks before the arrival of the new version of PlayStation Plus, Sony could well take the time to make this month of June memorable.
a merger of ps plus and ps now
For several months, rumors swirled about Project Spartacus, described as Sony’s new service designed to compete with Xbox’s hugely popular, and enticing, Game Pass. And earlier in the year, the Japanese giant finally decided to lift the veil on this new formula, quickly summed up in a merger of the current PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. Three offers are advanced, called Essentials, Extra and Premium. The first looks deceptively similar to the current PlayStation Plus, the second adds to the carpet a library of 400 PS4 and PS5 titles (available for download) which should come to expand over the months when the third, and also the most expensive, will contain the same advantages as the previous ones by adding the possibility of stream PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP (and also PS4 and PS5) games, as well as access to exclusive, time-limited demos.
Offers displayed at €8.99 for the Essential, €13.99 for the Extra and €16.99 for the Premium. A new version which must now be released in June, namely in a few weeks. The month of June should therefore be the first of this new PlayStation Plus, the opportunity for Sony to strike a blow. And for good reason, here is what this service offers:
- 2 downloadable games each month (Essential/Extra/Premium)
- Exclusive discounts (Essential/Extra/Premium)
- Cloud storage for game saves (Essential/Extra/Premium)
- Access to online multiplayer (Essential/Extra/Premium)
- A catalog of around 400 of the best PS4 and PS5 games, including hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and our third-party partners. Extra tier games can be downloaded for offline access. (Extra/Premium)
- A catalog of around 340 games of the best PS3, PSP, PS2 and PS1 games available for streaming via the Cloud (for PS3 games) and/or as a download on your console for PSP, PS2 and PS1 games. (Premium)
- Limited-time trial versions will also be offered at this level, allowing players to test them before buying them. (Premium)
In Europe, this new PlayStation Plus is scheduled for June 22. But as players quickly noticed, the Essential offer of this new PlayStation Plus is less interesting than the current offer. And for good reason, currently, and each month, players can claim a total of 4 games. With this new version, only two games can be downloaded, with no new advantage. It is therefore difficult to be enthusiastic about the idea of paying a similar price for a less attractive offer. Following these announcements, players tried to circumvent the problem by taking advantage of the service’s subscription renewal conditions.
declining number of subscribers
« If you subscribe to both services [PS Now, PS Plus] when the new PlayStation Plus launches, you will be migrated to the PlayStation Plus Premium subscription plan and you will have a new single payment date based on the longer of your two subscriptions. » can we read in the FAQ section of Sony. An ingenious technique which thus allowed a user with a PlayStation Plus subscription ending at the end of the year, and a PlayStation Now subscription ending in 2025, to see its Premium offer expires with the furthest subscription, namely the one that ends in 2025. A technique quickly blocked by Sony which still allowed some players to get their hands on the future PlayStation Plus Premium offer at a lower cost.
But this week, Sony released its latest financial statement for fiscal year 2021. After review, it was noticed that the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers had dropped drastically. A fall probably linked to the increase in subscription prices and the arrival of ever more interesting competitors. Thus, the PlayStation Plus currently has 47.4 million subscribers, witnessing a drop of 600,000 of them, the time of a quarter. But with the arrival of its Essential, Extra and Premium offers, Sony wants to compensate for its drop in income by increasing subscription prices. It remains to be seen whether the players will respond.
Sony must therefore strike a blow to make the launch of this PlayStation Plus memorable. But with only two games planned, it’s hard to believe that the Japanese giant will succeed in making an impression, and above all in convincing. And for good reason, despite months of rumors and speculation, Sony did not convince all the players when the details of its Spartacus Project were announced. The games offered in June 2022 will therefore have to present themselves as outstanding to calm the spirits, but also to reassure. Although the service is mandatory to take advantage of the console’s online services, it is possible that the lack of attractive offers pushes the players towards the exit.
On your side, for which offer do you intend to crack? Are you already on the way out? Do not hesitate to answer us via the survey and the comment section.