PlayStation Announces Revamped Three-Tiered PlayStation Plus Service Which Includes Access To Classic PlayStation Titles

After the rumouring mill went into overdrive over the weekend, PlayStation has tonight announced its revamped PlayStation Plus service.

Launching in June, the new service will retain the PlayStation Plus name and will merge with the company’s PlayStation Now service to offer players three different subscription options – PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium. Unfortunately, as Australia does not currently support PlayStation cloud streaming, the Premium will be unavailable Down Under at launch.

The benefits of the three tiers can be found below:

PlayStation Plus Essential (US$9.99 monthly / US$59.99 yearly – $A13 monthly / A$80 yearly)

Provides the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members are getting today, such as:

• Two monthly downloadable games
• Exclusive discounts
• Cloud storage for saved games
• Online multiplayer access

PlayStation Plus Extra (US$14.99 monthly / US$99.99 yearly – $A20 monthly / A$133 yearly)

Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier.

• Adds a catalogue of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalogue and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.

PlayStation Plus Premium** (US$17.99 monthly / US$119.99 yearly – $A24 monthly / A$160 yearly)

Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers

• Adds up to 340* additional games, including:
• PS3 games available via cloud streaming
• A catalogue of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations
• Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets** where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.***
• Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.

Although Aussies miss on the Premium tier for now, we will have access to PlayStation Plus Deluxe, a service for markets without cloud streaming that will include access to a library of PS5 and PS4 games as well as PS1, PS2 and PSP classics, and time-limited game trials, for a lower price than Premium. The blog post does state that the company is expanding its cloud streaming, so there is still hope.

When it does launch, the Extra and Premium tiers will include access to games such as Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal, as well as more titles from PlayStation and third-party publishers. More details on this will come closer to the service’s launch.

Speaking on the announcement, President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan had this to say:

Building upon more than 25 years of expertise in gaming innovation, this change to our subscription services highlights our continued efforts to evolve our network services business to match our customer’s preferences. With the all-new PlayStation Plus, we’re focused on delivering a compelling game subscription service with curated content from our exclusive PlayStation Studios team and our third-party partners. The newly enhanced PlayStation Plus will enable our fans to discover and engage with more content than ever before, and deepen their connection with the PlayStation community through shared experiences. 

What do you make of the new PlayStation Plus service? Let us know in the comments or on social media.