2022 brought a much needed expansion of Sony’s Playstation Plus offering. Prior to this expansion, Playstation Plus was a subscription model that allowed gamers to play online with others, much like Xbox Live does. It also came with the ability to play a very small selection of games on demand without buying them up front.
Along side Playstation Plus was Playstation Now, a subscription model that allowed gamers to play a selection of games on demand. The problem was that neither of these two options were robust enough to really satisfy the modern gamer’s desires. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is wildly successful, despite the lack of Xbox exclusive titles, something Playstation is highly praised for. Well it appears that Sony took notice. Playstation Plus and Playstation Now are now combined into a multi-tiered single offering, so to speak.
“Out with the old. In with the new.”
The new Playstation Plus offering comes in three tiers:
- Playstation Plus Essential
- Playstation Plus Extra
- Playstation Plus Premium
Here is the breakdown:
Tier 1: PS Plus Essential
Playstation Plus Essential is for members who enjoyed the original Playstation Plus service as it was. No changes have been made. It just has a fancier name now. This tier gives you one PS5 game and two PS4 games each month, along with access to online multiplayer, cloud storage, and exclusive discounts.
Cost: $9.99/month | 24.99/quarter | $59.99/year
Get 1 Year of PS Plus Essential for just $41 here
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Check out our Playstation Plus Tier Conversion Guide to see how that discount applies to higher PS Plus Tiers.
Tier 2: PS Plus Extra
PS Plus Extra adds additional PS5 and PS4 games on top of your basic PS Plus Essential subscription. This essentially combines the pre-existing PS Plus and PS Now subscription under one tier. As an added bonus, it now includes PS5 titles.
Sony say this catalogue has around 400 PS5 and PS4 games, all downloadable.
At launch, the line-up included Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, Returnal, and many others.
Cost: $14.99/month | $39.99/quarter | $99.99/year
Tier 3: PS Plus Premium
PS Plus Premium stacks even more perks on top of everything included in the PS Plus Essential and PS Plus Extra tiers. With this tier, you gain the ability to stream PS3 games to your console. Note that these titles are only available for streaming; no downloading. In addition, this catalogue is said to include 340 downloadable games across PS1, PS2, and PSP titles.
Another great feature of PS Plus Premium is it offers limited time game trials of newer PS4 and PS5 titles. This is perhaps one of its lesser hyped features, but one that I have found incredibly valuable. You’re able to play for up to two hours per game, and you can earn Trophies during that time. If you choose to purchase the game at the close of the game trial, your save data does carry over. This is a fantastic way to try new games out without purchasing them first or subscribing to a game rental service such as GameFly.
Cost: $17.99/month | $49.99/quarter | $119.99/year
Which Playstation Plus tier do you prefer? Join in the conversation in the comments below.
