Sony Announces New PlayStation Plus Tiered Subscription Service, Includes Games From All PS Eras

PlayStation is finally getting its response to Xbox Game Pass. Today Sony announced the new PlayStation Plus, which will combine the existing PlayStation Plus with PlayStation Now to form a three-tiered subscription service that will allow players on PS4, PS5, and -- at its highest tier -- PC to enjoy hundreds of games from all eras of the PlayStation console.

The first tier of service, PlayStation Plus Essential, is similar to the current PlayStation Plus membership, offering two downloadable games per month, discounts, cloud storage for saves, and online multiplayer.

The second tier, PlayStation Plus Extra, includes the above benefits, as well as "a catalog of up to 400 of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games."

The top tier, PlayStation Plus Premium, offers all of the above, in addition to another 340 games from the PS3 (via cloud streaming), PSP, PS2, and original PlayStation (via streaming on consoles and PCs or download), and "time-limited game trials."

Prices for the various tiers, in USD (monthly/quarterly/yearly) are $9.99/$24.99/$59.99 for PlayStation Plus Essential, $14.99/$39.99/$99.99 for PlayStation Plus Extra, and $17.99/$49.99/$119.99 for PlayStation Plus Premium. In markets without access to cloud streaming, there will be a separate PlayStation Plus Deluxe, replacing the Premium tier, that has a lower price and "includes a catalog of beloved classic games from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations to download and play."

The worldwide rollout of the service will occur in phases, beginning in June with a launch in Asia, followed by North America, Europe, and the rest of the world. The launch lineup will include several popular titles, such as Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal.

An important difference between Sony's new PS Plus service and Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass is that first-party titles won't be available at the time of their retail launch. "Nothing is forever," PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry. "All I'm talking to today is the approach we're taking in the short term. The way our publishing model works right now, it doesn't make any sense. But things can change very quickly in this industry, as we all know."