Following its relaunch in June, PlayStation Plus lost nearly 2 million subscribers between July and September 2022, bringing the number of subscribers down from 47,3 million to 45,4 million, according to Sony’s most recent set of financial results.
One of the most loved features of the PlayStation 3, was the ability to play online multiplayer games without needing to subscribe to PlayStation Plus, which differed from those who played on the Xbox 360 and would need a subscription to Xbox Live in order to play online games. Sony made it mandatory to subscribe to PS Plus if you wanted to play online games when they released the PS4.
The new tier system released earlier this year was Sony’s latest attempt to revamp its subscription-based service. Their new system brought three new plans for PS Plus subscribers to choose from, Essential, Extra and Deluxe.
Essential is the cheapest option at R119pm and is basically what the old standard subscription to PS Plus would get you, plus access to PlayStation’s monthly free games. For R179pm the Extra tier gives you access to the Games Catalogue which features hundreds of games across various genres, you also get access to Ubisoft+ Classics. The Deluxe tier which costs R209pm allows you to enjoy exclusive benefits such as game trials and access to the PlayStation Classics Catalogue.
Despite the drop in subscribers, Sony saw a 10% increase in revenue, likely due to users signing up for the higher-priced tiers. The PlayStation 5 stock issue has gradually started to improve, with more and more gamers able to get their hands on Sony’s latest console. The real test for the new PS Plus tier system will be in the coming months with the Christmas season fast approaching and the releases of big-name titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the upcoming God of War Ragnarok.