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New PlayStation Plus price, tiers, and launch date for Sony’s Game Pass rival

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After months of speculation and reports, Sony finally unveiled its new PS Plus subsription service—previously referred to as codename “Spartacus”—which falls in line with the likes of Xbox Game Pass. The new service aims to streamline Sony’s offerings, effectively combining PS Plus and PS Now, with various options and benefits across multiple tiers. Though the service is nowhere near as straightforward as Xbox Game Pass, it’s certainly a step in the right direction for Sony. But how does the new service work and when does it launch? Here’s what you need to know about the new PlayStation Plus subscription model.

When is the new PlayStation Plus release window?

On March 29, 2022, as reported by Bloomberg, Sony finally announced the new PlayStation Plus service, which revamps the previous model. The company revealed the new service will debut in June 2022 at an unspecified date.

Sony’s new subscription service will launch this summer.Shutterstock

Sony will likely reveal the exact release date in the coming weeks.

What are the new PlayStation Plus tiers and pricing?

As confirmed via Sony, the revamped service will feature three separate tiers, each with different offerings and prices.

PlayStation Plus Essential

$9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 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

$14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly

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

PlayStation Plus Premium

$17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly

  • Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
  • Adds up to 340 additional games, including PS3 games available via cloud streaming
  • A catalog 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.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales will be available as part of the Extra and Premium tiers. Sony

Unfortunately, cloud streaming game access offered as part of the Extra and Premium tiers are only available in the US, Canada, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In addition, PC streaming won’t be available in Japan at launch, but will come at a later, unspecified date.

The full lineup of “additional” games included in the catalog has yet to be revealed, but Sony did confirm Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal would be featured.

Will the new PlayStation Plus service have backward compatibility?

Backward compatibility will be featured in some capacity as part of Sony’s new subscription model. Sony

The new PlayStation Plus service will incorporate older games from Sony’s back catalog across the original PlayStation, PS2, PS3, PSP, and PS4, though there are caveats. Most egregiously, PS3 games are only streamable, just as they were on PS Now. Thankfully, you will be able to download original PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS4, and PS5 games to your device.

In addition, the list won’t incorporate every game released across each PlayStation console, but rather a selection from the company’s catalog that will be “regularly refreshed,” according to Sony.

Will the new PlayStation Plus service include Sony-published games on day one?

One of the best things about Xbox Game Pass is that several games are already on the service on launch day. Specifically, Microsoft launches all of its first-party games on the service day one. That paid off in 2021 as Microsoft released a strong lineup of games like Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo Infinite.

Xbox Game Pass continues to attract an audience for Microsoft.Microsoft

As part of an interview with GamesIndustry, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan confirmed that first-party Sony games would not launch on the new service on day one. “The way our publishing model works right now [putting new games straight into PS Plus] doesn’t make any sense,” Ryan told the publication. “But things can change very quickly in this industry.”

So, it’s clear the new version of PS Plus won’t necessarily compete with Microsoft’s Game Pass model, at least when it comes to offering first-party games on day one.

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After months of speculation and reports, Sony finally unveiled its new PS Plus subsription service—previously referred to as codename “Spartacus”—which falls in line with the likes of Xbox Game Pass. The new service aims to streamline Sony’s offerings, effectively combining PS Plus and PS Now, with various options and benefits across multiple tiers. Though the…

After months of speculation and reports, Sony finally unveiled its new PS Plus subsription service—previously referred to as codename “Spartacus”—which falls in line with the likes of Xbox Game Pass. The new service aims to streamline Sony’s offerings, effectively combining PS Plus and PS Now, with various options and benefits across multiple tiers. Though the…