The revamped PlayStation Plus has now been available in most regions for about a month, and by most accounts, it’s a success. It has a great library, excellent performance and a clear delineation between pricing tiers. Now, you can even try the service free of charge for seven days — provided that you live in the United Kingdom, that is. Sony has recently made a seven-day free trial for PlayStation Plus available, but at present, only customers in the UK can access it. Sony hasn’t revealed whether this trial will come to other regions, or when.
Information about the free trial is available on the official PlayStation Plus website, as long as you set your region to “Country / United Kingdom.” When you scroll down to the Membership Plan section, you can choose to start an Extra or Premium subscription for £0.00 rather than the normal prices. After seven days, however, normal pricing will kick in — between £10.99 and £99.99, depending on which tier you want, and how long you sign up for.
It's worth noting that the free trial has some draconian conditions. You still have to create a PlayStation account and input your credit card information before you start. Furthermore, Sony will sign you up for automatic renewal unless you cancel your plan within the seven-day period. In other words, if you decide you don’t want to pay for PlayStation Plus after the trial, you’ll have to jump through a lot of hoops to cancel it before Sony charges your credit card. As Sony’s Terms of Service warn:
“At the end of your trial period, your PlayStation Plus subscription will automatically roll into an ongoing subscription with a recurring subscription fee charged automatically at the frequency you choose when you sign up for the trial. If you want to prevent this, you can cancel your subscription prior to the end of the trial period. You can continue to use the benefits until the last day of the trial period even if you cancel before that.”
Otherwise, though, the plan’s biggest drawback at present is simply that it’s not available in a lot of regions. Apart from the United Kingdom, Tom’s Guide could not find any regions that offered a free trial. At present, the revamped PlayStation Plus is available in North America, Europe and east Asia, although exact functionality varies by country.
We’ve generally enjoyed our time with PlayStation Plus so far, and a free trial is as good a way as any to gauge whether the service is right for you. If you don’t like it, though, just be sure to cancel before the trial ends, or you may find yourself with yet another unneeded monthly subscription.
