Gamers looking to upgrade to a higher tier of the overhauled PlayStation Plus service, when it launches this summer, will be pleased to know that Sony has indicated this can be “easily” done.
As relayed by VGC, a ResetEra user has shared an email they received from Sony which reads: “You can easily upgrade to a higher benefit plan at any time. To do so, you’ll need to pay the difference between the current plan and your new plan, adjusted for the remaining time of your subscription.”
Further details, such as how the upgrade fee will be adjusted based on a user’s remaining subscription time, are still under wraps. However, confirmation that there will be some form of upgrade scheme will come as very welcome news for users who have multiple years of the current service stacked. It would also suggest that if a new subscriber initially opts for a lower tier, it will be possible to switch to a higher one during their subscription.
Designed as a service to rival Microsoft’s popular Xbox Game Pass, and revealed earlier this year, the new PlayStation Plus is merging together the pre-existing PlayStation Plus service with PlayStation Now, and will launch in three distinct tiers.
The current PS Plus offering (a couple of free games per month, discounts and online play) will become the entry-level Essential tier in the new system, and will cost $9.99 per month. The next step up, PS Plus Extra, will cost $14.99/month and will include everything in Essential plus access to an ever-rotating library of 400 PS4 and PS5 games.
Finally, PS Plus Premium will add a further 340 PS3, PS2, PS1 and PSP titles, for $17.99/month. Unfortunately, the PS3 games will only be playable via cloud streaming and will not be available for download and offline play. We've got a full breakdown of all three tiers and what they offer in our PlayStation Plus Essential vs. Extra vs. Premium guide.
The full list of which games which be included in PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium hasn’t been confirmed, but there have been a few titles already revealed. Sony has announced that heavy-hitters including Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Mortal Kombat 11 and Returnal will be part of the lineup at launch.
As for when the refreshed PlayStation Plus service will launch, Sony recently confirmed that it will be rolled out in Asian markets first with May 23 being targeted for its launch date. Sony’s native Japan launch comes slightly later, with a rollout planned for June 1. The Americas will follow nearly two weeks later on June 13, and the service finally hits Europe on June 22.
While the service seems like an excellent way to get access to more games than you’ll ever have the time to play, the new PlayStation Plus is lacking a huge Xbox Game Pass feature. While Microsoft generously includes first-party games on its service from day one, Sony won’t be giving subscribers to even PlayStation Plus Premium access to games like God of War Ragnarok at launch. This distinction makes the latter a significantly less attractive service.
