Sony officially unveils new PlayStation Plus with Game Pass-style streaming; launches in June

After rumors surfaced back in February of the new Sony Game Pass competitor, Sony has now unveiled the new PlayStation Plus. Taking to the official PlayStation Blog this morning, Sony has now confirmed much of what we saw last month with its new subscription service that essentially combines PS Plus with PS Now on-demand game streaming functionality. The new PlayStation Plus Game Pass competitor is set to launch in June 2022 with 700+ titles for subscribers. Head below for a closer look.

New PlayStation Plus launches in June

The new PlayStation Plus will indeed feature a three-tier system, much like we reported on back in February with pricing ranging from $60 per year – similar to the full MSRP on PS Plus right now without the PS Now integration – and going up to $120 for the Premium set of features. 

Today, we are pleased to share with you official news about changes coming to our subscription services. This June, we’re bringing together PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now in an all-new PlayStation Plus subscription service that provides more choice to customers across three membership tiers globally. 

Here’s a breakdown of the new tiers:

PlayStation Plus Essential

• Provides the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members are getting today.
• There are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier.
• $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly

PlayStation Plus Extra

• 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.
• $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly

PlayStation Plus Premium

• 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.
• $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly

The main difference here with the more pricey tiers is the added PS Now-style game streaming, so the standard fee of $60 really isn’t getting any new features – you’ll have to bump up to the $100 per year tier to get any of that at all. 

Here’s some quick details from Sony on the games that will appear at launch including Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal:

We’re working closely with our imaginative developers from PlayStation Studios and third-party partners to include some of the best gaming experiences available with a library that will be regularly refreshed. More details to come on the games we’ll have on our new PlayStation Plus service.  

Transition to the new PlayStation Plus

When the new service launches, “PlayStation Now will transition into the new PlayStation Plus offering and will no longer be available as a standalone service.” According to Sony, all PlayStation Now users will migrate over to the PlayStation Plus Premium tier with no increase to their current subscription fee. 

As this is a massive launch effort, we’re rolling out the new PlayStation Plus offering in a phased regional approach. In the June timeframe, we’ll begin with an initial launch in several markets in Asia, followed by North America, Europe and the rest of the world where PlayStation Plus is offered. We aim to have most PlayStation Network territories live with our new PlayStation Plus game subscription service by the end of the first half of 2022.

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