In an interview with American investing publication Barron's, Sony Senior Vice President Eric Lempel explained the company's decisions regarding the price hike for PlayStation Plus subscriptions and the absence of day one game releases within the service.
Sony Defends PS Plus Price Increase
Says Necessary to Keep Up with Market Conditions
The recent price increase attracted criticism from the gaming community. Sony raised the prices of its PlayStation Plus subscription service in September 2023, with the cost of a 12-month subscription increasing to $79.99 for the Essential tier, $134.99 for the Extra tier, and $159.99 for the Premium tier.
Eric Lempel addressed the concerns, stating that this change is part of Sony's ongoing efforts to improve PlayStation Plus. He stated, "We want to make PlayStation Plus great. With our reboot last year and introducing the tier system, a lot of consumers have recognized that there's a lot of value in PlayStation 5."
Sony stated that adjusting pricing is essential to keep up with market conditions and to ensure they can continue to deliver an exceptional gaming experience to their customers. Lempel further explained, "Like practically everything else in the world, we have to look at our pricing and we have to adjust to market conditions. I'm happy to say, unlike a lot of other subscription services out there, we haven't touched the PlayStation Plus pricing for 85% of the world in many years. So, this was the first time we did something there."
It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Sony has increased PlayStation Plus subscription prices, as there was a price hike in September 2016.
Sony’s Unique Approach to Offering PS Plus
When asked if Sony will start incorporating day one game releases into PS Plus just like Xbox Game Pass, Lempel highlighted Sony's unique approach. "It comes down to what you're going to get in the service in terms of the type of game and the quality of games. I can't comment on what the competition is doing. But with us, we feel we're offering a great curated catalog of games, as well as other features and services with PlayStation Plus."
Lempel also pointed out that their approach gives their users the freedom to engage as much or as little as they want. "We give you the options with the three tiers to engage as much or as little as you want, depending on what you'd like to do. It's a very different offering, but it's one that resonated with consumers."
Sony offers tiered services with PlayStation Plus: Essential, Extra, and Premium.
- PS Plus Essential provides access to online play, two monthly free games, cloud storage, and exclusive discounts at the PlayStation Store.
- PS Plus Extra includes all Essential tier benefits and adds a catalog of downloadable PS5 and PS4 games.
- PS Plus Premium encompasses all the above features, as well as game trials, game streaming, and a collection of PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP games.
In 2022, former Sony CEO Jim Ryan stated that they don't put new games on PS Plus because it would disrupt the "virtuous cycle" of investment that leads to commercial success. He emphasized, Our games could suffer if they went straight into PS Plus.
"We feel like we are in a good virtuous cycle with the studios where the investment delivers success, which enables yet more investment, which delivers yet more success. We like that cycle and we think our gamers like that cycle." He further stated that putting their own games into the subscription service is a road they haven’t gone down in the past, and that they have no plans to go down that road in the future.
Sources:
Jim Ryan On Why Sony Won't Launch Games Day One On PS Plus
PS blog announcement of price increase in 2016
