PlayStation Plus: after the controversy, Sony backtracks on its dubious pricing policy

After an entire day of rumble on social media, Sony has decided to cancel the obligation to refund the difference for players who received a discount on their PlayStation Plus subscription. After the service went live in several Asian countries, the scandal erupted as users also complained about the lack of games available.

Update of May 26, 2022:

Faced with the controversy generated by its dubious pricing policy, Sony decided to backtrack at the end of the day. In a tweet published by an after-sales service account, the Japanese firm pleads “technical error”, even though it claimed that it was not an error a few hours earlier. However, players who received a discount no longer have to pay the difference, and those who have already done so will be refunded. Here is the full message from Sony: “Due to a technical error, gamers in Asia who have already purchased a discounted PlayStation Plus subscription were incorrectly charged their upgrade price. This error has been corrected and affected players will receive credit. We thank you for your patience. »

Article May 25, 2022:

As you may know, Sony will launch in France this June 23, 2022 a brand new redesign of PlayStation Plus. This time around, players will have the choice between three distinct plans, namely the PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra and Premium whose prices range from €8.99 to €16.99 per month.

If the first formula offers the same features and advantages as the current PS Plus, the Extra subscription also includes the services of PS Now, in particular by offering access to 400 games from the PS4 and PS5 catalogs. As for the Premium formula, it gives pride of place to backward compatibility by providing access to a selection of great classics from the PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP catalogue. In any case, this is what Sony promises.

However, since this Wednesday, May 25, 2022, the new PlayStation Plus is available in some Asian countries. The opportunity for us to collect the first impressions of the players. And as much to say that they are not really positive.

Also read: PlayStation Plus – find out what the new interface looks like

A ridiculous number of games, far from Sony’s promise

First, the players denounce a number of accessible games much more limited than that promised by Sony. According to user Slzyc on Twitter“we only have 12 PS5 games, 5 PSP games and 4 PS2 games. At the moment, the Deluxe level (editor’s note: the name of the Premium formula in Asia) is not worth it. If this is indeed the case, we are far from the 400 games and more promised by Sony.

To this must be added a pricing policy worthy of the scandal caused by pre-order offers from Horizon Forbidden West. Indeed, players who subscribe to the current PS Plus (without PS Now) have found that the length of their current subscription was halved if they wanted to upgrade to PS Plus Premium.

A scandalous pricing policy according to the players

Additionally, players who took advantage of a PS Plus subscription discount were “pleasantly” surprised to see that Sony demanded payment of the difference to be able to switch from the classic PS Plus to the Extra or Premium formula. In other words, if you have accumulated several years of PS Plus subscription thanks to promotional offers, you will have to pay the difference to benefit from the new formulas.

This policy is not an error and has been confirmed by Sony. “Since you have the discounted PlayStation Plus at the time of joining, there are two PS Plus subscriptions that are not eligible for the discount:

• The PS Plus subscription purchased with a discount
• The PS Plus subscription purchased with a redemption code

PTherefore, if you need to upgrade to a Tier 2 (Extra) or Tier 3 (Premium) PS Plus subscription, you will need to make up the difference between the previous discounted price and the regular price.“, explains the Japanese manufacturer. All that remains is to hope that the rumble of Asian players will encourage Sony to change its strategy before the launch of the new service in France…