Sony reinvents PlayStation Plus, offers PC streaming exclusively at Premium price tier

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PlayStation Now is in the past

The Playstation logo.
(Image credit: Sony)

We've all been patiently waiting for Sony to offer a competitor to Xbox Game Pass. Even if you're a diehard fan of Sony's products and games it's hard to deny the value for money that Game Pass offers, from games to other deals like a recent Marvel Unlimited subscription. So it was only a matter of time until PlayStation's Plus service had a rework to offer more games at new prices, and now that rework been announced.

Still under the name PlayStation Plus, this new version of the subscription will have three tiers to the system: Essential, Extra, and Premium. The blog post from PlayStation details what each level will offer players and what their purposes are.

Essential will be Plus as we know it now. That means discounts, free games to download every month, and online multiplayer access. Note there is no cheaper alternative if you're just interested in online multiplayer access, Essential is as low as it goes. This will cost $9.99/£6.99 monthly, $24.99/£19.99 quarterly or $59.99/£49.99 yearly.

PlayStation Plus Extra will provide everything from Essential and an additional library of 400 games from the PlayStation 4 and 5 era. This is partly what PlayStation Now offered before it was folded into this subscription service too. This tier costs, $14.99/£10.99 monthly, $39.99/£31.99 quarterly, or $99.99/£83.99 yearly.

Finally PlayStation Plus Premium is where PC games will be able to get in on the fun. Essential and Extra benefits are included of course, and then another 340 games on top of that library which expands into the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation, and PSP era of games.

These will be available via cloud streaming or download, but all PlayStation 3 games will only be available via streaming. This tier also allows players on PC to stream games, as well as those that own PS4s and PS5s. Premium will also allow players to use a game trial system which will allow customers to try games before purchasing them. The Premium tier costs $17.99/£13.49 monthly, $49.99/£39.99 quarterly, or $119.99/£99.99 yearly.

Image of the Sony PS5 controller front on, on a grey background.

(Image credit: Sony)

Note that Cloud streaming isn't available in every location, so there is also a fourth tier in certain territories under the name Deluxe which will be cheaper and offer just games which are available to download at the Premium tier.

If we're being honest, this might not be enough to draw new players to PlayStation Plus right now. If there was a system in which PlayStation games were coming early or even free to the service like Game Pass provides, it might be more appealing. However PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has recently said that offering games on Plus at launch like Xbox Game Pass does is "not a road that we're going to go down with this new service." He believes that making them available on Plus would have a knock on effect on the quality of their games, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

It's certainly nice that the system's backlog will be more readily available though, as there are many of us that miss the old InFamous games, or want to relive Ratchet and Clank adventures once again. But are PC gamers prepared to pay 100 quid a year for streaming old games? That's for you to decide.

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Imogen Mellor

Imogen has been playing games for as long as she can remember but finally decided games were her passion when she got her hands on Portal 2. Ever since then she’s bounced between hero shooters, RPGs, and indies looking for her next fixation, searching for great puzzles or a sniper build to master. When she’s not working for PC Gamer, she’s entertaining her community live on Twitch, hosting an event like GDC, or in a field shooting her Olympic recurve bow.