Sony said PlayStation Plus subscribers in some regions will face higher prices from Wednesday 20 May, citing market conditions, as the company moves to raise the cost of one of its core gaming subscriptions. The basic monthly plan will rise to £7.99, $10.99 and €9.99, while the basic three-month plan will increase to £21.99, $27.99 and €27.99.
PlayStation did not say which countries or territories will be affected, but it said current subscribers will not be hit unless they are in Turkey or India, or their existing subscription changes or lapses. PlayStation Plus gives users access to online multiplayer, monthly downloadable games and discounts in the PlayStation Store.
The move comes after Sony increased the price of the PlayStation 5 console last month. In March, PlayStation said the console would rise by £90 in the UK and $100 in the US, blaming continued pressures in the global economic landscape. Earlier this month, Sony said PlayStation 5 sales fell in the past year.
PlayStation Plus has three subscription tiers: Essential, Extra and Premium. Sony did not say whether those other tiers will also go up, and it gave no update on what will happen to the 12-month subscription. That leaves buyers with a narrower picture than the company’s latest pricing move might suggest, at a time when the video game industry has already been dealing with supply problems and higher memory chip prices.
The new charges add another layer of pressure for players who have already absorbed console price rises and now face a more expensive entry point for online services. For Sony, the question is no longer whether it can pass on higher costs, but how much more of them customers are willing to take.
