Sony Increasing PlayStation Plus Prices Starting This Wednesday

The price of a PlayStation Plus subscription is rising due to “ongoing market conditions,” but not all will be affected by the popular subscription service’s new asking price.

PS Plus monthly sub goes up $1, 3-month sub goes up $3

PlayStation Plus is having a solid month of new additions to its library, as its Essential subscribers have gained access to Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, EA Sports FC 25, and 2D indie platformer Nine Sols. Extra and Premium PS Plus subscribers will get a larger batch of games starting tomorrow, May 19, that includes the likes of Star Wars Outlaws, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the 2023 Little Nightmares-like horror gem Bramble: The Mountain King, among others.

PS Plus competitor, Xbox Game Pass, has had its own run of controversial price hikes, but has recently made a very rare and commendable price cut under the watch of new Xbox boss Asha Sharma. This past October saw Xbox’s service leap to the highest price it’s ever been, with its Ultimate tier price, the only tier that offers day one drops, climbing to an eye-watering $30 per month. Shortly after Sharma took over, the price of Game Pass Ultimate dropped down to $23 per month.

Only new PS Plus subscribers will be affected

In a new post on X, PlayStation broke some disappointing news about the price of its PS Plus subscription service. Its Essential tier has been raised in price by $1, and will now cost $10.99 for a single month subscription. The price of its 3-month subscription offer has jumped up by $3 as well, and will now cost $27.99. These new prices will go into effect on Wednesday, May 20. In the post, Sony vaguely cited “ongoing market conditions” as its reasoning for the price hike.

The only good news here is that current subscribers won’t be affected by the price increase. Only gamers who freshly subscribe to the service starting on May 20 will have to cough up the extra dollar each month. With this in mind, it may be a smart idea for those who’ve been considering a PS Plus sub to jump on it now, before the 20th, while the price is still $9.99. The change also puts some pressure on current Essential subscribers to keep tier subscriptions going in order to keep their $9.99 per month rate alive, as canceling and re-subbing after May 20 will apply the extra $1 moving forward.

This new PS Plus price hike coming just a month after Xbox Game Pass’ price decrease certainly isn’t a great look for PlayStation. Furthermore, PS Plus’ Essential plan is now a dollar more expensive than Xbox’s Essential tier, which is still $9.99. Thankfully, PlayStation’s Extra and Premium tiers aren’t being touched. The exact reasoning for Essential’s price change remains a mystery, though it’s clear that subscribers aren’t happy with it. Whether Sony decides to roll it back in response to disappointed subscribers will remain to be seen.

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