Sony Launches Three PlayStation Plus Tiers to Counter Xbox Game Pass

From Tom's Hardware: Sony's long-rumored (and long-awaited) answer to Xbox Game Pass is finally coming. The Japanese gaming giant announced today that it is combining the two subscription services that it currently offers to PlayStation gamers. As a result, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now are being transitioned into three tiers of PlayStation Plus.

The first tier is called PlayStation Plus Essential and is a rebrand of the current version of PlayStation Plus. That means subscribers get two free game downloads per month, online multiplier game access, cloud storage for your save games, and discounts on digital items in the PlayStation Store. Pricing remains the same at $9.99 per month.

The next step up is PlayStation Plus Extra, which includes all the perks of the base subscription. However, you also can access a game library that includes roughly 400 PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games. According to Sony, these include "blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners" available for download. The PlayStation Plus Extra tier will cost $14.99 per month.

Things get interesting with the flagship PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, which costs $17.99 per month. As you might expect, this tier includes all the features mentioned above but adds original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable games to the mix. In addition, games across all current and previous generation console platforms are accessible via cloud streaming using a PS4, PS5 or PC. Sony says that up to 340 additional games are available via the PlayStation Plus Premium tier. Another perk of PlayStation Plus Premium is the option for developers to offer time-limited trials of games.

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