PlayStation has announced in a PlayStation Blog post this morning, multiple new tiers of PlayStation Plus subscriptions, with Australian gamers set to miss out on the highest tier, known as PlayStation Plus Premium. This is due to the fact that the Premium tier’s offerings tie into the cloud-based streaming service PlayStation Now, which we currently do not have access to.
PlayStation Plus Essential
This entry-level tier serves as the current version of PlayStation Plus. This model will still provide two monthly downloadable games, exclusive PlayStation Store discounts, online cloud storage for saved games and general online multiplayer access. PlayStation has also confirmed that no changes will be made to the pricing of this subscription.
PlayStation Plus Extra
You’ll get all the benefits of the Essential subscription, with an added catalogue of up to 400 PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games, with plenty of PlayStation Studios and third party options alike. These games can then be downloaded to the console and played with an active subscription.
This tier will run at $14.99 USD per month, which equates to $17.99 AUD or $99 USD yearly, which equates to $130 AUD. We can imagine that Sony will announce a firm price for subscriptions within Australia moving forward.
PlayStation Plus Premium (Known as PlayStation Plus Deluxe in Australia)
With all the Essential and Extra features included, subscribers can take advantage of an additional 340 games, including PS3 games via cloud streaming (not available in Australia). A remaining catalogue of PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP games will be available in streamable or downloadable forms (once again, Australian gamers will need to download these titles to their PS4 or PS5 console and play with an active subscription). Subscribers will also be able to take advantage of limited game trials, to try before they buy.
This tier will run at $17.99 USD per month, which equates to $23.99 AUD, or $119.99 USD yearly, which equates to $160 AUD. We do expect this price to be discounted, given the lacking cloud features provided in the PlayStation Plus Premium subscription.
It’s admittedly disappointing that Sony and PlayStation would rather adjust their subscription tiers than bring PlayStation Now to Australian shores, with Xbox Game Pass including remote play as part of their service. However, it was inevitable that PlayStation would eventually counter with a service of their own.
While specific release details have not been provided, the PlayStation Blog post states that these subscription models will launch in most countries within the first half of 2022.
