PS Plus and Game Pass price hikes loom as Sony looks to 'add more value'
PS Plus will be subject to more price hikes in the future, as Xbox players fear a possible increase to Game Pass as well.
Almost two years after Sony increased the price of certain PS Plus subscriptions, the company has thrown out the possibility of adjusting its 'pricing strategy' once again.
During a business conference, Sony was asked by investors about the reason behind the 2023 price increase, along with what factors may lead to another hike in the future.
In response, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Hideaki Nishino explained how the percentage of PlayStation Plus subscribers on the higher tiers had grown over the past few years.
According to a chart which accompanied the Q&A, 17% of PS Plus subscribers were on the Premium tier and 13% were on the Extra tier in the 2022 fiscal year, which has increased to 22% and 16%, respectively, by the 2024 fiscal year.
'PlayStation Plus is highly valued by our players and continues to drive engagement,' Nishino said. 'We're already seen a trend toward the option of higher tiers within our service, as evidenced by the subscriber mix we achieved in fiscal year 2024, where approximately 38% of players are now subscribed to PlayStation Plus Premium or Extra tiers.
'This is even after the global price increases we implemented in fiscal year 2023, and more recently, the local price increases in selected countries, to improve our pricing strategy across certain market clusters, and also to account for [foreign exchange] movements.'
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When discussing the factors which go into these price hikes, Nishino said the company will continue to change prices 'in a dynamic way' moving forward.
He added: 'These price increases were partly a result of increasing value we bring to the players, through the quality and diversity of content we continue to add, as well as investment in the features to improve the service further, such as player personalisation and enhanced content discovery.
'The PlayStation Plus service offers great value for our players, and we will continue to add more value and adjust our pricing strategy in a dynamic way to maximise profitability.'
While a price increase was inevitable at some point, it's certainly not a promising sign for anyone who thought PS Plus prices might be frozen for some time – even if Nishino doesn't give an explicit indication of when a price adjustment could happen.
As prices of subscription services continue to rise across all of entertainment, players have also found evidence that Microsoft might be considering a price bump for Xbox Game Pass. More Trending
Bluesky user redphx, an account dedicated to highlighting backend changes on Xbox Cloud Gaming, has claimed a new notification type called 'SubscriptionPriceIncrease' has been added to the xCloud website.
While this in itself doesn't necessarily mean a price increase is imminent, Microsoft did the raise the price of Xbox Game Pass in July last year, and in June the year before that, so it's possible another is drifting down the pipeline for summer 2025.
As for what upcoming games could justify the increase, The Outer Worlds 2 is set to arrive on October 29 priced at £69.99. Other titles on the horizon include Double Fine's Keeper, Ninja Gaiden 4, and this year's new Call Of Duty.
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