PS Plus: Sony's latest earnings report highlights a record-breaking performance for PlayStation Plus, showing the subscription service is more profitable than ever. Despite a significant price increase last year, PS Plus has continued to thrive financially, defying predictions of a potential downturn. In 2022, Sony revamped PlayStation Plus by introducing a three-tier system: Essential, Extra, and Premium.
The Essential tier retains the core features of the original service, including monthly game offerings, cloud saves, and online play. The Extra tier, priced higher, provides access to a vast library of PS4 and PS5 games, resembling a Netflix-style catalogue. At the top, the Premium tier includes additional features like PS5 and PS3 cloud streaming and a collection of classic titles from the PS1, PS2, and PSP eras.
PS Plus Price Hike & Backlash
In August 2023, Sony announced a significant 35 per cent price increase across all PS Plus tiers. This move drew criticism from subscribers, especially since it coincided with underwhelming game additions like Saints Row and Generation Zero, and offered no new perks to justify the higher cost.
However, Sony's Q2 FY2025 earnings report reveals an 18 per cent year-over-year increase in PS Plus revenue. The price hike, implemented on September 6, 2023, appears to have contributed to this growth, with the report covering financial data up to September 30, 2024.
Acceptance Despite The Backlash
Sony attributed the growth of PlayStation Plus over the past year to a rise in ARPU (average revenue per user), driven largely by the 2023 price increase and a growing shift of subscribers toward the higher-tier Extra and Premium plans. This indicates that the price hike had minimal impact on subscriber retention or on persuading Extra and Premium users to downgrade to the more affordable Essential tier. However, since Sony no longer shares updated subscriber figures, the exact number of active PS Plus members remains unknown.
Whether these results will prompt Sony to consider additional price increases for PS Plus is uncertain. Subscription-based services often face incremental price adjustments over time, regardless of how prior changes have impacted earnings. On the positive side, PS Plus has gradually been adding more value, especially for Premium subscribers, with features like the new PS2 emulator and a stronger focus on classic games.