72% of PS Plus Subscribers Satisfied with Service, Says Sony

Yeah, I dunno about that after the mass outrage. Sounds like damage control to me.

Didn't ask me....I call shenanigans

I hit the cloud save limit the other day, 99GB left, but around 1000 saves. So I had to delete a bunch of stuff. Mass Effect Andromeda accounted for about 50% of my saves, there was a save every couple minutes for some reason.

Running out of space with 99GB left allocated to my account is more than enough to make me not "extremely satisfied". I hope they fix this at some point with new PS+. Hopefully more people will start having more saves from playing more games from the catalog to prompt it.

To be fair there are probably plenty of people out there who have ps plus simply to play online (I'm not one of them)

To those people the free monthly games are just an added bonus

Edit I commented first and read the article later

It reinforces my belief that Pushsquare is an outlier - sadly, it's all too often an angry, negative echo chamber regarding PS+ games, digital pricing, Sony failing Vs Microsoft and Gamepass etc

Meanwhile, the vast majority of gamers carry on enjoying their hobby, happy and entirely satisfied. (I'm one of them!) 😃👍

@themuckman dude that’s the whole internet lol. Everything is either the greatest or the worst thing that can happen with no in between because hardcore gamers are a whiny and unsatisfied bunch that don’t have good analytical skills so having productive conversations on gaming is few and far between especially with trolls and console fanboys mixed in.

I'm satisfied. Could not care less about the new tiers.

The loudest people are always in the minority. Nobody I know have any issues with it but the moment I go online, everyone hates it 🤷🏾‍♂️

@kyleforrester87 You say that, but the people voting 'crap' on this website are the same 95% who say they're subscribed to PS Plus in our other polls!

Most gamers don't voice opinions on the internet as they don't care that much about the stuff that gets outrage online. I mean do most people even care about ps plus games when they buy their preferred games on day 1 instead of waiting for it to be on ps plus? I know I only use it for online with the occasional surprise like Control popping up on the service. Many just want to play games like GTA, FIFA, Fortnite, Apex online and they simply buy ps plus for that.

@themuckman it is a massive echo chamber that isn’t representative of real people’s views on gaining. That’s just the reality.

I pay £35 and get, maybe, 10 games I actually play per year. £3.50 per game is actually very good.

I’ve been so addicted to slay the spire from last month (a game I never would have thought to buy myself), that this alone made it worthwhile.

So, yes, for the price I’m satisfied. And I don’t even play online.

To be unhappy with it, in my opinion, someone would have to have either a very narrow taste in games or buy everything they want day 1.

@ShogunRok another crap month, better stack my sub another year so Sony can make it up to me!

Yes I'm all good with ps+ ,I find the added games every month a bonus ,I dont try all of them but every now and again there's a game that's pretty appealing and yes happy with what Sony are doing with revamp of tiers etc ,I'll probably stay as I am on lower tier ,but all good as far as I'm concerned can't complain:)

@themightyant
Even if you only play 7, that’s still only £5 per game. As you say, that’s before the plus sales and such.

Or maybe, and hear me out on this, people commenting on this site are smart enough to realize Sony started PS+ as an optional rental game service with bonus themes and avatars and discounts that only cost $50 per year but then changed it to a mandatory pay to play online service that dropped themes and avatars and the number of games but also raised the price to $60.

So maybe we're smart enough to realize the emperor has no clothes and the rest of the people polled are like

@Milktastrophe What's the mass effect storage footprint per save? I'm sure death stranding is like 800mb!!! 😵

@themightyant
To be honest the sales don’t impact me that much I don’t think. I don’t buy digital games unless on heavy sale already or I can’t get hold of a physical copy (mainly VR games). But it’s clearly good value if we both only use part of the benefits and still get more than our money’s worth from it.

7/10 customers satisfied rate isn’t as high as it seems. You’d want it at a nice 9/10. 17/20 at worst.

@themightyant Yes keep Sony on the straight and narrow. But on the other side of the fence a certain billionaire who has bought loads and loads of land from farmers isn't using it to produce fresh food for a planet apparently on the verge of shortages. Sony are definitely the lesser of two evils I would say, and calling out should be dispersed equally. My two cents.

@kyleforrester87 Im a subscriber for years already never play the plus games because of the lack of time and i play some free to play games but for €40 a year im not moaning to much. I see myself as a dedicated fan but i almost dont buy anything digital.

I’m 70% satisfied, 30% dissatisfied. Part of my dedication to keeping my sub active is that I’ve been a subscriber for many years and I’d lose a large chunk of my game library if I let my sub lapse. But now with PS+ Extra you can just join that later and get all the back catalogue of PS+ game in one swoop, so there’s less concern about missing something good. So for the first time in 5 years I am considering whether I really need to be a subscriber. I’m torn.

@rjejr Here people complain every month be it good or bad this is just a site with a lot salty people. Im certain if you put all firstparty games on Plus that there still will be a lot cry babies that still would complain.

Sony must be lying because all I've ever heard is people saying that it's trash. The same as people being disappointed with the free games every month.

And 72% is quite bad, it should be in the 90%

The monthly games of Plus and Gold are in my opinion a thing of the past and should be replaced by Gamepass and the new Plus Catalogue of games.

But of course Sony and MS won't give up that sweet cash coming from subscriptions.

Come on Sony, 28% of unsatisfied people is a lot of people. It´s like they are satisfied with this result: "look, it´s a 7 out of 10!". It´s almost 6 million people.

I'm good with what was offered last year but haven't really played any from this year. I'd say I'm satisfied though as for the money it's a fairly good deal.

Can we really complain though people..getting three "free" games every month is crazy to think what we got years ago

@GADG3Tx87
"Mass outrage" from a very vocal minority.

72% sounds about right. The service is good, but not great. This survey metric tells Sony they have built a good foundation, but it needs improvement. That's valuable feedback for them to have. PS+ will continue to get better over time, but will only do so if feedback is reasonable, constructive, and communicated effectively (i.e. not just calling everything crap in the comments of various articles).

"most monthly updates were deemed "crap" by Push Square users,"

Yeah we are still waiting on knack 2 as a plus game.

Not if you ask this comment section.

Though its mostly entitled babies here on PushSquare.

Its really sad to see the site’ comment section go so downhill the past year or two.

Seems a bit high percentage with the amount of crybaby entitled fans complaining they have to pay to play online . PlayStation isn't the same with Jim Ryan changing things. Especially with talk of sony wqnting to move more titles to pc and aiming to hit 300 million profit. last year ps+ has had to many multiplayer games there only been a handful of months with decent titles . I'm still holding off on wether to upgrade to premium . I really don't like the game pass_ps now way of doing things I e the games changes every 3 months or so ; luckily my normal ps+ doesn't run out til November

Extremely satisfied is pushing it. I’m neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Truthfully, I could do without PS+ altogether. After all I rarely play online and more or less all PS+ games that has been offered these past couple of years I haven’t even touched. Either not interested or I’ve already finished them.

But I’m not complaining, I’ll keep my subscription up regardless. It’s cheap and I get a lovely + icon next to my username. Oh, and cloud saves are pretty neat!

@TheCollector316
Loud enough for them to hear it.

This site sets its own tone. Its not a positive place and so tge disparity in numbers is to be expected.

Good to know, at least Sony and Nintendo release those numbers, unlike some other company.

I'm satisfied with the service so far, always great games included and well worth the £6.99

@themuckman my thoughts exactly. Been saying it for a while and thankfully many others see it that way.

The reality is often very different than the overblown internet drama these days.

@themightyant excellent point. I've been accused of being a Sony fanboy by many individuals here who think that if you don't attack x company, you're a "corporate shill", when in reality I think it's extremely important to pick your battles in life in general and focus on things that really matter/are extremely unfair. The way Sony handled discounts and upgrades to the new ps+ service, whether an honest mistake or on purpose, was something that needed to be fixed, hence my expressed opposition to it.

@Snake_V5 "And 72% is quite bad, it should be in the 90%"

Any examples of gaming services with 90% extremely satisfied customers?

I'll wait.

@rjejr you should probably look up the games we were getting when ps+ started out, fellow smart person.

@Shepherd_Tallon I'm in the same boat. It's nice when the free games are killer ones like Bloodborne or FF VIIR, but its just a stable service that I personally feel easily justifies its price tag. Doesn't stop me from trashing sony for anti consumer BS, but for the service itself I have minimal complaints.

They’re delusional if they think 28% are let alone 72%

Obviously made up numbers.

Has anyone switched their location and subbed early to the new system? Is that possible?

Overall I've been satisfied with plus. Introduced me to new games and genres. That's was its main purpose imo. I can buy games when I want so I'm not dependent on a service to fill my catalog.

Lots of good sales for plus owners.
PlayStation plus collection for ps5 owners is meaty.
Good relatively safe and non-cheating online play.
Nice cloud saves.
PSplus games every month a cherry on top.

For what it is I'm happy with it.
Looking forward to Extra and Premium tiers as the advantage is very cool.

Do corporations actually use those polls the send out through third party survey companies to make decisions? No wonder half of what they do never makes sense.

Those polls aren't very scientific. They tend to ask weirdly pointed questions that lead to a particular answer, or lead to random answers due to none of them fitting. They bias who participates. For the most part if an email for a "quick survey" comes in (which usually means 20 minutes answering 30 questions most of which have nothing to do with the original thing the survey says it's about and is all about collecting demography data for marketing purposes) from a product you don't like, you just ignore it, it's not worth the time. If it's for a product you've had for years and don't think much about positive or otherwise you also ignore it. Mostly people that are new to a product and excited about their new brand/product are the ones that respond to surveys. And it tends to skew positive as people new to a product who are very excited about it want to share that feedback.

In short, the polls are worthless, but probably useful for gathering marketing data on target groups. Which is what I assume is the real purpose of them. Similarly I find it creepy any time I play a new game on Switch I get an email a few days later asking how I like the new game, which takes you to one of those polls which spend more time on "what other platforms do you play games on, how often do you play mobile games, how many people in your household would buy tacos on Taco Tuesday if offered a voucher for burritos, etc." than the game it says it's asking about.

@kyleforrester87 @ShogunRok We're biased, not because we're enthusiasts, but because we skew toward being adults spending our own money and expecting value in return. Many joke about Nintendo being for kids, and there's that old meme pic about Splatoon and CoD, who it's for and who plays it (kids vs college kids with reality being the opposite of what's intended.) But we have to realize that like music, games are still primarily marketed at tweens and teens up to mid-20-somethings as the far range. Being adults that play games is what makes us the minority. Not that few adults play games now, but in terms of total market share, it's not the majority target demo. The majority of their customers aren't even drinking age, and they know it. And that affects how they do business, including knowing the market has no memory because every few years the primary market is newborn and knows little to nothing of what came before and they can reset the entire business relationship. That's how GameStop (in the US) gets away with what it gets away with as well. Most people (the mainstream) buy Plus because it lets them play GTAV and FIFA with their friends with voice chat. That's it. That's the service. It works and isn't broken, therefore they're happy with it. The freebies don't factor into it. The store discounts don't factor into it. Most subscribers are good little boys and girls that pay like they're told for things that were free, like playing online, when they were 2 and don't question it. And if we're honest, the majority of subscribers are spending mommy and daddy's money, so the service is more than great without a sense of cost. Game companies are not stupid. They know their market. Similarly they know service whales are generally wealthy adults with compulsive personality disorders and neurotic tendencies, and they cater to it. And real-time data tells them more than surveys will ever tell them about how people use everything.

It's not even that kids naturally have very different tastes than adults in games. Pretty sure most of us liked the same kinds of things we like now when we were those ages. It's just that they keep re-training kids to have more profitable tastes, and it's all "new" to them. If you grew up with the Atari 2600 and NES requiring a $60 a year payment to be allowed to connect controller #2, you'd think NSO is a good value. If the only gaming you know has always had online fees, you're not going to think it's a bad value. A market with no memory is a very volatile and easily exploitable market.

@themightyant Your argument would be logical on the surface, but it's betrayed by the data. Look at all 3 companies and the profits they report coming in from the online subscriptions. That's not cost of doing business. That's sheer profit.

Second, guess what's free? Online for Sony PC games. Online for Microsoft PC games. Online for Steam PC games. Online for EGS PC games. Online for....all other PC games. Games which sell for a lower MSRP off the bat. Online for mobile games..... Basically online gaming on the two biggest platforms is free, and is so profitable that Sony is throwing their whole budget into putting as much content there as possible. The idea that "online costs them money and shouldn't be free" is thrown out the window, by them.

@naruball I don't have to look them up, I was a member most years from day 1, only letting my subscription lapse when the games got worse. I know they were better.

Well better for me, meaning AAA type games. If you prefer to get indie games no one has ever heard of b/c you buy all of the AAA games day 1 then I suppose it got better for those people.

6 years ago when PS+ became mandatory for online play on PS4 people were already beginning to see a decline in the service from the earlier PS3 years, hence the "meh" in the poll.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2016/03/talking_point_whats_gone_wrong_with_playstation_plus

3 years later, and 3 years ago, people were griping about the new changes and I don't think you could point at any improvements they've made since, just look at the all of the negative poll results.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/03/poll_do_you_feel_ripped_off_by_ps_plus_recent_changes

So no, I don't need to go look them up, I know, most of us fellow smart people know.

@naruball I never said that there's other gaming services at 90%. I said that 90% is what it should be. 100% of course is impossible and unrealistic, in the 90% is obviously better than 72%

@BartoxTharglod 😬well, that just plain sucks.

@kyleforrester87 Enough games which i dont have time to play discounts and online saves i spend more on dinner in a day then i so every month on plus so im ok with that.

@themightyant NES already covered how online is free on PC and mobile so I'll leave that alone. Games being sold digitally on servers, no matter how big the games are, still are almost certainly cheaper than manufacturing discs, cases, covers, then shipping them globally around the world. Shipping alone probably costs more than the servers and electric to run them. Plus, every Sony game Sony sells for $60 on PSN they are getting $60. When Sony sells a Sony game at retail for $60 you know the retailers are getting some of that, so more profit for Sony when you cut out the middlemen.

@Flaming_Kaiser The internet is FULL of salty people, w/ a couple of non-salty people scattered about if you look hard enough. But if you think it's bad here you should have been on Nintendo Life during the Wii U years. 😝 Or really IGN any time over the past 20 years. IGN used to be my go to way back when but it got so bad, I don't think you could find any positivity on there even if you tried.

So yeah, people are salty. BUT, that doesn't mean they don't have a reason to be. And yes, there are some people who just complain all the time, but the bulk of people on here have been down on PS+ for years now, that's pre-salty era. See links in previous post above. As Cobain said, just b/c you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't following you.

@NEStalgia That was a really long explanation for what's in my animated gif. 😉

@rjejr Im sorry but what do people expect for €6 a month without discounts. 🤪 Look for me its more then enough for what i get discounts, online saves and the free games which i dont have any time for. If i get two good games in a month get my money back. And there are enough months where i get several good games alone. I spend more on food a day. I hope nobody smokes here 🤣

@NEStalgia Online is free for mobile yeah the rest is payed everything is payed and monetized to death what do you expect. I get more then enough value for PS Plus.

You can make up statistics to prove anything.
40% of all people know that.

Paying to play online has always seemed like a scam. Xbox started it and then Sony and Nintendo wanted some of that money. Do we actually know where it gets spent? If a publisher sets up dedicated servers for us to play online does the money actually get to them or stays with Sony?

72% of people are satisfied with the service, but I don't recall Sony calling or asking me if I am happy with it. So how do they know this lol.

@themightyant As with everything, statistics can say anything you want them to say, you just have to choose the right statistics. That source alone has self-contradictory data points, easily explained by the fact that it's actually a collection of a mismash of sources ranging from the ESA (totally unbiased...) to Statista (totally reliable...) to "DigitalAustralia" (totally....relevant?) It simultaneously states that 18-35 plays the most and also states that "The most active age group is boys under 18, representing 17% of all gamers."

It also does not specify if the adult gamers, which it addresses also as parents playing with kids, represents adults playing core games or if it includes said scenarios of family games with kids, Animal Crossing on Switch, and how much of those sizable numbers are represented by mobile players which has entirely different demographics than big open world sandbox games on a console.

I'll say it again. Sony knows their target demographic. They are marketing to teens and tweens up to mid-20s. They aren't stupid. There are lots of statistics about a broad definition of "gamer" that will be able to validate almost any view and makeup of the industry. But Sony knows their target demographic in marketing and focus for the content we're talking about. I'm aware that for myriad reasons gaming has become more mainstream for older age groups, but that age group is not the target market for Sony for the types of titles we're discussing.

Turning a profit has a lot to do with it since your statement was relating to the costs of doing business with online service necessitating charging for them instead of it being built into the cost of doing business. I was pointing out with the profits made on the online fees, the charges are unrelated to the costs of operation and are purely a profit point.

Also, most online games still use P2P connections on the paid services? There are a percentage games with dedicated servers, but the majority are P2P and the backend is just a matchmaking server. Ironically the PC player base tends to be the larger player base for such games overall, where there's no online fee generating revenue. Yet, again, Sony's falling all over themselves to get deeper into that PC market rather than pull people away from it. Clearly the costs of operating online services is not a determent to expected earnings. You implied that PC games differ from console games in terms of mtx making up revenues, but outside obvious entries like DOTA, WoW, etc, we're mostly looking at the same games with the same mtx!

Can you run the poll before the games are released (like you do now) and then start another poll a week after we’ve had a chance to play the PS+ games? It’d be interesting to see if there’s a difference in players’ responses.

It's not that surprising to me.

If you don't like Plus, you stop paying for it, right? So many of the people who really hate it aren't in the population being polled. If they polled all PS4 and PS5 owners, they'd get a different percentage, but that's not the question they're asking.

Now, I'm not thrilled with many of the releases so far in 2022 - but I have games I own from prior years that I don't necessarily want to lose access to, and for less than $60/year I don't need a hit every month to make me happy. If I was paying $10 every month, it would be different, but when I got a year for $40 around Christmas, I can't complain much when a few months go by without something I really want - I'm paying something like $3.33/month average.

Now, if they want me to pay a fortune to upgrade to the next tier when it rolls out in the US, I'll probably just skip the upgrade. But it's still decent value at $3.33/month - a fraction of Game Pass, especially the $15/month version everyone says is the bomb, which rarely has discounts (at least publicly) for buying a multiple months in advance.

Eh its a mixed bag for me. If i didnt need it for on line would i pay? Probably not. I use it mostly for the discounts at this point. I would say lately the "free" games quality has really dropped. And the double dipping with Now got old. Currently paid up to november so am really wanting to see how the new service is. Cant wait to play guardians and miles on my pro since 5s are no where to be had.

@Flaming_Kaiser if they dropped the paywall to play online I'd not be subscribed I don't care about what games they have on plus 🤷‍♂️

It seems many people hurt the value of PS Plus them self buy buying PS Plus buy the Month! I would not pay the $120 a year $10 a Month nor do I feel its worth that price. At the November Christmas sale price of $34-$39 a year its a fantastic bargain!

As far a stats go I don't care 1% or 100% I only care about my choice.

I am pretty happy with the PS PLUS so far.... doesn't matter if the month(s) are "bad" or not....it's good to try something new, and outside your comfort zone.
As for the new tier...we shall see. Me personally, since I don't have a ps5, I can invest into the mid tier for a year, and then we'll see

Interesting that the survey was about users "specifically on PS4".

To be honest, given the colossal size of the PS4's game library, the monthly games have, on the whole, been "crap" with the odd gem coming out.
They could do so much better and I'm still waiting for the PS4 version of "Wreckfest".

There are a few interesting catch phrases in the Sony blurb:
1) "PS5 Game Spend: 15% Higher Than PS4" - well, given the price difference between the platform releases, I can see why this would be....?

2) "Building Our Biggest Platform Ever" - well, Fatso certainly is the biggest platform!

The worrying statement in Console and Beyond:

"A transformation from PlayStation’s current console-centric approach to a future where large elements of our community extend beyond the console"
Playstation and it's ecosystem IS a console based approach and should be - otherwise it's just a pointless box? Maybe this is where Ryan and his minions are going wrong?

@Oz_Momotaro I understand the tiered system, I think. My comment (which I didn’t really explain very well) was more to do with my own personal situation with my large back catalogue of PS+ offerings and it’s significant overlap with the new mid-tier catalogue. But you’re point is well-taken in that I wish we could pick and choose which services we want ‘a la carte’ because I’d love to switch out the online multiplayer access for the access to the larger Extra catalogue instead and still be able to pay the Essential price. I almost never use the online stuff. Just the games, the cloud saves, and the discounts.

What I am unsure about is whether the Extra catalogue is rotating or permanent. I’m not sure if they’ve said that. I think they said it will evolve and grow, but how long games will stay on it hasn’t been clear. I assume it will be a combination of both permanent ones and rotating ones, which is what GamePass does, I think. I’m not a fan of having to hurry and finish a game before it’s yanked from a service. Screw that.

@Oz_Momotaro Sorry for the double post but I saw your comment to the other user and figured I’d respond. I’m not sure, but I think your question was if there were any “must play” games that have been discovered through PS+ which they wouldn’t have ever bought otherwise and I can say that I’ve “found” a couple of my all-time favorite games through PS+. I probably never would have bought Bloodborne or Control, but both are top 20, maybe even top 10 games for me. Lots of others like Resident Evil Remake, Until Dawn, Infamous First Light, Gone Home... I’d categorize as must-play as well and I’d never have tried them through a traditional purchase.

If your question was more specific to PS5, then yeah - not much has been “must play” which was given out on PS+ and discovered that way. Control Ultimate Edition is the only one. I freakin’ love that game. A Plague Tale: Innocence is also close to must play on PS5 for me but I had just bought it on PS4 before the PS5 version was given in Plus. But yeah, the PS+ games that are specific to PS5 haven’t grabbed me, but I haven’t yet tried Bugsnax or Oddworld. I doubt that they’ll hit with me though.

Returnal, Miles Morales, and Demon’s Souls Remake are definitely “must play” so hopefully those who play them through the new PS+ Extra will enjoy those classics. Those are excellent.

@themightyant "ultimately they have to make their money back somewhere."

Like raising the prices of games from $60 to $70? 😉

It's funny how there are a bunch of games to play online w/o paying for the PS+ internet. Fortnite for one. And that game is free to start as well. I've played 20-30 hours, haven't paid a cent.

Actually a longer list than I thought. With this many "no PS+ required" games why pay for online at all?

https://www.androidcentral.com/best-playstation-4-games-you-can-play-online-without-playstation-plus

"Most people" don't know or care about the problems that people on the internet obsess about when it comes to gaming. That's true almost across the board.

@Flaming_Kaiser For $6 a month it's a good deal, and probably a lot of us only pay half of that w/ Black Friday $30 deals, but when the service starts at $50 per year for 4 games a month then goes to $60 a year for 2 games per month it's hard not to notice. 🤷‍♂️

When you fall 2 feet to the ground b/c you fell out of your hammock - happened to me yesterday, still smarts - it only hurts so much, but had you fallen 2 feet to the ground after falling 18 feet to the ground b/c you hammock was on the 2nd floor, well you still only fell 2 feet to the ground at the end, but where you started from matters. 😉

@Would_you_kindly Thats not going to happen.

@Flaming_Kaiser I know it isn't but I wish it would lol

@Would_you_kindly I wish i would win the lottery but some things will not happen. 🤪

It only asked subscribers. 28% Subscribers were unsatisfied. 100% of people who Subscribed in the past and are no longer subscribed now are also unsatisfied. They should have checked with every playstation users, not just Subscribers.

@Oz_Momotaro In a way, the service ends up being a glorified demo service. I would guess that most of the time people will finish the games they start, but like you say, publishers are counting on people buying the game when it gets pulled from the service in order to finish it, or by word of mouth advertising from friends and social spaces that played it while it was “free.” This form of “timed trial” doesn’t resonate with my playstyle because I tend to play games a lot slower than most. It’ll take me 2-3 months to complete a 60 hour game usually, depending on my schedule and how well I like it. Not to mention you bring up a good point about the lack of ability to upgrade from Essential to Extra for a specific time frame, like a month or two months; the fact you have to pay the difference for the duration of the subscription is annoying and also a deterrent from me upgrading.

As far as the point about lack of PS5 killer apps, I suppose it’s true, but the competitor has even less going for it in this department. I’m not sure there’s anything ‘current gen exclusive’ in the Xbox library to speak of. And the upgraded games from last gen (a la Control or COD, etc) don’t even have the fancy DualSense features over there.