PS Plus Price Hike Increase PlayStation Sony 1
Image: Push Square

We’ve known for quite some time that Sony, in its current guise, doesn’t care much for its core consumers – but overnight, it proved it. The platform holder nonchalantly announced price hikes to the annual tiers of its various PS Plus subscriptions – and these are significant jumps, not just minor alterations.

While the increase affects all territories, in the US you’ll now be paying $20 more for the basic PS Plus Essential tier, which is required to play online. To make matter worse, the manufacturer didn’t announce any plans to add new features, content, or improvements to the service. This is a major pricing increase without any reasonable justification.

Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube155k
Watch on YouTube

Understandably, the response has been strong. In a poll we ran overnight, around 33 per cent of you said that you’ll be ditching PS Plus entirely when your subscription lapses. A further 21 per cent of you argued you’ll keep your current subscription but will drop down a tier. Considering Sony introduced the likes of PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium to maximise revenue, this seems like a disaster.

Of course, the proof will be in the pudding, and we’ll now need to see what impact this has on the company’s bottom line. It’s generally averaged around 50 million active subscribers, give or take a few, but we’re expecting – and, to some extent, hoping for – a drop-off here. A few extra dollars in a rough economy wouldn’t have been great, but would have been understandable – this increase, though, is simply beyond the pale.

[source News: Reaction: Has Sony Put Together the Worst PS Plus Month Ever?]