How many PS Plus members are subscribed to the higher-priced PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium tiers? Well, accurate as of 31st March, 2024, around 35 per cent of all subscribers are paying additional money for the more expensive subscription options. In fact, the breakdown looks like this: PS Plus Extra has 16 per cent of subs, while PS Plus Premium commands 19 per cent.
This is an increase year-over-year, when 30 per cent of members were paying for the pricier subs, meaning Sony has successfully grown its premium tiers over the past 12 months. Looking forward, things are about to get even better for PS Plus Premium in particular, with the addition of new PS2 titles using a brand-new emulator with quality-of-life features like quick save and rewind bundled in.
Looking forward, Sony aims to “evolve” the value proposition, presumably through the addition of new incentives and content. To be fair, PS Plus has been having a really good run of late, with titles like Dave the Diver and Animal Well all debuting as part of the subscription. But it’s worth noting that, in the US specifically, the model as a whole is seeing very little growth on consoles.
[source sony.com]
Comments 31
Dropped down to essential last year as I didn't have time to play games before they left the service.
Much happier now, as I just buy the games I want in sales.
According to everything I read on the internet, ps plus subscribers hate the games ever month, ps plus extra all hate the games that are removed each month and everyone hates ps plus premium. But if you look at these stats, then it seems everyone is just trolling!
I got ps plus extra for a year for around £53 with 15% psn vouchers + 30odd percent off for returning subscriptions end of Jan (I was unsubscribed for a month). That's about the right price IMO and what it should be offered by standard.
Currently, they are doing 30% off ps premium, so £63 in total for a year of ps premium. I'm still not sure I would use the extra stuff on premium, I have a steam deck which emulates mostly better than the ps5 currently, I would probably only use if for wipeout which used to be extra but is now premium (along with a few others)
@Blofse PS Plus is good value for money, especially if you don't buy many games and just want to play through the catalogue.
People are just overwhelmingly negative online.
To be fair, it could just be less people playing for Plus rather than people upgrading plans but eh. If Sony are convinced that the additional offerings are worth money, they could make online multiplayer free again... but they won't.
I've always found it interesting when you see the fan boys warring on twitter the Xbox boys go on about how much Game Pass brings in for Microsoft but the PS lads never mention Plus. Based on the reported numbers we know (45m for +, 34m for GP) sony has to he making considerably more from there online service right?
@Decoy_Snake it would seem so. That's also not even taken into account that Sony doesn't have to put it's first party IP on plus day one like Xbox do for gamepass.
So Sony will make loads on plus and then sell more of their own games outright too. Can't imagine Xbox sells as many copies of starfield , hellblade etc now due to people getting them on gamepass
@get2sammyb I wonder where PS Plus Deluxe subscribers like me fit in? Part of Premium or just an insignificant minority to push any numbers in the stat.
The subject of how useful/worthwhile PS Plus Extra/Premium is would be a lot less tedious if people had the presence of mind to distinguish between "I don't find this useful" and "nobody would find this useful". It is perfectly fair to not find either offering gives you value for money and dump it (and helpfully tell us all in the comments). However the world does not revolve around just you - not everybody shares you circumstances.
Out of interest as someone who actually does use ps plus a lot I did a look over what games I played to completion that I got solely through ps plus in the past 12 months:
Dave the diver
Ys 8
Outer worlds+ expansions
JoJo's bizarre adventure all star battle
Horizon forbidden west
Stranger of paradise final fantasy origin
Humanity
Lost Judgement
Call of the sea
It takes two
Sea of stars
The messenger
Rock of ages 3
Pillars of Eternity 2
Tacoma
Inscription
Sakuna of rice and ruin
Star wars fallen order.
Honestly I'm happy with that return for the fee. Now there are a couple of duds in there (I wouldn't recommend rock of ages for example, but even that was fun in its own way given I hadn't actually plonked money down on it per se, janky but fun). However the vast majority of those I enjoyed a lot and some like the messenger were fantastic.
I will still buy a deep discounted game from time to time and very occasionally a new release but this is, so far, working out fine for me. As my son can play any game I download on his account the various ratchet and clanks and other stuff like teardown have added further value for me.
Of course the world doesn't revolve around me either; not everyone has the time to run through all of the above in 12 months. I don't touch live service games or pay for micro transactions as a rule but there are almost certainly other people who spend 90% of their time in Fortnite doing just that. There are people who mostly buy games in sales, people who exclusively play the latest COD/FIFA and people who will buy most of their games at release full price. All of this is absolutely fine as long as they are enjoying themselves.
The way in which we play games has fragmented and not every offering is ideal for your needs or is targeted at your needs. But that's OK because there's never been more choice than there is now.
I would like to know what percentage of subscribers actually paid full price.
Cos I never have.
Like someone in a post above, I did a lapse and discount code and so on last year.
Most other times, I've always done some sort of jiggery with it to decrease the price by at least £20+.
Subscriptions/membership published prices are more of a reference or guide I find.
There are ALWAYS ways to bring the prices down, no exceptions.
I sub to extra and for me it's great value. There is always something for me to play and if I don't like it I just delete it. I get more use out of it through the winter months when I can't get out to the golf course due to bad weather and shorter daylight hours but overall it suits me just fine.
My biggest reason not upping to Extra is due to the limited time many games stay on the service. And when they go, you are left with little time to finish them, especially if they are a lengthy title.
I am subscribed to Extra but only because it was on sale for the same price as Essential so it was a no brainer.
If I'm honest I probably don't use it as much as I should but it is kind of nice knowing that I have access to all those games if and when I want them.
Also, £60 - £65 a year is hardly going to break the bank
@TheOldHunter4K It's easy to ASSUME most people are on a deal, but that tends not to be the case. Most people don't have the time or will to hunt for that.
E.g. People thought the same with Game Pass with all the $1/£1 offers but the Xbox leak showed they were averaging $9.26 per subscriber per month as of Jan 2023. They've since had a price hike and removed most ways of getting it a lot cheaper so this will almost certainly be significantly higher now and PS+ will be similar.
@Littlejack you’re not from these parts are you? You’re not welcome here with all your sensible thoughts
@Blofse Not true in my case. I’m just stuck to my sub until July, so I count as someone with the highest tier while I already decided 9 months ago I’m not going to renew.
@themightyant
Time or will.
https://www.shopto.net/en/sony-wallet-topup/
https://www.cdkeys.com/playstation-network-psn/psn-cards
There you go people I've saved you time.
Oh, and money
You're welcome.
The will, unfortunately insouciance I can't help with.
@blah01 Same here, I kept downloading games that i tried and didn't play anymore of not even started games, now I buy here and there some nice singleplayer games and play alot more, the game is there went I want to play it or replay it.
Tbh, 5% YoY growth isn't anything to brag about.
But it was expected. Huge growth in first year and then stagnation onwards.
@rusty82 I was thinking purely on the money they both bring in but your right GP will cost more than + based on first party day one games being in it.
If you use PS+ Extra regularly for 12 months and you are NOT buying games you will get your moneys worth.
After 12 months you should probably unsub for at least 6 months to give the service a chance to refresh the games catalogue.
Most games stay on PS+ Extra for about 12 months unless they are from EA, Rockstar or Day One releases.
this list shows you the date games were added to PS+ https://www.eurogamer.net/playstation-plus-games-list-premium-extra-this-month-6300 @YeoSprings
Dropped to the lowest tier yesterday after the games announced, I only play Helldivers 2 online from time To time so I don't really need to spend the higher amount for that. I'll get games I like when on sale as there's usually one always on.
@Littlejack You absolutely got your money’s worth, and then some. By my estimates, if I play 5-6 games from PS+ per year then I at least break even from what the games would usually cost. That assumes the average game would have cost me around $20 a piece, and I think that’s being conservative. And that’s not taking into account picking up your subscription on sale or through discount loopholes, as others have pointed out.
And people forget that if you have Extra, that part of that subscription fee is also getting you the online access, cloud saves, and occasional extra sale discounts on games.
But yeah, my list is a little shorter than yours, but over the last 12 months I’ve enjoyed multiple PS+ games (about 11 if I am counting correctly). Some I played and never finished though, but most of them I did complete and thoroughly enjoy, such as Tchia, Life is Strange 2, Inscryption, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Disco Elysium, The Quarry, and Stray. Currently enjoying Midnight Suns as my side game and it’s been good too.
I do have a hybrid approach because I also buy games too, so the PS+ Extra catalog is merely a supplement to playing other games that don’t go on the service, like the FromSoft games, big new releases, and niche titles. Like you say, there’s no wrong way to do this, but I do think people are sleeping on the value PS+ can have. For $100 a year (what I paid to stack a couple years on sale) I get a lot less value from my stupid Netflix account. I really need to just cancel that. 😅
@TheOldHunter4K The point isn't that they don't exist, I know they do as will most enthusiasts here, but the vast majority of gamers don't scour the web for news or codes etc. they just play games and they pay what they pay. I gave you a factual bit of data to demonstrate that, but ignore it if you will.
I wonder how many of the Extra/Premium tier subscribers are from the bank of players who had enough PS+ years stacked prior to PS Now being merged? I'm officially meant to start paying in September. I mainly subscribe for the classic games, and being able to play the games without popping in my disc as long as it's part of the service is nice.
Would probably be a lot lower if Sony let you downgrade.
Instead you have to wait for your sub to expire then re-sub at desired level.
I wonder what their cloud streaming stats are. I would think the extra growth in Premium vs Extra isn't down to people that want to pay a subscription to play demos and people that want to play GT2, and is more down to people that don't own a PS and want to play PS games on a PC, Especially in Asia, which was the original purpose of PS Now way back in the late '00s.
I also wonder how much of total subs and percentage of total subs are using fancy reporting via the manipulation of offering sales only if it expires so that 1 person subbing as a "new" customer multiple times counts as 3 premium subs over the time frame for this report.
PS Plus and GamePass are essentially scams. You pay good money and have absolutely no control over the games you’re playing and own nothing.
It depends on how many games you play and how often you play. Personally, I play a lot, so most of the quality games that arrive on PS Plus Extra or Premium I played months (or years) prior. What is left is mostly AA/Indie stuff that doesn't appeal to me at all, no matter the quantity. It's like a buffet, but none of the food I really like.
Downgrading to Essential later this month as the games they offer just aren't worth it for me.
Not at all surprising, the value offered on the Extra tier is incredible, I'm paying 21p a day technically, feel like I'm robbing Sony to be honest
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