Sony defends PS Plus price hike: ‘We have to adapt to market conditions’

Sony announced at the end of August a significant price increase for PlayStation Plus which caused discomfort among subscribers. Despite the unsatisfactory reaction of users to the news, the company defended its decision and justified it on market conditions.

Eric Lempelhead of business at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), mentioned this in a recent interview with the publication Barrons. The executive argued that the increase in subscription prices would happen sooner or later, given the difficult international economic situation that has developed since the relaunch of the service.

“Like almost everything in the world, we must analyze our prices and adapt to market conditions. I’m happy to say that unlike many other subscription services, we have not touched PlayStation Plus pricing for 85% of the world’s countries for many years. “This was the first time we had done something like this,” Lempel said.

Likewise, the manager took the opportunity to reaffirm Sony’s commitment by releasing a new version of PlayStation Plus. As a reminder, the subscription was relaunched in 2022, following the merger of PlayStation Now and what was already known as PS Plus. Despite initial expectations, the Japanese corporation’s bet did not bring the desired results in the first months after the launch.

One of the major criticisms of the platform was decision not to include native AAA games from day one, as Microsoft did with Xbox Game Pass. “As you well know, putting our own games on this service (or any of our services) upon release is not a path we have taken in the past. And that’s not the route we’re going down with this new PlayStation Plus. ” Jim Ryan said at the time.

PlayStation Plus Price Increase

Lempel argued that, despite criticism, Users were able to appreciate what this offer brings with it.. Moreover, PlayStation Plus has been divided into different levels according to the demands and economic capabilities of the public.

When Sony announced it was raising prices for PlayStation Plus, it said it would allow it to “continue to provide high-quality games and additional benefits.” However, the scale of the increase raised eyebrows and anger among users as many felt it was too drastic.

The curious thing about this situation is that the increase was not the same in all territories. In the US, for example, annual PlayStation Plus subscriptions have grown by 33%, while in Europe they cost 20% more.

Due to the price increase, which took effect on September 6, PlayStation Plus subscribers in European markets will have to pay 71.99 euros for the Essential plan. For its part, an additional option is worth 125.99 euros; while Premium, the most expensive alternative, requires payment 151.99 euros on years.

The price hike for PlayStation Plus was announced shortly after Microsoft increased the cost of its Xbox Game Pass subscription. This measure affected both the console version of the service and the Ultimate plan; However, this did not affect PC Game Pass.