PlayStation Plus prices increase in Europe and Australia

Sony has announced that the price for a PlayStation Plus subscription will be increasing in Europe and Australia from August 2017. The service provides PlayStation owners with many benefits including free games each month and the ability to play games online.

PlayStation Plus is a service that Sony offer to provide PlayStation owners with a fuller experience from their console. Some gamers don’t want to play games online, and only want to play the games they’ve purchased themselves which is fine because they don’t have to purchase the subscription. For gamers who do want to be able to play their games online and have access to discounts on the PlayStation Store, as well as free games each month, the subscription is what they need.

Currently players are able to pay for one, three, or twelve months of the subscription at a time, but obviously they get the best value for money if they pay for twelve months. The prices are currently £5.99 for one month, £14.99 for three months, and £39.99 for twelve months. From August 31, 2017 onwards the prices will be increased to £50 for twelve months, £25 for three months, and £7 for one month. The price change is roughly the same, taking currency exchange rates into account, in Euros and Australian Dollars.

In the US the price for PlayStation Plus subscriptions has been higher than in Europe since they were increased in September 2016. When Gamespot asked Sony if there are plans to increase the price again as they are about to in Europe and Australia, they simply said that there is nothing to announce.

While a PlayStation Plus subscription might seem like a huge cost simply to play games online, it’s priced similarly to the equivalent service for Xbox users, and offers arguably the better deal for gamers. Each month PlayStation Plus subscribers get two games free for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita, as well as other discounts and free games offered exclusively to subscribers. Whether the continued offer of free games each month is enough for games to continue to justify the cost increase of the subscription will be seen over the coming month.