Sony is offering big savings on PlayStation Plus subscriptions to new members, and for existing members who want to upgrade their memberships to a higher tier.
PS Plus Premium and Extra tiers are up to 40% off for new subscribers while existing Essential tier members save 30% when they upgrade to the higher tiers of the service. It's almost an admission that they're a tad overpriced. No wait, it's part of their January sale, my mistake.
The offer is part of the PlayStation Store’s January Sale, which features discounts of up to 75% on more than 1,000 games including major franchises like Call of Duty, Elden Ring, and FIFA 23.
The PS Plus Essential monthly games for January are available now and include the PS5 and PS4 versions of the incredible Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Fallout 76 on PS4, and mind-bending Metroidvana Axiom Verge 2 for PS4 and PS5. PlayStation Plus Subscribers on all tiers can download the titles until February 7.
This month’s additions to the game catalogue for Extra and Premium level subscribers have yet to be announced but Sony has said they will be “soon.”
December’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog additions included WWE 2K22, Far Cry 5, Far Cry: New Dawn, most of the Yakuza series, and the Lord of the Rings-inspired Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, Meanwhile, Premium members were treated to PS1 classics Ridge Racer 2, Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, Pinball Heroes and a cloud version of Ninja Theory’s PS3 launch title Heavenly Sword to stream.
Worth getting on the cheap?
If you have recently become an owner of one of the 30 million PS5s that have been sold since the console launched in November 2021, you will need PS Plus, just so you can play online. Although the essential tier, is well essential, your mileage from the Extra and Premium tiers will vary depending on how often you use your PS5.
For players with the digital version of the console, or who just like to play games once and move on, there are some decent tiles in the Extra Tier game catalogue including Stray, Demon's Souls and Returnal. However unlike Xbox Game Pass, Sony doesn’t add its first-party titles to the service at launch, so you may be waiting a while for the likes of Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok.
At the moment, the Premium tier is the hardest sell because the catalogue of PS1 classics is fairly small and missing quite a few key titles. The selection of titles to stream is basically the same as those offered on the defunct PS Now service. Though there’s a good selection of titles to stream, chances are you’ve probably already played them, and if you don’t have access to a fairly nippy internet connection, they’re practically unplayable.
That being said, 30-40% off is a substantial discount. Especially when you consider PS Plus Premium is usually £99.99 for a 12-month sub. If you want to take advantage of this deal you had better get your skates on, as it only runs until Friday, January 13.