Sony Announces Price Increase For PlayStation Plus Memberships In US, Canada

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced that prices for PlayStation Plus memberships will increase starting next month, specifically on Sept. 22.

For the unfamiliar, a PlayStation Plus membership entails privileges such as discounts on games, additional cloud storage as well as access to online multiplayer for PlayStation 4 users. Sony also gives away free games to Plus members.

A one-year PlayStation Plus membership will cost $59.99 which is up from $49.99. As for a three-month membership, that will soon cost $24.99 which is up from $17.99. Luckily, those who pay for memberships monthly will still pay only $9.99 per month. Current members of the one-year and three-month subscription plans will be charged with the new fees after renewing their accounts, according to Polygon.

What’s not made clear, however, is how will the new price increase affect those who pay for a membership through prepaid subscription cards that are sold at retailers, as pointed out by ArsTechnica.

PlayStation Plus memberships in Canada will also be affected by the price hike. A yearly membership will soon cost $69.99 CAD (up from $49.99 CAD), a three-month membership will cost $29.99 CAD (up from $17.99 CAD) and a monthly membership will cost $11.99 CAD (up from $9.99 CAD). Notably, Canada will be the only one that will have its monthly membership price increased.

“The new pricing reflects the current market conditions while enabling us to continue providing exceptional value to our members,” Sony explained on its official PlayStation Blog. The company also noted on its blog post that this is the very first time that prices for PlayStation Plus memberships in the U.S. and Canada have increased since it launched back in 2010.

Sony has not announced whether the new price increase will be heading to the United Kingdom and Europe. The company has already increased membership prices in the U.K. last year, as pointed out by GameSpot.

The most disappointing thing about the new price increase is that Sony didn’t even add a new feature or service to PlayStation Plus to further justify it. Perhaps the company is confident that its users will continue paying for memberships even with the price increase, considering that it grants them access to online multiplayer mode for the PlayStation 4.