According to the PlayStation Blog, the revamp of Sony’s PlayStation Plus service starts today. This revamp of their online subscription service will now include a library of games hailing from PlayStation’s long history on top of allowing players to play their online games with others. We’ll try our best to give an overview of the changes to the service and games that will be rolled out on the new service.
New Tiers: Essential, Extra, and Deluxe
PlayStation Plus Essential
PlayStation Plus Essential - RM29 monthly / RM69 quarterly / RM159 yearly
The Essential tier is practically the same thing that PlayStation Plus was prior to the revamp. You still get the free monthly games, access to online multiplayer and cloud storage.
PlayStation Plus Extra
PlayStation Plus Extra - RM44 monthly / RM114 quarterly / RM269 yearly
The first of the two new tiers available. Extra tier has all the features of the Essential tier and is the combination of PlayStation Plus and what was formerly PlayStation Now. PlayStation Now was Sony’s version of Microsoft’s PC Game Pass or Netflix, which is a subscription service that players can subscribe to for a library of games. These games would be added or removed over time and your access to them would depend on their availability.
The difference between the previous iteration of PlayStation Now and Extra tier is the addition of PlayStation 5 games to the library. Games like Demon’s Souls and Returnal will be on the service day one. Another difference is the removal of PlayStation 3 game streaming and placing that feature into the Premium tier which isn’t available here in Malaysia.
PlayStation Plus Deluxe
PlayStation Plus Deluxe - RM50 monthly / RM130 quarterly / RM309 yearly
Unique to countries without streaming services like Malaysia, we get the Deluxe tier which is cheaper than the Premium tier. In this tier, on top of the features from the Essential and Extra tier, subscribers get access to the Classics library which comprises emulated PlayStation 1 games, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable games, and games that have been remastered previously for the PlayStation 4.
Some of these emulated games can be purchased separately if you do not subscribe to the service. But some games like Tekken 2 and Mr. Driller seem to be locked behind the service. Emulated games will have multiple visual settings to have a more classic or modern feel. Rewind feature and hardware level saving and loading will be available as well. Some of the PlayStation 1 games that are on the service now also have trophy support, but not all of them will have this feature.
Other than this, select blockbuster games like Horizon Forbidden West and Uncharted 4 will have two-hour trials that can only be accessed through this tier. It’s rumored that PlayStation 3 games will be available for download at a later date but Sony has not confirmed or denied this rumor yet.
Here's a table giving an overview of the features of the different tiers of the new PlayStation Plus service:
Key Benefits | Essential | Extra | Deluxe |
Same benefits as PlayStation Plus prior to revamp: PS4 and PS5 monthly games, online multiplayer access, exclusive discounts, cloud storage and more | X | X | X |
PS4 and PS5 Game Catalog | | X | X |
Original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP Classic Games Catalog; PS3 Remasters | | | X |
Time-limited game trials on blockbuster titles | | | X |
A partial list of the line-up of games that will be available on the service can be found here.
