PlayStation Plus is a funny service. Largely unprecedented as a value proposition, it’s hard to shake the feeling that some of the premium membership’s more outrageous offerings have come back to bite it in the bottom. While the platform holder has been giving away critically acclaimed PlayStation 4 games like Velocity 2X and Dust: An Elysian Tail at launch, these titles aren’t quite enough to satiate those used to Tomb Raider and BioShock: Infinite on the PlayStation 3.
To be fair, the quality of the giveaways does appear to have dropped on Sony’s older formats since its next-gen console has been added to the mix – but maybe that’s because there are so many subscribers these days. According to the Japanese giant, the service currently has 7.9 million members locked in, with around half of the PS4’s install base signed up.
Of course, it’s no surprise to see the number of paying users grow, as the next-gen system requires a subscription if you want to play online. Given the number of recent network hiccups, then, it would be nice to see the platform holder invest some of this newly acquired cash into making the PlayStation Network as sturdy as possible.
[source gamesindustry.biz, via gamespot.com]
Comments 14
I thought there were more
Well, considering there are 100+ millions PS3/PS4/Vitas, there are very little PS plus subscribers...
I'd have expected more plus subscribers across the three platforms. I was on PS+ long before the PS4 came out because of the high quality of titles I was getting on the PS3. I've always been happy with the games given on the current gen console, never expected AAA to appear yet. However the quality of the PS3 offerings has dropped way off over the past few months...and it was the games I joined PS+ for not so I could gain access to multiplayer or anything else.
@Munkyknuts @ferrers405 Its actually pretty impressive. There are only 13.5 million PS4s, which "require" PS+ for Online play. Not all PS4 users have PS+, but even if we said they did, for the sake of simple math, that's about 66.5 million people subscribing to PS+ JUST for the games and discounts. That's quite impressive.
@thedevilsjester I'm sorry what? Where did you get 66.5 million from? The article quite clearly states 8 million subs?
Add me to the "I thought it would be higher" vote. PS4 alone would suggest 50% higher than that. And even if all PS4 owners also had a Vita and PS3 that's still another 65 mil PS3 owners who don't have it.
Though 1 reason for the low uptake may be the lack of quality broadband in some of those global areas, including a swath of the central US.
Of course I may let my subscription lapse in 4 weeks unless there's another BF sale. though if I get a PS TV for Christmas I'll resign up whenever there's a good deal. 1 yr PS+ w/ a PS TV bundle and I'd be sold on both.
@SteveButler2210 - I'd bet he added a "y" to the end of the "eight" in the title.
@SteveButler2210 He's going to be in for a shock when he realises its only 8mil not 80.
A lot of people are not interested in playing online when its only 8 million, considering that these 8 million also have a lot of PS3 gamers in it.
Suckers, I'm one of 'em
That's lower than I would think. I would expect most PS4 owners to have it, and there are 5M more PS4s sold than PS Plus subscribers. It gets worse when you factor in all the PS3 owners who have Plus. Grantedd, they'd probably be in the crowd that's gotten a PS4 for the most part.
@SteveButler2210 Sorry, I misread a crucial piece of the article.
@thedevilsjester 's ok, I just as crucially had a brain meltdown and failed to spot the quite obvious simple misunderstanding that had occurred - wasn't intentionally trying to shoot you down for mis-reading, I was just confused as hell by what I thought was some seriously shonky maths, my bad haha!
Well good for Sony, I really do bet the number would be a third of that if Online wasn't forced on you.
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