We've been saying for a while now that Sony needs to think about revamping its PlayStation Plus subscription service. Currently, subscribers get a handful of 'free' PS5 and PS4 games every month, supplemented by exclusive PlayStation Store discounts and, sometimes, other Sony-based benefits. Playing (most) multiplayer PlayStation games online also requires a PS Plus subscription.
It's not a bad deal for what is roughly the price of one retail video game release per year, but up against the increasing popularity of subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, its perceived value is often called into question.
An improved PS Plus offering could be on its way, however. According to the reliable source that is Eurogamer, Sony may be planning to offer a "more expensive premium PlayStation Plus offering", that could include some kind of access to Crunchyroll — the popular anime streaming and publishing platform that Sony just acquired for roughly $1 billion.
A more expensive PS Plus option is an interesting proposition, and it's something that's been discussed on this very website for years. Assuming that it might actually happen, we can't help but wonder what else Sony would be willing to fold into a sub.
What do you think of this? Would you be tempted by a more expensive PS Plus option? Weigh up your subscriptions in the comments section below.
[source eurogamer.net, via twitter.com]
Comments 109
If it has the right price i will bite i already have a Crunchyrol subscription.
The fact I had to Google crunchyroll gives my answer
No thank you. Combine it with Now instead and compete more directly with Gold and Game Pass.
Ultimately it depends what Sony adds, but I think a more expensive PS Plus option would be quite a big deal if it's handled well.
Haha I read somewhere that this would be Sonys answer to Gamepass 😆🤣. Only a small niche part of the subs thats into anime would benefit from this.
I don't care about added streaming services. I just want quality free monthly games and worthwhile discounts.
Considering the last 2 months games offerings, they should include it at no extra cost.
I'm already paying for PS Plus and Funimation. Just bundle it all together and I'll pay an extra €5.00 no problem.
Great for the anime fans..
..that's all I gots.
I despise anime. Would like it if it included Now but would be a bit put out if I paid extra on top for the anime stuff I will never use
No thanks. I’ll stick to the normal sub ta.
I prefer my rolls soft, the bits are less likely to get stuck in your teeth.
What a waste of a billon quid.
Yeah, I doubt that, they own Funimation since 2017 and we've yet to see something like that.
I'll bite if they merge ps now into it.
Not bothered about anmie so that alone wouldn't entice me.
Maybe do a pick and mix sub
Good, at least they're not raising the regular sub.
I've always been a playstation guy but after recently buying an Xbox Series S to compliment my ps5. Game pass is rediculusly good value in comparison to ps plus.
Sony really has to up it's game to compete with Game pass and this sounds more of an insult to be honest
If the added perks aren't game related, like Crunchyroll, then I'll probably stay on the basic tier.
I don't watch anywhere enough anime on a weekly basis to justify subscribing to Crunchyroll.
Lol, pass.
I wish online would go free like it use to be.
Not even in the least bit into Anime. An upgraded service would need to include PSNow but it should also include Day 1 new releases just like Xbox currently does. They should also do it for the same price. Make it a complete wash.
No thanks. Whilst on here it might be popular. Crunchy roll is not on a lot of people’s radar.
We heard you like video games, and our market research has indicated that Japanese content just doesn't sell. So we've closed our Japan studio, thrown money at Square for a few time limited exclusivity contracts on their most Westernized of Japanese games, and censored the remaining Japanese devs that are crazy enough to still make games exclusive to our platform out the wazoo to make sure PlayStation remains the most hostile platform to developers and consumers of Japanese content.
Also, please pay $10 more for your game subscription and we'll throw in free anime shows for the handful of Japanophiles left that haven't just bought a Switch.
Sincerely,
Jim "Matrick" Ryan
@SteveZ85 difference is playstation over the life cycle of the last gen released way way more big budget (and successful) exclusives - Sony don’t need to give theirs away. Whilst I agree I want a better service- I’m realistic to know that giving away exclusives day one just results in less exclusives and then smaller and more focus on multiplayer. You need to hook people into keep sub up - solo campaigns don’t do that.
@NEStalgia
Aa usual, you are on point. As for me,as long as it's an option I don't see a problem. However, as some guys above me have already said, I'd prefer it to be a PS Plus and Now combo.
@Ken_Kaniff I’m pretty sure PS Now is the direct competitor to Gamepass. I believe the equivalent XBox service where you get online access and the right to complain each month about the free games is called Xbox Live Gold.
Problem is it'll offer no extra value for people who don't watch anime
@Marios-love-child Yea I bought the s the other week too just as something to go along side my ps5, never bought an Xbox b4, honestly at the moment it's ok, yes it's great value but the games I have either already played or nothing true next gen yet, played flight sim for about 5min, started halo but honestly finding it a bit boring, standout so far is Forza 4 and ori. But just bought rachet and clank so will play that this week, oh and the ps5 controller is just amazing having played Xbox for a week and putting on ratchet I earlier I was like wow.
What I would say is great about the Xbox is the rewards got over 7k already nearly enough to get free month sub of gamepass. I think Sony should do something like this it just rewards the players for spending money or playing games. Don't think I would pay extra for anime tbh, think they need something better than that or even reduce the cost of plus.
Just include Now. There we go.
@The_New_Butler agreed! That is the reason I moved to PS4 from the 360. Xb1 was all about engagement with the platform in as many ways as possible. Playstation was about the gaming. Hopefully this isn't the direction Sony is going.
I'd consider it if they consolidated Funimation and Crunchyroll into one service - wrapping everything into one yearly payment would be ideal for me. Otherwise I'm not entirely sure if I'd be interested in this.
Well, any competition to Gamepass would need to be more expensive because Gamepass is more expensive, and that’s with the trillions of MS propping it up.
For me, just adding more games wouldn’t do because I don’t have time to play the ones they give now alongside everything else. Paying more just to collect an even bigger backlog is not appealing.
Don’t really care about the age of games either. Either games are good or they aren’t.
What I would pay more for is if Sony created or ported games for mobile phone, and gave it as part of a sub (so no more micro transaction issues with mobile games). This is because the only extra time I can make is on the commute between home and work. They’d need to connect it to PSN and add trophies though. I’m sure many ps1 and ps2 games could play on modern phones.
Either that or a rock solid streaming service to phone, but I don’t see that happening.
'PS Max' coining it now
I'd rather have PS Now bundled up with PS+ but I wouldn't say no to some anime too as long as the games is the main focus
@NEStalgia
Couldn’t agree more with that summation.
The problem is I don't want Crunchyroll, so there'd need to be a number of more appealing value adds beyond just that.
As some have mentioned,I'd much prefer a psplus and now combo. Anime would be a small bonus, but Now would be fantastic.
I have been saying for quite a long time their entire PS (+ something) is getting confusing: Ps+, Ps The Collection, Ps Now. Unify all those services in one, by price tiers. Let's say $59 for just ps+, $79 for Ps + & Ps Now. And of course they need to update the ps now catalogue. Add Crunch along the way to some specific tier and ready to roll
@The_New_Butler Games, TV, TV, TV, games, TV. I've seen this movie! I know how it ends!
Why not include a WWE subscription? Or a subscription to a newspaper?
I think it's a bad business idea to combine subscriptions for two totally different mediums.
I dont find anything confusing about the current ps+ and i dont think there is anything wrong with it..the price is fair..you get free games and its a very,very easy store to navigate..i dont understand the issues people have with it..i dont need anybody to explain it either thanks..
We pay for games ps plus ps now and we have normal bills to pay like internet... just chill and dont get greedy...offer the anime separately for people who actually want it
@MatthewJP yep, I agree!
Nowt like wild reactions to right now baseless rumours. Also Anime is big business that has a lot of ties to gaming.
Please, for the love, Sony, just combine PS Plus and PS Now. Take my money.
Why? They’ve had funimation for years. They would’ve done with this with a service that offers more dubs, appealing to a larger audience, a long time ago. Maybe they’ll offer Funimation that has CR merged in, but we’re not getting CR as part of Plus.
Microsoft is find ways to be cheaper, Sony is finding ways to be more expensive. Console wars are going to be class wars soon enough!
This would be great for people who love anime but what percentage of PlayStation owners even like anime? I’m not one of them and unless Sony include most of it’s exclusives, not necessarily new releases, like Days Gone, HZD etc I wouldn’t even think about subscribing to PS Plus.
WTH what would i do with crunchy roll? i'm not a weeb! i want PS NOW instead, sony CEO are ruled by complete stonehead idiots at this point!
@KishanHansil greed = capitalism!
Any bundle that includes something that has nothing to do with games is a giant waste of time. I say this as a current Crunchyroll subscriber... forget about including media and improve Plus with games!!
No thanks, not interested in Anime cartoons lol
@huyi perfectly said!
@Juanalf That's correct. At the end of the day this will only appeal to people who love Anime of course for the most part. What it needs to be about is "games". I already have Funimation. Merge PS Plus and PS Now instead of Crunchyroll and Funimation.
"PlayStation + Crunchy" makes the most sense to me.
And the people that think no one wants this are blatantly ignoring how huge anime is becoming. The younger generations are enamored with it and I get the feeling it will only continue to grow, so I'd argue that yes, including such a service would prove quite compelling to a large number of people.
i did NOT expect the comments to be as angry as they are.
always surprising me, PushSquare community! just... never in a good way.
Along as its an option still to have normal ps plus I'm OK, I dont want the base price jacked up for some streaming service ill never even open, but adding ps now I'll be all for
Not something I’d be interested in. But cool if you’re right into anime. PlayStation plus’s included monthly games aren’t good enough to warrant a subscription though, that’s the major problem
Yo, for all of those pissed about a price increase, the title does say "option", which implies that PS+ as it exists currently probably won't go anywhere.
You figured that people would not be opposing of this given Playstation history of being the platform for weebs and anime watcher given the long standing release of Japanese and Anime games. So it would be expected that a major portion of Playstation fanbase would benefit from it...
But from the sound of the comments... That probably isn't the case anymore.
Honestly, it would take a lot more than some anime to keep me interested at the current price point, let alone some premium tier. I’m open to a larger price point IF there was a significant value on offer. PlayStation quickly becoming the new Neo Geo, it’s kind of nuts.
Thank God I don't like any of their games anyway.
Would never pay a dime for crunchyroll and I like anime.
@get2sammyb I just hope by including Crunchyroll the Plus + price is not higher. I have no interest in Crunchyroll and the thought of paying more for Plus + is not good.
I really hope PlayStation continues to focus on GAMES.
If it's like 10 euros more, fine, I will get it! More than that seems a bit steep
Here’s my suggestion: Bundle PS Plus and PS Now into one joint service. Call it PS Multiply or whatever.
Make the new service available on more platforms, like mobile.
Also make any game you’ve bought on PS Store, accessible from the service, not just the games on PS Now (sort of like a hosted version of Remote Play).
While I do watch Crunchyroll, I don’t think you should mix media with a gaming service like PS Plus.
Just rip off game pass.
It's not rocket surgery.
Link PS+ and PSNow.
@MatthewJP
It’s good to know I’m not the only one. I’ve heard of it, but have no idea what it is.
If I wanted gamepass I would buy a Xbox. If I wanted a combined PS Plus and PSNow I would combined I would do it myself and buy both! Anime is not for me I would never pay for it.
I don't think Sony is willing to discount PSPlus and PSNow, both are only $5.00 a month now! If Sony did discount them I feel the games offered quality would drop more.
@Rural-Bandit i cant upvote this enough. This would be ideal barring removing the ps+ requirement for most multiplayer games. Choice is always better
I would love it if the longer you had been subscribed the more value they offered. Like throwing in PSnow for the same price or if after a year when you renewed if they gave you the choice to keep a game from the previous year no matter if your sun expired, then the second year maybe 2 games. It annoys me that I only renew to keep games from when I first joined, people would still roll onto the next year for the chance to own more of the games. I don’t even use multiplayer really so I’ve literally got it for the games they offer.
@Marios-love-child the fact that you are comparing gamepass to ps+ makes your comment null
I want a reduced price basic Plus. No games i almost never play, no anime i don't want, and no Plus discounts i don't use. Just a cheaper cost to play online.
I wouldn’t mind a discounted PS+ that just has the monthly games and no online gaming 😅. I never play online, but I discover a new favorite game every once in a while through the PS+ offerings.
£10.99 a month with PS+, PSNOW and crunchyroll im in
Hopefully it's not like a Game-pass thing similar to Xbox. Reason being for those that can only afford to stick to the plan that's available now, we will see the free monthly games get even worse, and they would do it on purpose to provide incentive to pay more for the game-pass feature.
Had to google Crunchyroll, not for me, so I would stick to the current PS Plus.
What's shocking is in Australia PS Now is still not available. Meanwhile I'm on a 250Mbs internet so there excuse about internet being too slow in Australia is null and void.
@OthmaneAD
Aww ok I'm really sorry, I'll never comment on this site again.
Once again soooooo sorry
Keep it (PS+) cheap and good value like it is now. Forget game pa$$. Don’t want the multi subs model.
Thanks
Edit
If there is something even more ridiculous and pathetic than console warriors it’s subscription warriors and it’s a shame PushGP has incited it.
They should bring PS Now to other countries instead...subscribed to Crunchyroll a few months ago, nothing interesting to watch really.
Not interested in crucyroll or paying more for a relatively piss poor service. Price up, quality down. That's been the story of PS+ for the last few years, adding a further level of that just doesn't appeal.
@Octane Well they already did raise the sub recently...
@stu123 You're 44 so the online stuff doesn't interest you? Do you mean you're just not interested in the online stuff, or there's an age we all hit where we won't be interested in online anymore? Is it 43? Is it 40?
This feels like something Microsoft would've done in some alternate reality where Don Mattrick's vision of the XB1 was a success (though a general TV or sports thing, not anime).
Crunchy roll better be included with ps+ if they wanna give an incentive against gamepass
Crunchyroll 🤷🏼♂️ no thanks.
Combine PS+ & PS Now and I’ll be interested. This is surely the best option to compete with Microsoft’s Gamepass
As someone who does like anime I have no interest in this unless it's added to the existing sub. How much time do they think people have? It's at a point where they'll be competing with themselves for our attention. I barely have enough time to play one of the + games every month alongside the games I buy on PS4/5 and Switch.
I think they would need to lower advertising to a more reasonable level in the free version for me to even consider spending some of my time on Crunchyroll.
@Digit2021
Exactly. A multi subs like GP would devalue PS+ and end up being worse for most consumers who only want the cheapest and own the games.
For that matter ps+ is different than PSNOW or GP. You keep the games not like renting for a limited time so I don’t know why people want to mix different things.
Edit
I think they might just give a discount to ps+ subs who are interested in Crunchyroll. Similar in reverse to the deal already existing with GP but that one got positivity from the media. what gives.
Anime? No thanks, you're alright! Rather it stay as it is to be honest. Or just roll Plus and Now into each other.
I'd only be tempted if they included ps now and EA play like gamepass.
Add PS3, PS2, PSone emulation engine, throw all these games to PSplus collection and I'll be the happiest Sonyboy ever.
Why won't you do this, Sony?
Don't feed me mediacontent. I bought PS5 to play games.
@Spiders Microsoft model isn't sustainable unless they pump millions into it. They're doing themselves no favours letting people in for £1.
Sony already owns Funimation, so why is Crunchyroll so special to add it to PS+? If anything, they should just merge Funi and CR together first, then offer package deals that include all three services... Any combo of PS+/Now/Funi. You get a discount if you sub to two of them, an even bigger one for all three.
Seeing how I already have a Crunchyroll subscription, I would do this if it were discounted as a bundle. Hopefully Funimation and Crunchyroll are consolidated soon though. That would definitely drive the value more. Seeing how Anime is a massively popular genre in many parts of the world (U.S. is still not as popular yet though), this would be a smart move to attach a choice for subscribers and drive increased subscriptions for those anime services. Down the road, they should definitely look into including a bundle that is PS Now though. Sony needs to start getting their numbers up for that service if they want to compete more aggressively against Gamepass.
If there were a bundle that includes PS Now, Anime, and of course PS Plus at an appropriate price annually, I would definitely take it as it would be solid value for me. I also think it's an appropriate time for Sony to get more aggressive with its subscription service. Currently, that would be $220 annually for what each charge individually ($100 for CR and $60 for PS Now and PS Plus separately). Make that bundle something like $170 annually for all 3 and then for maybe the PS Now and PS Plus combo, do $100. And for CR and PS Plus, do (hopefully) $140. Offer a discount to lock people into the annual plus pull them into more of your services (for example people who have PS Plus and Crunchy now are enticed into PS Now).
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (a relative equivalent that includes Gold and Game pass) is $180 annually or $15 a month. So doing a bundle that beats that price would be killer to say the least. Just as long as the content keeps improving of course.
If this were to happen I would probably let my subscription run out. I have been with ps+ since the ps3 and although at times they don't really give anything I don't already own, the value for money is fairly decent. If I were to pay more than I do currently, having to pay for something else that I couldn't care less about I.e. Crunchy roll... It would lose it's value. Whereas if they gave ps now or a choice of games at certain intervals, that would be much preferred.
@Marios-love-child same here. When I realized how good gamepass was, I got an Series X also. It's really good to have both PS5 and Xbox, but PS5 games are too expensive for me here sadly...
Sony: TV TV TV TV!!!!
Comes down to price as I have all! PS+, crunchyroll and funamation.
So it's PS Plus...Plus? Well, I dip in and out of Crunchyroll/Funimation subs every now and then so I'd be tempted, but I'd much rather see PS Now integrated, or some kind of game pass rival.
It needs to be combined with PS Now and Crunchyroll, then call it PS plus ultimate or something
@daveofduncan Sustainable for Microsoft? Not my problem. $9.99/mo for Gamepass on PC is sustainable for me and my working class comrades.
You’re rationale sounds like petty bourgeoisie muck-racking to my prole ears.
Bring on the console-class war! We have nothing to lose but our subscriptions!
Unfortunately I feel Sony are out of touch if a more expensive tier is introduced. As others have said they need to improve the existing services value vs competition, not increase prices even if it does include extra benefits…
@Octane Shhhh, don't give them any ideas!!!
If the price is less than the services would cost separately then I'll probably bite, I'm an on-again-off-again Crunchy subber so this might be what gets me to stay on the service.
If they add National Trust membership then I'm interested. You can keep your crunchyroll, cheers.
Hard pass, I pay for PS+ for the games!
@uptownsoul
I find the power of the press fascinating. They just need Eurogamer to go
‘we understand….crunchy roll…premium PS+’. To get the internet rolling in a certain way.
Of course it might be true but phrase it as an ‘offer’ like the deal crunchy roll got with GP and the internet sees it differently.
Edit
It’s called Crunchyroll Premium on it’s own.
@The_New_Butler for a games machine that is quite a killer advantage though 👍
I am getting the distinct impression that Playstation have no idea what they're doing. Yes, they are selling a lot of hardware but then they come up with utter cack like this as a general 'for the players' (am I still allowed to say that?) solution to improve PS+? What are they smoking or is it a customer focus group run by circus clowns?
PS+ & PS Now in the same sub and job is done!
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