PS Plus Premium PS5 PlayStation 5 1
Image: Push Square

PS Plus Premium has, if we’re being totally honest, turned out to be a huge disappointment. Sony’s top-tier subscription promised cloud streaming and classic games, and while it’s ultimately delivered on those vows, the lack of meaningful additions of late – along with the service’s seriously flawed logic – has left fans wanting to downgrade.

The positive is that PS Plus Extra is proving serious value for money, especially when you factor in this month’s 25 per cent off Black Friday discount. Many fans were hoping they could downgrade to the middle tier, and then extend their subscription at a lower price. Unfortunately, after some investigation, we’ve learned that it’s impossible.

You can notify Sony that you want to change your plan at any time, but you can only stack subscriptions to your active membership. This ultimately means, if you’re currently a PS Plus Premium subscriber until, say, 31st December, you’d only be able to take advantage of the aforementioned Black Friday discount for the top tier – even if you’ve told Sony you want to downgrade when your existing plan concludes.

The same is true, of course, if you’re currently a PS Plus Extra member and want to return to PS Plus Essential. It’s all quite messy, and likely related to the creaky structure of the PS Store, but the bottom line is that members are feeling slighted here. The only way you could downgrade and take advantage of the deal is if your current plan is set to expire before the Black Friday sale concludes.

The real kicker here is, as alluded to above, that PS Plus Premium is looking more and more like a bad deal. The only additions this month were a selection of PS3 Ratchet & Clank games – classic titles, yes, but they can only be cloud streamed. Sony will argue that its top tier exists primarily for cloud streaming anyway; we believe most people subscribed on the promise of retro games, which have dried up already.