Sony has lost 1.9 million PS Plus subscribers in the past three months, its Q2 fiscal year 2022 financial results reveal. It means the service's member count drops to 45.4 million, down from 47.3 million in the previous quarter. This is the first full quarter since PS Plus underwent a revamp and introduced two new tiers in PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium.
This is the third quarter in a row Sony has recorded a loss of PS Plus subscribers, with the service's peak being a count of exactly 48 million in Q3 of fiscal year 2021. As for why it lost more members this past quarter, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki pointed to the decline of sales for third-party titles as well as the PS4 system itself, and that "more people [are] going outdoors".
The firm expects more PS Plus members to come on board in the next quarter, though, citing the impact of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and God of War Ragnarok. Interestingly, despite the loss of subscribers, Sony's network services actually recorded a 10 per cent increase in revenue. It could suggest that while there are fewer members, enough subscribers have upgraded to a higher tier to offset the loss from those who left.
Engagement on PS4 in particular is given as the reason for the drop in members, while PS5 users are subscribing to the service at a much higher rate. "We are putting even more effort into accelerating the penetration of PS5 hardware to recover this user engagement going forward." Across the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, Sony also recorded a loss of one million monthly active users.
[source sony.com, via videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 80
“More people are going outdoors”?? Seriously? How about “the revamped product isn’t compelling”?? 🤔🤪
~2M fewer subscribers but 10% more profit is a very interesting metric. Imagine if they didn't lose those subscribers how lucrative PS+ would be. The PS+ revamp is definitely a welcome improvement, but Sony needs to make the premium tier better. The Extra tier is the best value right now though I'm not sure that should be the case.
Ps plus is worthless. Only time it was worth it was back when it started when i got ps minis and ps1 games. When they give out free games everymonth. Its just cheap games that are locally on sale at the same time if you notice. Still waiting to get returnal as a free game. Unless i missed it, sorry in advance. Anytime its a ps exclusive game worth playing its years after release
@XanderTigerclaw That doesn't apply, though, because the standard tier still exists and was not changed.
That's how tone-deaf these lot are.
The service IMO is pretty crap and I'm going to quit the service altogether early next year. Won't even bother with essential.
@Yaycandy Returnal has been on PS Plus Extra from day one.
That's interesting.
MS/Spencer were commenting the other day on how they don't see Game Pass subs on console getting much higher than they are now, and Plus has never been able to hit the 50 million mark.
Makes me think about what Sean Layden used to say about how the console player base hasn't really grown much since the 90s.
@XanderTigerclaw The Extra Tier is pretty popular though. Arguably it's as good as if not better than Game Pass, depending on what you want to play of course.
And obviously Essentials is popular. It's just the Premium Tier that few people seem to care about.
The downward trend we're seeing now genuinely is the post pandemic impact. It's happening everywhere.
@LiamCroft
Im talking straight ps plus. People have had for years.
Probably coincidental. The relaunch didn't make the existing product worse, it just added two tiers. So presumably these losses would have happened regardless. Possibly down to the lack of big games in 2022 or whatever.
But I thought Sony is doing perfect? Personally a lot of my friends don’t even play on PlayStation anymore.
Subscription services in general are taking a hit with the pandemic now behind us, people are staying in as much, plus in Europe there's an energy crisis and people are struggling for bills so I woukd expect a lot to get rid of their subscriptions to save money, which would hit sony hard as that's their main region.
But since revenue has gone up that means more people are signing up to the new tiers which hopefully will help it get better in time.
These subscriber numbers always fluctuate, effectively they've reached the peak a long time ago, which seems to hover around 50 million.
That they've increased the revenue so much is actually a positive thing for the new tiers.
I don't think I'll be renewing, I'm currently on the top tier and it's been pretty disappointing for classic games so far. If that picks up I may well resub or just buy those I want to play if they let me and I can't remember the last PS Plus game I added to my library
My prediction is that gamepass will become a massive success in 2023 when Microsoft finally starts releasing big games on there and Sony will have no choice but to copy them more closely.
I’m unsubscribing from extra after this year. It’s basically been adding a whole bunch of games each month that ‘eh I could play that’ but nothing compelling has been added since the first month beyond stray and the ps5 titles (most of which I’ve played or owned)
They have by far the most successful sub service and are losing users because people aren’t stuck indoors any more compared to the last few quarters. Plus, you know, the economy stupid! Don’t need to be a rocket scientist to work it out.
I’ve been a PS Plus subscriber for over nine years. I’m on the top tier after the PS Now upgrade. Once it expires I won’t renew. I won’t miss the access to the monthly games with my backlog.
It’s actually the newly introduced streaming/downloading of older titles that makes the service in any way compelling, but there just isn’t the quantity right now to make it worthwhile.
@PCGamerInDisguise GP growth is slowing. even Phil said its peaking on console
If this was Purexbox and MS, article would read revenue on subscriptions increased by 10%. No mentions of subscribers numbers..
Whilst the likes of COD,Fortnite,& GTA Online likely still bring some solid online numbers,as might PS Extra,it's a shame the PS Deluxe & Premium tiers remain disappointingly supported.
It just feels like a re-badged PS Now,(unavailable to Deluxe regions,& reliant on streaming only),with an underwhelmingly few additions of PS1/PSP titles & no "new" PS2 additions to date.
@Shad361 No one said they were doing perfect.
Outside is overrated, but if Sony want my extra money, they need to make the subscription extra special. They're are sitting on a wealth of titles for PSP, PS & PS2 that they simply need to open up the doors to.
PS+ Essentials main usage is to play games that aren't FTP online so I'd guess not much was happening in that space and as a result plenty of people chose to let their subscription lapse. In addition, PS+ Premium/Deluxe is a complete joke.
Time to put the new big guns on there like elden ring and forbidden west
@Sqush-Pare Fanboys who worship this company say they are.
How's that putting your exclusives on PC going for you Sony?
Disenfranchising your core base for PC scraps not going as you hoped?
How is God of War Ragnarok going to help subscriptions? It’s a single player game… right?
Edit: anyways, I been PSN+ for all of last gen and the only reason I’m still a subscriber is fear of losing my cloud safe data. Honestly, though, it’s been so long since I played on my PS5 that I think I’m going to just cancel and accept the data loss.
I was spoiled to get one year of ps+ around augoust sales for about 30euros. But after they revamped the service they stopped offering discounts so i dropped it for now.
@Tharsman You can still backup everything to a flash drive and cancel later.
@zebric21 I would have to hook up my PS4 that has most my save data. No clue if I have a way to download save data for games I don’t have installed on my PS5.
@Tharsman Yes you can donwload everything from your ps5 as long as you have an active ps+ subscription.
@Tharsman Via USB stick you can move the saves.
Well, more data needed here so we can see the whole picture. So, is this only for the base tier? Is it the total? Also, if it is only the base tier some may not went away but upgrade which will explain the 10% up in revenue.
These plus subs go up and down throughout a year every year. Now covid is much less of an impact on the planets population you'll get a slightly more than usual drop in subs like its been mentioned so many times already. Personally I'm loving the extra plus and the many quality games it has to offer but my already massive backlog doesn't like it so much. Premium needs a good kick up the backside
Honestly there are so many games coming out I can’t even imagine having the time or focus to play all the ps plus extra games that are available plus look forward to new and upcoming content. It’s kinda stressful when you think about it. GOW Ragnarok is going to be taking up months of my free time so there is no need for me to have a subscription currently. That can change though if there is another drought in games!
Not surprised, I even gave the Deluxe tier a chance and it’s just underwhelming, yeah I’ve played a couple of games but I’m just not interested in any of the new additions as mostly are old Ubisoft games that can be found dirty cheap.
Once it ends I’m definitely not going to renew it.
I'm subscribed by mistake!
People are reading far too much into this.
There are a LOT of reasons why the subscribers number would fluctuate, whether it's post pandemic, cost of living going up, or they don't like the new service.
The last is probably the least likely to change in this Q2 announcement a:
1) Base PS+ stayed the same (though the perception may be it's worse now there's something better)
2) There wasn't enough time from launch to the end of Q2 for most annual subscribers to change. Q2 ends 30 June and PS+ changed in June in most territories.
But people will attach it to whatever narrative they want to peddle.
@PCGamerInDisguise PS+ has about twice as many subscribers as Game Pass. There’s not a chance Sony will put day 1 exclusives on there an i wouldn’t want them to. If they did the quality would drop an PS would only make exclusives on a par with Xbox an Switch exclusives. I don’t mind paying £50 or so a few times a year for games that are on another level.
@jrt87 nearly all of the games you've just mentioned are not Xbox 1st party titles. They are 3rd party games Xbox has payed many a millions to be day one on GamePass. Playstation can not afford to be throwing many a millions at 3rd party day one plus games on a long term basis like Xbox can with their trillions for GamePass. And putting Playstation 1st party day one on plus like GamePass can with their 1st party is not an option for PS. It's simple math really when comparing companies with billions or trillions, you'll then get your answer as to why no day ones on Plus like GamePass can
If I hadn't pre-stacked my service until 2026, I don't know that I'd be paying for it regularly.
It's not that exciting to me and I'm disappointed they haven't capitalized on it.
Really seems like an afterthought in general.
@Shepherd_Tallon Extra tier is nowhere near game pass it's just paywalled BC. games mixed with an occasional new AA.
they have stopped doing deals on ps+ since the extra and premium tiers started thats why theyve lost subscribers
they used to do deals like a year for £24.99
@jordan1992 Why would the quality drop because Jimbo said so? I thought competing would incentivize them to do so and MS didn't get trillions being risk averse.
@Beerheadgamer82 Xbox wont have first party games until 2023.
@jrt87 so you've already played or owned every Essential, Extra and Premium games has to offer, I find this impossible to believe. Acting like PS Extra has absolutely nothing to offer is so wrong on so many levels. So many people like you do false dumps on Plus every week by completly ignoring the facts of huge differences between billions and trillions when talking Plus and GamePass and will just jump on the false bandwagon of Xbox being consumer friendly when in reality its just down to one company being able to take more risks cause of an insanely amount of cash to do so. Imo Ignoring the facts and then dumping on the other when having your opinions on these matters ain't smart
@Blackbluto I know yh. 2023 and beyond should massively improve for Xbox 1st party
It's absolutely zero surprise that there's been a steady backslide in membership from the height of the pandemic when people were staying home and playing more.
I'd bet a majority of those were Premium subscribers who felt like they were being scammed - and rightfully so.
Microsoft may have deep pockets but they missed their gamepass growth targets by a huge margin. A few sites reporting that the xbox consoles, price of games and gamepass will all significantly increase next year as the Microsoft share holders have called time on selling at a loss.
@jrt87 I don't care if you enjoy GamePass over Plus, makes no difference to me what you do. You are the one here on a PS related site that decided to take a dump on Plus and then bigged up GamePass when this article does not mention GamePass, not even once. It could be a really good idea to sell your PS5 to someone who will actually put it to good use and will spend money on it for many years of gaming fun instead of coming to a PS site and taking a dump on something you ain't much into
Defensive and deep I think you've got your words mixed up with someone else. Like I just said I do not care what you do. You still took a dump on Plus acting like there's zero value to be had with it and then decided to big up GamePass on a PS site and now you expect everyone to welcome you with open arms and chill wow delusional much. If you are ignoring the differences between subscription services that have trillions in differences it's going to be pointless having an adult grown up friendly conversation with you about both services. But no you ignorantly decided to take a dump on Plus and then immediately go on about how GamePass is so great on a PS article that didn't mention GamePass at all and then expect to be taken seriously. Now if you don't mind I've gotta have my dinner and then enjoy my PS Plus subscription like 45 million other Plus subbers do
@Neonix I mean I'm one of the people that bailed because the games on Essential are rarely my cup of tea and I'm not going to get a more expensive plan when I already pay $50 a year for NSO + Expansion...
@Blackbluto "Extra tier is nowhere near game pass it's just paywalled BC. games mixed with an occasional new AA"
That's so wrong, it's not even funny. Through premium, I got access to
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. Ghost of Tsushima
3. Spider-man
4. Miles Morales
5. Demon's Souls
6. Several Assassin's Creed games, including Valhalla
7. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
The list goes on and on (and I didn't even bring up excellent games like Returnal and Death Stranding, since I'm not that interested in them)
Far from AA or just BC
@Shad361 Similar to the Xbox fanboys that plague social media, but does anyone take them seriously?
We outside again LOL
@Blackbluto The biggest selling Xbox exclusive i think is Halo 3 with about 8 million copies sold. Playstation has God of War, Spiderman, TLOU, Uncharted 4, etc, all selling 20 million copies+. Sony would take a massive hit. Less income means less investment. Why do you think Playstation exclusives are said by most to be the best games? They’ve won GOTY numerous times, Xbox an Nintendo exclusives have never won it.
@Tharsman The PS5 console bundle with God Of War. The game will make people move to PS5 (even though on PS4 as well) In return some will subscribe to Plus.
Sony has mentioned Plus is doing well on PS5.
I didn't renew my ps+ because of the cost of living crisis and the fact my money was needed to.be spent importantly elsewhere in my life.
I will.sun again once things settle down. But for now I'll play my games I have on disc.
The upper tier hasnt been worth the cost. I tried to go to just the middle tier but i used cd keys and it just reupped me for 6 months at the top. Still cheaper that way than going through sony. I am starting to see the double dip on the "free " games from plus and essintial so its even less value. Thats why people are dropping.
@TrickyDicky99 how do games going to pc years after playstation release disenfranchise you?
@Tharsman The upcoming release of God Of War Ragnarok will generate interest in playing the first game in anticipation. The first game is on PS+. Thus the new game will drive players to subscribe to PS+ to play the first game, possibly increasing subscriptions.
@kcarnes9051 I guess it’s a possibility, but GoW is also a $18-$20 dollar game. Chances are anyone that wants to play it already owns it, or would find it cheaper to just buy the game than sign up for a subscription.
@Adaminoregon 1st party games are meant to be the shining beacon of what the hardware can do, the game should be totally designed around the hardware.
Designing a game with PC in mind, more importantly the minimum spec they target, means the game design is held back. Mark Cerny literally gave us a hour presentation on how the SSD and I/O throughput of the PS5 will change game design, now all that work has gone to waste.
Naughty Dog said in their recent blog on the PC release of Legacy of Thieves that porting the game to PC has allowed them to get familiar with the PC production pipeline for future games. So much for the SSD.
Mine ran out a few days ago not going to renew it unless essential is half price again this year it's just not worth it for me at it's current price for the occasional multiplayer match
@Tharsman Not everyone thinks the same. A one-month subscription to PS+ Extra is $15, enough time to finish the game. That's less than the cost of God Of War standalone by your numbers. When Ragnarok is advertised as a brand new game, a percentage of people who never played the first will sign up for the service to catch up on the series because they also get access to a bunch of other games they might want to try out. People who played the first game years ago may be interested in signing up if they sold their copy and want to play it, again, before the second comes out. There could very well be an uptick in subscriptions when looking at the broad player base and their different motivations. How big that uptick is is anyone's guess, but it's not an unreasonable assumption that the release of such a massive title will generate interest in the first game. And PS+ Extra is the most affordable option to try it out.
@Mr_Gamecube @Blackbluto Ragnarok says hi. You’re a great game, forgot about you. Still only one game tho.
They still got me until April 2027, I crazily stacked 5 years of PS Now for $300 USD.
@Blackbluto Microsoft’s trillions is nothing to do with Xbox or Game Pass!! They earn majority of their money from PC related products. There are about 2 billion PC users!!
It’s simple really. The only people still console gaming are my generation, 80/90s kids. Kids these days are into making crap pointless YouTube videos
This could be factor of many things..living costs going up? Pandemic some what over people are travelling more? I think the extra tier is pretty cool with all the games the add every month you can't complain it's got a selection for everyone right? But premium stated "classic" games and it's it's sucking more and more each month so maybe that's the factor people are unsubscribing because where are the classic games sony
@jrt87 Hopefully the Premium and Extra tiers will be improved in the next year or two.
@Mr_Gamecube i’m talking overall. Yeah you csn cherry pick awards others won but in the last 10 years Playstation has won 5 or 6. TLOU2 is in the Guinness book of records for most wins in a year, over 300!! It is a fact Sony devs make the best games. Only fanboys deny this. I really hope upcoming Xbox games like Starfield an wat not live up to the hype, we’ll have to see.
@Mr_Gamecube it’s just common knowledge, everyone but fanboys say the same. Sony are the only ones to win GOTY 3 times on the trot. Playstation exclusive games outsell Xbox exclusive games massively. A lot believe Series X is more powerful than PS5 yet PS5 has and will continue to massively outsell it, cos of the games. You can say it’s subjective but not really. If i say Manchester City are the best football team in the UK you could say that’s subjective, it’s also an obvious fact.
What game/games fo you have in mind that come anywhere near The Last of Us 1 an 2, God of War, Uncharted 4, Ghost of Tsushima, etc?
@XanderTigerclaw
speak for yourself. I think ps plus extra is worth €99 a year. But are you naive enough to think that they can give away €100 million (to make) games day 1 for €99 a year?? ouch!
@Mr_Gamecube i don’t pay any attention to Metacrytic. You know how Metacrytic works right???? A lot of folk review bomb an that effects Metacrytic scores. For me Nintendo aren’t in competition with PS an Xbox. Totally different machine. Switch is like a retro console that uses current tech. It’s also huge in Asia, Nintendo always has been. Games like Mario an Zelda always have an always will sell well.
Tell me, wat are ya top 5 current games? Say games that released in last 10ish years, not old classics.
@Mr_Gamecube so ya not saying? Let me guess, Halo 1, Halo 2, Halo 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Forza 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Gears 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6??? Fanboy. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@Mr_Gamecube my original comment stated Playstation has the best games. The only people who argue against this are Xbox fanboys. Even genuine Xbox fans agree with this. I was wrong bout Nintendo, i already agreed to that. Forgot bout Breath of the Wild even tho i’ve played it on kids Switch. I asked your top 5 games expecting you to reel Xbox exclusives out. I wouldn’t call myself a fanboy, i prefer PS5 to XSX yes like i said, because it has better games. I also have XSX an if the upcoming, 2023, Xbox exclusives are as good or even better than games like TLOU 1 an 2, Uncharted 4, GoW, Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, Spiderman, Miles, etc that could change my mind but as of current times PS exclusives are on another level. Not just the actual gameplay, the story telling, the twists an turns, the in game acting. Another level!!
@Mr_Gamecube an Metacrytic does both doesn’t it? They give 2 scores for games, an average. Like i said, some folk review bomb games. Not only members of the public, there are reviewers who big up Playstation or Xbox an slate the other. Some folk say they don’t follow reviews at all, i take a look at reviews but taking an average gives a dodgy result. If 9 review sites give a game 10/10 an another gives it 4/10 that’ll reduce the overall score. That’s wat i meant.
@Mr_Gamecube i never include Nintendo in such conversations. Switch is a totally different machine for me. I love Nintendo games, they’re like retro games with updated visuals an performance. Games like Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, etc. Ya can’t compare games like that to games like The Last of Us, GoW, Gears, etc. Nintendo have their own fans that will never switch from Nintendo, kind of a niche group. Playstation an Xbox are the exact same type of console with the same type of games an the same type of customers. I don’t own a PC, my mate owns a top quality one an he builds PC’s to order an according to him the best PC games are console games that come to PC an look incredible.
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