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[Kerotan]

Yep, Sony is sliding faster and faster downhill these days. It hasn't hit their bottom line yet, because the main competition are also fucking hopeless, but it will eventually.

If they add Extra value along with the price increase it absolutely won't effect them. Ps plus was already very profitable. Why make such a big increase unless you're planning on including EA Access, UBI+ or more first party hitting the service sooner. Maybe even more classics.

I'd take a wait and see approach what they add over the next few years.

 

[DaGwaphics]

I don't get the visceral outrage, vote with your wallet. If they lose more than they gain they will make a correction.

The only opinion I really have on it is I think it was a bold move to increase the yearly rate on the base tier. This is a console tax that most complain about already.

 

[Unknown?]

Spitting fire on a 33% price hike for literally nothing isn't a hate boner - it's calling out pure, undiluted greed. If it was a baseless attack, I'd like your post and move on, but it seems Sony's almost deliberately eroding the goodwill of the PS4 era. If PS4 was Sony earning back what it lost during the PS3 generation (and then some) then PS5 is Sony deciding it's time to get paid.

What?! They've done better than PS4 so far. PS4 era they were stupid. They shut down studios, refused to buy Crash IP back from Activision, invested into no new studios.

The price hike does suck though.

 

[Three]

Jim Ryan himself said last year that two thirds of people are subscribing through the yearly plan which has now received a huge %30 hike. They didn't touch those monthly plans which are priced badly imo for what they're offering vs the main competition, as they have the data where it shows that the majority of people are picking the annual plans anyway.

The competition don't realy offer annual plans but if they did there would be no reason to go monthly for most people. 2/3 of people went annual PS+ because it is significantly cheaper. If the difference becomes smaller the likelihood of people going monthly increases. They have likely accounted for all this and even based their monthly price on single player game engagement. They are going to start adjusting everything now, the type of games, the promotions, monthly cost, yearly cost, everything based on a new business model.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Yep, Sony is sliding faster and faster downhill these days. It hasn't hit their bottom line yet, because the main competition are also fucking hopeless, but it will eventually.

We're kinda heading towards early PS3 Sony levels of arrogance here with the decision making at SIE lately. That's why I hope Microsoft will keep pushing back harder and harder in the console space for years to come since Sony shouldn't be allowed to be the sole player in the high performance console market.

 

[X-Wing]

Jim Ryan himself said last year that two thirds of people are subscribing through the yearly plan which has now received a huge %30 hike. They didn't touch those monthly plans which are priced badly imo for what they're offering vs the main competition, as they have the data where it shows that the majority of people are picking the annual plans anyway.

People took the yearly plan because it was the cheapest plan for the service and it still is, although slightly less.
It was also the plan in which Sony probably had less revenue seeing they were offering almost 5 months of the service for free.

1 year of Plus Premium paid monthly: 16,99 euros x 12 = 203,99 euros
1 year of Plus Premium paid yearly: 119,99 euros

203,99 - 119,99 = 84 / 16,99 = 4,9 months people were having for free

Also, you're disingenuously putting price hike in quotes when for all intents and purposes IT IS a price increase for over 66% of PS+ owners as per the data that Jim Ryan has shared in 2022 in which over two thirds of subscribers are using the yearly plan as the default sub method.

I would consider it a price hike if it was across all subscriptions. It is only a discounted subscription model that changes price, so I don't.

But anyway, you haven't addressed my prior point about cloud saves being locked behind the essential tier - which is now $80 a year - when Steam (which is not a cloud provider, btw) has similar if not bigger MAU than PlayStation and can offer this feature for free to all users. Why can't Sony do the same?

I ignored this consciously, because like I told this is another subject that I don't honestly care about.

 

[Clear]

I don't get the visceral outrage, vote with your wallet. If they lose more than they gain they will make a correction.

The only opinion I really have on it is I think it was a bold move to increase the yearly rate on the base tier. This is a console tax that most complain about already.

Like I pointed out before, they cannot keep pushing old PS4 product on Plus -at any tier.

They need to start offering current gen titles, and unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years you'd realize that the RRP of said titles is higher. Hence their providers will demand more to mitigate against potential loss of earnings. Hence that expense was always going to end up reflected in either or both the cost and line-up of sub services.

People should have been prepared for this entirely predictable turn of events from the moment it was announced that retail prices were going up. More so, if the enthusiast press weren't so fucking ignorant they'd have brought this to public attention and/or asked for clarification from the subscription service operators long ago.

 

[DaGwaphics]

Like I pointed out before, they cannot keep pushing old PS4 product on Plus -at any tier.

They need to start offering current gen titles, and unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years you'd realize that the RRP of said titles is higher. Hence their providers will demand more to mitigate against potential loss of earnings. Hence that expense was always going to end up reflected in either or both the cost and line-up of sub services.

People should have been prepared for this entirely predictable turn of events from the moment it was announced that retail prices were going up. More so, if the enthusiast press weren't so fucking ignorant they'd have brought this to public attention and/or asked for clarification from the subscription service operators long ago.

The rub is that a good number of the base tier players only care about the online multiplayer, where the fee itself is viewed negatively (because comparable services on PC are free). That's why I say it is a bold move to push these people harder, especially with PS sending games over to PC.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

People took the yearly plan because it was the cheapest plan for the service and it still is, although slightly less.
It was also the plan in which Sony probably had less revenue seeing they were offering almost 5 months of the service for free.

1 year of Plus Premium paid monthly: 16,99 euros x 12 = 203,99 euros
1 year of Plus Premium paid yearly: 119,99 euros

203,99 - 119,99 = 84 / 16,99 = 4,9 months people were having for free




I would consider it a price hike if it was across all subscriptions. It is only a discounted subscription model that changes price, so I don't.



I ignored this consciously, because like I told this is another subject that I don't honestly care about.

Lol aight. I think we're done here when you're trying to gaslight me and other users into believing that this is not actually a price hike but just an adjustment to their yearly plans.

 

[sono]

What is with this Bluetooth thing everyone whines about?

Bluetooth is a standard for many years how can it be proprietary ?

 

[willothedog]

Spitting fire on a 33% price hike for literally nothing isn't a hate boner - it's calling out pure, undiluted greed. If it was a baseless attack, I'd like your post and move on, but it seems Sony's almost deliberately eroding the goodwill of the PS4 era. If PS4 was Sony earning back what it lost during the PS3 generation (and then some) then PS5 is Sony deciding it's time to get paid.

Hike is probably to offset the shit load of money the TV show and movie divisions are losing because of the actors/writers strikes.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

No subs for me these days. I'll play what I want when I want thanks.

 

[X-Wing]

Bluetooth is a standard for many years how can it be proprietary ?

Dues and Fees | Bluetooth® Technology Website

Bluetooth SIG Schedule of Dues and Fees Updated 01 January 2024 (All amounts are USD)…

www.bluetooth.com

 

[ReBurn]

The competition don't realy offer annual plans but if they did there would be no reason to go monthly for most people.

It's funny you mention that, because it's not true. Microsoft sells 12-month Xbox Live digital codes through retail outlets like Best Buy, Amazon and GameStop. Amazon.com has 12 months of Gold through the Xbox store for $54.99 right now. Nintendo also sells 12 months of their online service through retailers as well.

Microsoft doesn't offer 12 month subscriptions on the Xbox store, and that's shady. They only offer up to 3 months there. It's definitely a play to push people toward the "value" of game pass ultimate and what they could be getting if they spend a little more. But to say they don't sell them at all is just wrong.

 

[StueyDuck]

when an article starts with "arrogant Sony" you can almost instantly write it off.

but it's not completely entirely wrong, anyone thinking other sub services aren't going to raise prices either are in for a rather sudden and rude awakening.

 

[Unknown?]

No subs for me these days. I'll play what I want when I want thanks.

Yeah I hate streaming services/subscriptions because you pay for a lot of crap you don't want to play.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

People keep complaining about bluetooth on a product they don't care about tells me all i need to know and this guy just sounds like he hates Sony I can't take him serious...

 

[Schmendrick]

I don`t see the issue.

Don`t want to support it, don`t buy it.

 

[sono]

Dues and Fees | Bluetooth® Technology Website

Bluetooth SIG Schedule of Dues and Fees Updated 01 January 2024 (All amounts are USD)…

www.bluetooth.com

That is for equipment manufacturers not the end public consumer. Manufacturers have to build that into the product price. In any event you may have missed the point of my post. What has that got to do with making equipment not compatible

 

[X-Wing]

That is for equipment manufacturers not the end public consumer. Manufacturers have to build that into the product price. In any event you may have missed the point of my post. What has that got to do with making equipment not compatible

It has to do that companies will scrap adding Bluetooth to their hardware to avoid paying these and other fees.

 

[ergem]

I actually think the price hike is a good thing. It will deter many gamers to move into subscription. The good old selling of games will flourish.

From a business standpoint I think Sony knows the subs number will decrease but the sales of individual games will increase to compensate.

The basic ps+ should have remained as is though.

 

[sono]

It has to do that companies will scrap adding Bluetooth to their hardware to avoid paying these and other fees.

Which had nothing to do with my post

 

[X-Wing]

Which had nothing to do with my post

Your one liner asking how it could be proprietary since it has been used for years? I’m sorry I couldn’t infer much from there. It is proprietary and because it is proprietary any manufacturer that wants to include Bluetooth on their hardware has to pay fees and get certified.

 

[PropellerEar]

Greedy, but still best deal in gaming!

 

[Three]

It's funny you mention that, because it's not true. Microsoft sells 12-month Xbox Live digital codes through retail outlets like Best Buy, Amazon and GameStop. Amazon.com has 12 months of Gold through the Xbox store for $54.99 right now. Nintendo also sells 12 months of their online service through retailers as well.

Microsoft doesn't offer 12 month subscriptions on the Xbox store, and that's shady. They only offer up to 3 months there. It's definitely a play to push people toward the "value" of game pass ultimate and what they could be getting if they spend a little more. But to say they don't sell them at all is just wrong.

Sorry, you're right. I was talking about the MG subscription gamepass and not live. Should have made that clear. There is no annual sub for gamepass so it's £108-£156 for 12 months at RRP. On PS+ extra and premium at the increased price it's £100-£120 annual whereas if they didn't offer annual subscriptions it would be much more.

The two are likely watching what the other is doing in pricing and setting it accordingly. Just going Live is cheaper but at the same time it offers pretty much nothing/trash for content whereas PS+ Essential has decent releases at least. It absolutely sucks if you're not interested in content though so I think those on essential are getting shafted here. For PS+ Extra and Premium though their RRP pricing is still competitive and if they want to go all in they need it to compete for similar price content and have similar budgets.

 

[hinch7]

Its like how DLC's evolved from horse armor to what trash we have now with MTX's; lootboxes, season passes and all that guffans. Just way to milk consumers and take away control of their content. The day consoles go full sub and or stop selling physical copies of games, I'll just stop buying them.

Since those 'exclusives' will eventually make their way on on PC its not like I'm missing out.

 

[yurinka]

The fact that playing a small amount of classics is tied to paying $160 a year is ridiculous.

Classics should be decoupled from the service, let people buy them à la carte.

Holding classics hostage behind a paid subscription is awful. They really should make them available for purchase.

That's bullshit.

$160 gives you access to around a thousand games (being over 400 of them classics) via download or cloud gaming, plus the trials, monthly games, online gaming, cloud saves or discounts. Many years I saved more money with the discounts than the one I spent for the sub.

None of the games included in PS+, classic or new, is only available in the sub. All the games included in PS+ can also be purchased in the store without being subbed. In fact, the classics you already bought in PSP, Vita or PS3 can be downloaded for free in PS4 or PS5 without having to buy them again or without having the sub.

 

[Elysium44]

The fact that playing a small amount of classics is tied to paying $160 a year is ridiculous.

Classics should be decoupled from the service, let people buy them à la carte.

They have begun to do this, you can now purchase Ridge Racer 2 and Type 4 among others. Whether it will extend to all of them remains to be seen.

 

[ReBurn]

Sorry, you're right. I was talking about the MG subscription gamepass and not live. Should have made that clear. There is no annual sub for gamepass so it's £108-£156 for 12 months at RRP. On PS+ extra and premium at the increased price it's £100-£120 annual whereas if they didn't offer annual subscriptions it would be much more.

The two are likely watching what the other is doing in pricing and setting it accordingly. Just going Live is cheaper but at the same time it offers pretty much nothing/trash for content whereas PS+ Essential has decent releases at least. It absolutely sucks if you're not interested in content though so I think those on essential are getting shafted here. For PS+ Extra and Premium though their RRP pricing is still competitive and if they want to go all in they need it to compete for similar price content and have similar budgets.

Yeah, Microsoft not offering a 12-month game pass tier sucks. If they can do a 3:2 conversion for Gold they can do a 30% discount on a yearly sub.

 

[ArtHands]

People keep complaining about bluetooth on a product they don't care about tells me all i need to know and this guy just sounds like he hates Sony I can't take him serious...

one of the things which makes people not care about is because it doesn't have bluetooth

 

[Panajev2001a]

Sony raised the price by > 30% and has yet to announce any increase in value for the player

….

Hey…

Psst…

Pssst, come here…

Big hint: these services are not sustainable at the base price and you are asking them to add more value for the price they ask you, this is not the first hit is free-ish business model (which is what both GamePass and PSN+ are on for their game library offering)….
The price increase is big and shite, the whole subscription for “free games” destroying user perceived game value and discouraging buying games is shite too.

 

[adamsapple]

None of the games included in PS+, classic or new, is only available in the sub. All the games included in PS+ can also be purchased in the store without being subbed. In fact, the classics you already bought in PSP, Vita or PS3 can be downloaded for free in PS4 or PS5 without having to buy them again or without having the sub.

Not true.

I cannot buy Resident Evil Directors Cut on PS5, need to be subbed to Premium to access it.

Outside of some specific Bandai games, you cannot buy the classics.

 

[Gojiira]

This whole discourse is retarded, price is comparable to Game pass at the standard and higher tiers with arguably more games at the highest tier.
But seriously if you morons didnt want this kind of shit to happen you shouldn’t have accepted the obvious, blatant trap that Game Pass was. An unsustainable ‘service’ that makes no money that is clearly going to keep going up in price but of course people demanded Playstation follow suit.
Sure PS Plus needs improving and it clearly is given its getting 4k PS5 streaming soon, either way this is what happens when people push for digital…

 

[killatopak]

I fear the future.

As it was said. Evil is paved by good intention. All in the name of convenience.

 

[Elysium44]

Yeah I have the PS3 Resident Evil collection and was recently able to add the RE1 Director's Cut to my PS4, much to my surprise. Sadly no sign of Resident Evils 2 or 3 yet though, which are part of the PS3 bundle.

 

[adamsapple]

Yeah I have the PS3 Resident Evil collection and was recently able to add the RE1 Director's Cut to my PS4, much to my surprise. Sadly no sign of Resident Evils 2 or 3 yet though, which are part of the PS3 bundle.

Yeah, I think if you bought them before on the PS3, then you are able to, but new owners or those who don't have PS3's hooked up don't have any option other than subbing.

And based on what I can find online, that only worked for EU accounts.

 

[ProtoByte]

I like how every outlet that was sucking the subscription future sausage for more than 5 years is only now realizing how fucking stupid that is. All of these services have been running at an outright loss if not minute profits (I'm referring more to extra and premium here, before somebody spergs out). Brace yourself, douchebags. Inflation is reality, profitability is the incentive for business, and nothing is immune to it.

All things considered, I actually take this as Sony not believing in the subscription future themselves. They can see the members are stagnant, and now it's about getting more money out of the customers they've got as opposed to trying to honeymoon the market into their services games. Just buy games.

 

[StereoVsn]

That is kinda unrelated to what I was saying but ok. I think if you are against cloud saves behind a subscription it shouldn't really matter how much that subscription is.
On the other hand, Microsoft uses its own infrastructure for cloud saving, Sony rents it from a third party, can't imagine they would do provide that for free...

Steam, EA, Ubisoft, Larian and many others do. Sony could also allow USB saves again as they did with PS4.

This is just another greedy push for Essentials subs.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

What is with this Bluetooth thing everyone whines about? Bluetooth is horrible for gaming due to latency. Every headset you get, you either go wired or it has a dongle. Of course the device needs proprietary tech to play with a headset.
Update: I just tried my earbuds with Bluetooth on my PC and even Youtube videos have a noticeable delay between picture and audio.

Spoiler:

Most people don't care.

 

[X-Wing]

Not true.

I cannot buy Resident Evil Directors Cut on PS5, need to be subbed to Premium to access it.

Outside of some specific Bandai games, you cannot buy the classics.

It's only a few that you cannot buy and it's probably due to publishing/licensing agreements.
The majority can be bought.

 

[StereoVsn]

We're kinda heading towards early PS3 Sony levels of arrogance here with the decision making at SIE lately. That's why I hope Microsoft will keep pushing back harder and harder in the console space for years to come since Sony shouldn't be allowed to be the sole player in the high performance console market.

This but minus MS part as they are using their mostly unlimited (in the context) piggy bank to engage in activities bordering on anti-trust shenanigans.

But yes, Sony has been sketchy lately as well.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Not true.

I cannot buy Resident Evil Directors Cut on PS5, need to be subbed to Premium to access it.

Outside of some specific Bandai games, you cannot buy the classics.

You can purchase it on PlayStation.com or on PS4

Edit: nope you're right it's not on the website anymore

 

[ReBurn]

That's bullshit.

$160 gives you access to around a thousand games (being over 400 of them classics) via download or cloud gaming, plus the trials, monthly games, online gaming, cloud saves or discounts. Many years I saved more money with the discounts than the one I spent for the sub.

None of the games included in PS+, classic or new, is only available in the sub. All the games included in PS+ can also be purchased in the store without being subbed. In fact, the classics you already bought in PSP, Vita or PS3 can be downloaded for free in PS4 or PS5 without having to buy them again or without having the sub.

I get what you're saying, but it completely misses the point. All that value is meaningless if you just want to be able to play a couple of your favorite PS1 games they made backward compatible. For people wanting access to over 400 games it's great. What's pure nut-hugging bullshit is pushing this nonsense that people should have to buy used consoles or spend $160 per year to play PS1 and PS2 games that will without a doubt run on PS5 via emulation.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Not true.

I cannot buy Resident Evil Directors Cut on PS5, need to be subbed to Premium to access it.

Outside of some specific Bandai games, you cannot buy the classics.

Hmm… I bought it on PS5 with no issues.

That being said… LOL at everyone believing in Jimbo. I saw this trash coming from a miles away. Arrogant Sony is back. Let’s hope MS gets their shit together and them down to earth again.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Yep, Sony is sliding faster and faster downhill these days. It hasn't hit their bottom line yet, because the main competition are also fucking hopeless, but it will eventually.

It wont hit their bottom line as long as they always have exclusives like Spiderman ready to go.

 

[Dorfdad]

What is with this Bluetooth thing everyone whines about? Bluetooth is horrible for gaming due to latency. Every headset you get, you either go wired or it has a dongle. Of course the device needs proprietary tech to play with a headset.
Update: I just tried my earbuds with Bluetooth on my PC and even Youtube videos have a noticeable delay between picture and audio.

Bluetooth is the worst thing ever invented for gaming. I’d rather go back to proprietary dongles than use Bluetooth in its currently form.

 

[Fake]

You can purchase it on PlayStation.com or on PS4

No, you can't.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

No, you can't.

Yup I made an edit it's not there for purchase anymore

 

[Fake]

Yup I made an edit it's not there for purchase anymore

Never was as far as I remember. Only on the PS3 store and nothing more. I buy this year on PS3 as a hope to get this PS4 emulated version, no sucess.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

Never was as far as I remember. Only on the PS3 store and nothing more. I buy this year on PS3 as a hope to get this PS4 emulated version, no sucess.

That must be how I got mine then it's been so long I thought it was the PS store to my PS4