Sony has lost around two million of its PlayStation Plus subscribers in a year despite renewing the service and launching several new pricing plans.
PlayStation Plus had over 47.2 million subscribers in 2021 and currently has 45.4 million as of September 30th 2022.
As part of its relaunch, Sony split the service into three tiers and launched a new catalogue of games that’s similar to Xbox’s Game Pass which gives users access to more exclusive games. The aim was to clarify the offering, remove layers of confusion and better explain just what it was that you were getting for your money.
However, in the face of competition from Microsoft’s (probably too good to do without) Game Pass, PlayStation Plus has come across as a second place option with layers that feel a little stingy, never quite offering enough, and a rate of game updates (most particularly the arrival of Triple-A games moving from full price, to being part of the package) that Microsoft have left in the dust.
Sony has not revealed the exact number of subscribers that have opted into its new higher-priced plans but noted that its subscription revenue has slightly increased by 10 per cent, whereas a fair number of users have upgraded.
It’s also worth mentioning that this is the third quarter in a row that the behemoth entertainment company has seen a drop in its PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Sony’s latest round of financial results also disclosed that it has shipped 25 million PlayStation 5 consoles to various regions across the globe, whereas only 3 million have been shipped in the last three months.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
