Last week, Sony revealed the rollout dates for its new Game Pass competitor. More concrete details about the updated PlayStation Plus service began emerging in February, and it looks like those subscribing to the Premium tier will be treated to some extra bonuses.
According to a source from Game Developer, Sony will be requiring certain developers to offer limited game trials only to Premium members. Trials will be required for games costing over $34, and these trials must be at least two hours in length. Developers will have three months after a game’s release date to release a timed trial, and this trial must be available for at least one year. This is a great step for those trying to decide whether or not to spend their hard-earned money on a title.
The new policy won’t be retroactive and won’t apply to PlayStation VR titles. Reports also claim that Sony is considering releasing traditional game demos for other titles, but this will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The new three-tiered PlayStation Plus service will roll out in America on June 13. Asia (excluding Japan) will be the first to roll out on May 23, with Japan targeting a June 1 release and Europe on track for June 22.
Sony will also be expanding its cloud streaming access to eleven more European countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The current PlayStation Plus subscription has been renamed to “PlayStation Plus Essential” and will remain at the same price of $9.99 a month. PlayStation Plus Extra gives gamers access to “up to 400” PlayStation exclusive and third-party titles as well as the original PlayStation Plus benefits for the same $14.99 price point.
PlayStation Plus Premium adds in over 300 more games from previous generations of PlayStation as a mixture of streaming and downloadable titles for $17.99 a month. Yes, you’ll finally be able to play PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 titles easily.
The PlayStation Plus service was first launched in 2010. As of December 2021, the service had over 48 million subscribers, up from only eight million in 2014.
