Sony defends PlayStation Plus’ controversial price increase
Sony has defended its decision to raise the monthly and annual subscription fees for all tiers of its PlayStation Plus service in response to player outrage.
The details:
Eric Lempel, Sony Interactive Entertainment's senior vice president and head of global marketing, was asked about the recent price increase for Plus subscribers in an interview with Barron's (via Resetera). Lempel explained that since the service's multiple tiers were introduced last year, players have found "a lot of value" in Plus, but due to current market conditions, the company felt it needed to adjust pricing "like practically everything else in the world."
Lempel added that PlayStation has never changed the pricing for Plus in 85% of the world since its launch in 2010, which he considers an accomplishment. "I'm happy to say, unlike a lot of other subscription services out there, we haven't touched the PlayStation Plus pricing for 85% of the world in many years," Lempel went on to say. "So, this was the first time we did something there."
Microsoft recently raised the price of Plus' competitor, Xbox Game Pass, and the executive was asked about the service and Microsoft's push for first-party titles to be immediately available to subscribers at launch. While he stated that he "can't comment on what the competition is doing," he believes Sony is "offering a great curated catalog of games, as well as other features and services," and that players are increasingly moving to higher tiers of the service.
Many criticized Sony's price increase for Plus as while some expected a rise due to the current economy, others believed that the prices were now too high. The "essential" tier of the service, which allows users to play games online, was originally $59.99 annually in the US, but it is now priced $20 higher at $79.99.
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