Sony has offered an update on its scheduled launch for the new PlayStation Plus subscription options, with a global rollout taking place over several weeks and regions.
The new PS Plus will first be available in Asia, excluding Japan, on May 23, with Japan’s launch targeted for June 1. Next up is the Americas on June 13, and Europe is scheduled to launch on June 22.
“We’ve been working on this massive global effort to provide flexible options, quality games and
greater value for our members for quite some time now – and we’re just a few weeks away from
our first regional rollout,” said Jim Ryan, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO. “We want to thank our PlayStation community for the ongoing support, and we’ll have more to share as we get closer to launch.”
The new PS Plus will offer three different subscription tiers called Essential, Extra, and Premium. Essential is the baseline subscription and existing PS Plus offering, while Extra adds access to up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games, and Premium adds on to that with 340 games including PS3 games via the cloud, along with PS1, PS2, and PSP games via both cloud and download.
In the U.S., Essential is $9.99 monthly, Extra is $14.99 monthly, and Premium is $17.99 monthly.
“The new Extra and Premium tiers represent a major evolution for PlayStation Plus,” Ryan said in the new service’s initial announcement. “With these tiers, our key focus is to ensure that the hundreds of games we offer will include the best quality content that sets us apart.”
Additionally, Sony said it will be expanding its cloud streaming access in the Premium tier of PS Plus to a total of 30 markets, including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.