PS Plus users face major price hike just days after adding 2023's biggest game for free
You might want to grab a new PlayStation Plus subscription, as Sony have announced steep price increases to the service in a number of countries just days after adding one of 2023's biggest games.
Many gamers consider having a PlayStation Plus subscription to be an essential part of their experience, as it not only lets you play online in your favorite games, but you'll also get a whole catalogue of titles to play at your convenience.
There are currently three tiers to choose from, ranging from the 'Essential' tier where you simply get online play and a selection of free games every month, to the 'Premium' and 'Extra' tiers that open up the hundreds of titles currently in the game catalogue.
This isn't the first time that PlayStation have increased the price of their subscription service in the past couple of years, as global price hikes occurred in 2023, but this new measure will sting if you're in any of the affected countries.
Which countries is PS Plus increasing in?
As reported by GameRant, the price of PlayStation Plus will increase between 8% to 21% depending on what tier you opt for, and it'll affect 16 different countries across Latin America.
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These countries that will suffer from an increased PS Plus price are as follows:
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduraas
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Uruguay
Sony have argued that these price increases are a consequence of changes in the 'global market conditions', although that likely won't garner too much sympathy for those on the receiving end of the price hikes.
How much is the PS Plus price increase?
As mentioned, the price increases for PS Plus depend on what tier you opt for and what length your subscription is, but generally its considered to be a steep increase across the board by fans.
1 Month prices are now raised to $7.99 (Essential), $11.99 (Extra), and $13.99 (Premium), with the middle tier offering the greatest percentage increase of 20.02%.
For 3 Months, you're now looking at $20.99 (Essential), $33.99 (Extra), and $39.99 (Premium), whereas for 1 Year - which is the most popular choice - you'll have to fork up $64.99 (Essential), $107.99 (Extra), or $124.99 (Premium).
This comes only a few days after the announcement of April's PS Plus Extra and Premium Lineup, which includes Hogwarts Legacy which was one of 2023's best selling games, or an early game of the year contender.
Anyone wanting to play the Harry Potter-themed adventure RPG will have to be an active PS Plus subscriber of the two more expensive tiers, so if your term is soon running out you might have to end up paying more.
The good news is that the price doesn't increase until April 16, and any subscription you buy before that date ends will simply get added to the end of your current plan - so if you've got the money it might be worth buying ahead of time to get the cheaper price.
"Crazy man," reacted one user on Reddit in response to the news. "They out here charging US dollar type prices in 3rd world countries."
Another added that "1 year of PS Plus Deluxe in Colombia is worth half a monthly minimum wage," with others arguing that there's no reason why the affect countries should suffer another price increase after being landed with the last one in 2023.
"Is there anything we can do at this point? They know that most of us will get upset, but will just swallow it up and do nothing about it since 2023," explains one exacerbated gamer. "Gaming on PlayStation just feels like a big ad to just buy a PC (which isn't even close to being cheaper in a short term) and pray to god that they change this ridiculous attitude."
This isn't the first time that PlayStation gamers have shared this attitude, as only recently one fan outlined their frustration at Sony's handling of exclusives in relation to Steam, indicating that they would be better off owning a PC instead of a PS5 or PS6 when it comes out.