July 30th Update: The content per month isn’t determined as day one content and is content that will be made available through the month.
PlayStation Nation — First off, thank you for all of your feedback regarding PlayStation Plus. There have been a lot of comments and questions surrounding some of the details of the new subscription service so we wanted to provide a little clarification leading up to its availability on June 29th. It’s a lot of info, but hopefully this helps answer most of your questions.
First off, at launch, PlayStation Plus will offer subscribers the full PlayStation Network game, WipEout HD, PSP minis and PS One Classics such as Fieldrunners, Age of Zombies and Rally Cross, full game trial of inFAMOUS, as well as free monthly episodes of Qore – our high-definition, interactive gaming lifestyle show.
With that, here are the basics of the new subscription service that lives on top of the current PlayStation Network:
- The current PSN features will remain free. We are still very committed to PSN as a free comprehensive entertainment service and are certainly not planning on reducing this service following the launch of PlayStation Plus.
- PlayStation Plus is an evolving service and the features included at launch will be:
- Games
- PS Store Discounts
- Exclusive offers on select demos, betas and early purchases
- Full Game Trial
- Automatic Downloads
- PlayStation Plus can be purchased through PlayStation Store on PS3 as a one-year package or a three-month package. The three-month package is available for $17.99 and the one-year package will be available for $49.99. We will also be offering three additional bonus months for free if you purchase the 1-year package — that’s 15 months total for $49.99.
- Payment is a one-time fee for either package and can be purchased with any of the current PSN Store payment methods – credit card or PSN Cards.
(More info on these below)
Here are more details on the features of PlayStation Plus:
Games & Special Offers: As a subscriber, you can expect to get your hands on free monthly PSN games, minis and PS One Classics from the PSN Store. You will be able to download these games during the month they are available until the new selection replaces them.
Once downloaded, the games are yours to keep and play as long as you are a member of PlayStation Plus. If your subscription lapses and then you re-subscribe, the games you have already downloaded will reactivate, so you still have access to them. Additionally, if you delete one of the titles from your PS3, but decide you want to get it back, then you can re-download from the PlayStation Plus section of the PSN Store if the game is still there, or, if the game has expired from the PlayStation Plus section of the PSN Store, you can simply search for it on PS Store and download it again at no extra cost.
Each month there will be dynamic themes, premium avatars and premium game elements/add-ons for you to download and many will be exclusive to PlayStation Plus members only. These are yours to keep forever once you have downloaded them.
PlayStation Plus subscribers will also be given exclusive PlayStation Store discounts each month that are above and beyond the current PSN Store discounts available to everyone. These discounts will range from 20% to 50%, and anything you buy with these is yours to keep and enjoy forever.
Finally, wherever possible we’ll be making sure that members are included in selected demos and beta trials before they go live to everyone else, so you can be the one to tell all your friends about the next big game they ‘must’ get.
Subscribers will get hundreds of dollars of value through the year and, in the first month alone, will receive more than $50 worth of content.
Full Game Trial: Each month we will be offering members the chance to download full games and try them out for a period of time (one hour, unless otherwise stated). After the game trial is complete, simply purchase the game to carry on where you left off. This is a unique way to trial the full game experience and means you don’t have to be restricted to certain levels/game modes when you test out a game.
The games in Full Game Trial will become available to all PS Store users to purchase, but only PlayStation Plus members will have the chance to ‘try before you buy’.
The other great thing about this feature is that you can continue from where you were at the end of the trial period if you decide to buy the game. All game saves and trophies earned during the trial will be unlocked and will show up on your trophy list and your trophy level when you purchase the game. You don’t even have to re-download the game, just purchase and go back to the XMB to access the game.
Automatic Download: Subscribers will be able to set their PS3 to wake up from standby at any time of the day or night, download and install any game updates for the games you have been playing so you don’t have to think about it. Also, select demos and videos will be pushed to your PS3 ready to go. System software updates will also download automatically (manual install still required) and then the PS3 will turn itself off again.
Game updates and demos will also automatically install and the next time you turn on your PS3 you will see a brief on-screen message letting you know what has been downloaded and updated.
Here are some more answers to frequently asked questions from the last blog post:
- Cross-game voice chat is a feature we know our passionate user base has asked for and we’ll continue to look at as a viable offering for the PlayStation Network.
- You need to be the master account holder on the PS3 and be over 18 to purchase PlayStation Plus, but other accounts on that PS3 will be able to play the games you download for as long as you are a subscriber.
- The “free” games you can download each month are yours to keep for as long as you are a subscriber.
- PlayStation Plus is for PS3 owners as subscribership can only be purchased on the PSN Store. However, some of the content – minis and PS One Classics – available each month will also be playable on your PSP if you have one. Download them on the PS3 and transfer to your PSP, or download directly from the PSP Store or Media Go for PSP.
PlayStation Plus is a continually evolving service and we are always working on identifying new partnerships, developing new features and providing new content that our users want. So thanks again for all your comments and questions and please continue to offer more ideas at PlayStation.Blog Share.
Someone should make Kevin Butler CEO, things would be gravy then…
Where are some much needed XMB and feature updates for PSN? All much more needed then free old games most people already played. WOW Sony, what is wrong with your inability to improve PSN?
Where is Voice messaging? Where is auto syncing trophies? XGC (Although dont care about it myself), better organized XMB? Party system? Sony,. the one reason people like the other box over yours is the much better online integration, get your head out of your butt’s. We dont need free crap games, we need better features and a more streamlined PSN, where is it?
I got an important question. Will we have free access to movie rentals? In other words, can we rent movies for free?
Heres my idea, as a Playstation+ subscriber, we should be able to rent any movie from the video section for free, but it can only be rented for free once. As for renting it the second, third, etc. time during that month, it will have to cost (but with a discount)to rent it again. Then after that one month, you are able to rent the same movie free again (only once). This should apply to all movies within the video section of Pplaystation®Store. And the max amount of movie rentals a month should be around 20 movies per month.
With our questions being skipped and unanswered, i’m definitly skipping this crap PS+… who’s with me ?
You want it easy Sony or what ? Please react!
i like the idea somewhat of this but it could of been thought out a little better.
it would of been such a better idea 2-3 years ago when the store was just starting to get more and more games not 3 and a half years after the systems release when people bought alot of the games. what good does this service do for people like myself and many others who bought a good amount of games over the last 3 years and who also bought qore.its great for someone who just bought the system but gives the shaft to the people who spent.i think i own about 60 psn games,ive bought alot when they had the spring sales so iam just hoping they just dont recycle the same things that have been on sale over and over again.i understand y we wont get to keep the free games and it doesnt bother me,but i know on another site i go to one guy suggested if u sign up for another year when the year ends you would get to keep the games and its a great idea it would give us a incentive to sign up for another year. iam hoping we get some more questions answered before the 29th and iam all for it but i find it 3 years to late for me at this moment but we will see whats offered for the next 2 months when thats released to us.
I am very dissapointed to see over 400 User Comments without a single Corporate Response.
Dude. Automatic installs being limited to PSN+ subscribers only is just lame. Having to manually install almost everything I download is the most irritating part of owning a PS3. Not lessening the irritation for everyone, but only for a select group of people, is just cruel. I seriously hope that part becomes free for regular PSN users in the near future.
I also take issue with the whole “free games that last as long as your subscription does”. You already got my money after I purchase PSN+, so why does it matter if I let my subscription run out and just keep what I got? Magazine subscriptions don’t take back all the magazines and cool freebies you got when your subscription ends. Why does PSN+ have to do the same?
All in all, I’m just not feeling it for this PSN+ thing. Not when I already shell out $50 a year for Xbox Live, anyways. If these complaints are addressed, and if more things are added to PSN+ to make it super-awesome, then I’ll consider getting it.
Awesome, count me in!
I think this is a good plan, I am definitely going to try it for a year.
However, full game trials to me implies full digital downloads and since my 80 GB HD is already nearing full capacity …
Any clarification on this? Are these just PSN games or full Blu-ray games will the save games work when I buy a disc as well?
ill get it since qore was ok this sounds 10000 times better..
@DoSe420: Sadly the BBC player is only for the UK. People outside do not get it. The UK, France, Spain and Germany have got the Video Store, but no other country in the EU has as far as I know and we haven’t heard anything on it. Its a shame really cause that would in itself be a major selling point for them in a lotta the countries here, getting hard to find movies direct to your Playstation.
will psn plus be taxed with purchase?
@411 the reason the BBC player doesn’t work in other countries is because those regions don’t pay for the BBC licensing fee.
@402 how much organized can the XMB get? its pretty damn simple and layed out in a very logical manner. if someone can’t figure out where something is on the XMB, well then they must be a brain dead zombie.
@403 how about making the movie rental thing less complicated(for lack of a better term). and just be X number of rentals a month. maybe say one a week or 2 every month. that would make sense to more people. the way you are describing is way too generous and not very realistic unless it was a totally different subscription fee.
I’m a loyal PS3 guy…but honestly, if I can’t KEEP the games that I’m getting from PS Plus, after my subscription ends, this doesn’t appeal to me nearly as much. I don’t see that the rest of these services are worthy of $50/year, personally. It would be nice, but probably not worth more than $25/year, if even that.
There’s just no “killer” feature if you ask me, except for the free games, which are gone if you ever decide to cancel…
will this be available in latin america?
This is much better then how Xbox live does their service. I can see this being worth the value, and hopefully helping to fund additional upgrades to the services as a whole.
Go Sony, maybe now you can just release a better controller that is more comfortable (cough…360 controller with better dpad) and I will be happier to play my games on a PS3 vs. my 360.
Sorry if this has been asked/commented on. I already (as do many people) own Wipeout HD already. What about this is good for heavy PSN purchasers like me? Giving specific games free is pretty silly, you should either have a list or a credit amount to put towards another.
I would be pretty upset if I subscribed and all the ‘freebies’ month after month are games I already own.
Awesome!!!!
Larger bandwidth? Unless that is going to be increased for everybody, I would at least expect it to be included in the premium service.
wait….. not for psp
I’ve always considered that online gaming had to be free. I appreciate the fact that Sony PlayStation stays true to it’s roots and found a clever way to increase their revenu.
The packaged proposed is amazing, and it’s a definite buy in for the first year. We’ll have to see how it goes over the next months and if the added value is still there.
Grats to all who worked on this PlayStation Plus project. Good luck too.
when they say demo of the full game, I don’t think they’re talking about the demos already available on PSN but maybe a time limited demo of the full game. I could b wrong tho
It looks like European gamers get a better deal than North American gamers and I live in the U.S.
Announced North American lineup, starting June 29
Downloadable PS3 game: Wipeout HD
Two minis: Field Runners, Age of Zombies
PSone game: Rally Cross
Full game trial: Infamous
Three monthly episodes of Qore downloadable magazine
European lineup, June 29 – August 3
Introductory full game download: Standard edition of Little Big Planet
Downloadable PS3 game: Wipeout HD
Two minis: Field Runners, Age of Zombies
PSone game: Destruction Derby
Full game trials: Shatter, Savage Moon
Discounts: Half-off the Little Big Planet God of War pack and LocoRoco costume pack; 20 percent off Gravity Crash and Fat Princess DLC
Add-on: Killzone 2: Steel & Titanium DLC
European lineup, August 4 – September 1
Downloadable PS3 game: Zen Pinball
Two minis: Blast-Off, Alien Zombie Death
PSone game: Medievil
Full game trials: Inferno Pool, Mushroom Wars
Discounts: 20 percent off Super Stardust HD, Wipeout HD Fury, and the Zen Pinball Earth Defence Table; 50 percent off Warhawk Triple Combo Pack
Add-on: Motorstorm Pacific Rift: Adrenaline Pack
I would like the Killzone 2 DLC like the European gamers get for free.
I think this would be more appealing to me if the initial Game offerings were Fresh Content, but they aren’t.
To quote Susan Panico
Susan Panico | June 25th, 2010 at 9:51 am
We realize that some Qore subscribers will also want to subscribe to PlayStation Plus. We are sure that you will find there is a ton of great content, special deals and cool features in PS Plus and recongize that adding Qore is a bonus for Plus users and not the main contraction.
I am sorry, this does not address the concern users have about paying $24.99 for Qore and then paying $49.99 for PSN Plus.
Will there be a discount for current Qore subscribers?
Can their PSN Plus subscription be prorated against the Qore subscription?
Can they cancel Qore and get refunded?
I purchased Qore as an Annual Subscription. I have so far been unhappy with the content it provides for the $25. However, getting Qore and all of these other Playstation Plus features is more tolerable.
My fear is that the content will quickly slip away as it did for Qore’s DLC. If Sony can continue to give me worthwhile content and these other convenience services, then I will be happy to pay $50.
I would like the option to pay for this service as a monthly charge. Playstation Plus is $4.17/month when you break it down. So if I can pay $5/month instead of $50/year, it’s actually easier for me to keep up with. I don’t want to be extremely over-charged like Microsoft does with it’s 1-month cards for Xbox Live, which cost $8 for a month.
This service has great potential and I hope the Publishers, Developers, Sony, and Sony’s customers embrace this service. You got me for the first year. Now convince me why I need to keep going past that. XBL lost me after 2 years.
The offerings in this service are completely useless. If sony wants to compete with microsoft games then they need to provide better network stability, cross-game voice communications, and damn to hell if there’s some kind of Patent on the crap. I refuse to pay you any more money other than for my games at this point unless the features that the USERS want… we GET..
Palhaçada! I want to PSN Brasil, I want to spend money too!!! Micro$oft will release the Live Brasil, and Sony?
@Pocus makes a good point. I still have a few months left on my Qore subscription. How is Sony going to handle this?
Playstation Plus will be available in Mexico and Latin America?
Wow, not much offering there. My thoughts: Automatic updates IMO should be part of the package without having to pay for it. Losing the freebies is a raw deal but I understand you need something to keep us hooked in. Full game trials for an hour or more sounds like you want us to pay to try out a game. Again not much of an offering and a big step in the wrong direction. Paying money to get discounts also sounds like scam. Most places offer coupons, discounts to give people an incentive to buy without charging first. How much do I have to buy to save $50 for the membership. I’m hoping you add to these features in the near future because I don’t see much incentive to join for me or my friends.
“Not the main contraction” Don’t you mean Attraction?
HA HA HA
Seriously though, I take it Qore subscribers won’t be offered any discount to migrate/upgrade their subscriptions.
Man you cannot do anything right can you? It’s not like Qore subscribers are in the Millions, heck it’s probably not even in the hundreds of thousands. Not offering them Anything is a terrible rediculious decision.
Seriously what good will come from screwing over Qore subscribers AGAIN?
Of course they dont respond to anyone past the first page, I would just like to know if the 20-50% discounts they offer each month will ever go toward PSP games because that would be great for PSP Go users????
Please answer my question
Will it be available in ALL regions? Or only in some 1-2 specific? I’m interested in some countries like Russia for example. It’s sad to watch E3, for example, listen to all those good announcements and then don’t receive even 1% of all those goodies. Very sad face here.
That was sounding pretty reasonable until I read that they want $50 a year for it.
It’s largely them pushing promotional content (read as: content to increase sales) and discounts (read as: you pay a little less to spend money increasing their sales on their post-scarcity digital content) amid a deluge of stuff that pushes its availability as value when rare will be the customer that utilizes much of what is made available to them.
It’s like if Pizza Hut arranged a deal with Dr. Joe’s Butt Hut that, for a pizza subscription full of coupons and advance access to their new breadsticks, made some discounts for free prostate exams and colonoscopies available. That’s like a few hundred dollars value! So it surely makes the subscription more valuable, right?
Right?
I’m holding out until my Qore sub is done with. Screw this. Pull Qore out of your PSN+ and replace it with something a bit more meaningful, instead of charging me TWICE for the same thing. Or offer a package WITHOUT Qore for half the price.
Way to go, being so critical that Sony stops responding to this article. I think constructive criticism is fine, but some of you guys need to learn some manners.
I do have a couple of questions, so hopefully Sony is still monitoring this thread?
1. Is it possible to get a list of games that are free, which ones you get discounts on etc for the first two months, like the EU blog, or simply confirm it will be the same (without LBA offered)?
2. I’m absolutely convinced it is possible to emulate PS2 fine (in fact I think some versions of the PS3 used software emulation at some point) – so can you please get this included? It would be nice, and similar to Microsoft only letting the xbox360 emulate xbox if you buy a harddrive, I think it is a reasonable condition that you have playstation plus.
Thanks for your time
-Tom
@Susan Panico RE: Qore Subscriber’s
qore subscriber’s will get the same amount of an incentive as non qore subscriber’s.
especially when we have already put down $25 on a PSN subscription service. in fact i will be paying twice for qore. a prorated discount is in order for renewing a Qore subscription with an additional amount for the added benefits of being a Plus subscriber.
another possible solution that will help more recent Qore subscriber’s happy is to extend the PSN+ 15 month yearly subscription promotion. or most of us will WAIT for our Qore subscriptions to expire. at that point i think most of us will think twice before signing up for another PSN subscription.
i just don’t want this to go to a consumer protection agency in the state where SCEA or PSN offices are headquartered. especially where these funds transfer over state lines.
I’d be more than willing to pay for PS Plus for backward compatibility.
I Would like to know if ps2 games are coming to PS plus.
Even though Xgame chat may be debunked. I would be more than glad to pay for it.
I just don’t understand why we’re being leased games. Basically we don’t get any games for free with the PSN+ service. They’re just extended previews.
can’t wait. haven’t bought Wipeout yet lol. will be saving a lot of money
I love that u guys kept psn free and it seems ur dedicated to ur customers that way.
PSN+ is a great idea and i’m gonna give it a go. i like all the features. …though u should really keep looking into more features (like cross game chat and a better internet browser) and add them regularly. and make sure u continually change the minis and ps one classics and demos to keep me interested or i’ll drop my subscription.
Can you please unlock game saves, I don’t want to have to carry my ps3 everywhere I go and risk breaking it.
sorry SCE, but i wont pay for “1 time fee’s”
i want a monthly fee plan danm it!, and i dont want that
“As long as your subscribing you get to keep the game” stuff.
you simply dont realise that most people cant pay money straight out, like that, if you dont do something about it PSn+ might just be an epic fail.
END OF RANT!! >:(
I just renewed my Qore subscription last week. Is this being taken into consideration or did I just pay you for something I’ll get for free when I buy yet another thing from your store?
My question is . . . will I be able to choose which (or what type of) content automatically downloads, or will I be forced to look at my account every day to see what stuff has been auto-downloaded that I don’t want and then take the time to have to manually delete this unwanted content?
But where do i buy the subscription for the psn plus? at the psn store? or is there be at retail some psn plus cards? and when? (if not)
@otakuseth
Agreed. What is the point of blog.share though? To dangle more carrots in front of us? Or maybe it is to have great ideas, which will end up making it to PS3, but a year or more from now?? All I am saying is I have waited for cross-game chat since I got my launch 60gig way back when. And if you are charging $50 for PSN+ which is still just same ‘ol free PSN with a little extra ‘glitter’ (ironic?) then you better do something to deserve it.
Discounting some games and add-ons, throwing in recycled PSN games that most people will already have, and a few little extra insignificant perks does not deserve $50 annually. If you think about it, there is no value there. They wouldn’t be doing anything more that rearranging some prices and making it seem like a “great” value. I bet more than half of all the stuff that’s gonna come through there will be trash we don’t wanna touch with a 10 foot pole neways.. Food for thought
Would you guys please just give us Cross-Game chat?
All these features are awesome, but the big thing holding me back on paying for it is no cross-game chat.
Also,
Cross-Game chat has been the most requested feature from day 1….