With news last week that Sony Computer Entertainment has hiked up the price of its PlayStation Plus service in some countries, it got me thinking: would people pay more for the PS3, PS4 and Vita service if the cost was increased in North America and Europe?
That train of thought then led me to pose that very question to our Facebook readers, which threw up a surprising result. A large percentage of the 100+ readers who replied said they would NOT pay more, but also a fair chunk of them expressed that they really aren’t happy with the service, even at its current price.
PlayStation Plus currently costs users $50/£39.99 for 12 months. The service gives subscribers access to a range of free games each month, spanning across PS4, PS3 and Vita platforms, as well as exclusive discounts, early beta access and 3GB of cloud storage for game saves. A PlayStation Plus subscription is also required if you plan on playing online with friends.
The majority of responses we had were critical of the service as a whole, with a good chunk stating that in no circumstances would they pay more, with others suggesting that they may fork out a little extra if issues were addressed with the likes of server problems (PSN was down again last weekend) or the addition of more features or ‘better’ free titles.
Continued overleaf…
@page
The replies generally slot into two categories: those who were keen to express their general lack of faith in the PlayStation Network and those who would only be willing to pay more for PlayStation Plus if there were significantly better features and improved stability.
Here’s just some of the replies, which can be found on our Facebook page.
Paul Smith says: “No it’s expensive enough as it is and i’m losing count now the amount of times the damn thing has gone down. If we were getting a smooth reliable service then maybe but as it stands now, no i will NOT pay an extra cent more for what i consider a broken service”.
Jeff Gladman writes: “No. We get nothing but shit games for free on PS4 (yeah, early days yet), and the network is a shambles on PS4. Slow to unusable messaging, constant blank friends lists, what do we pay for again?
Don’t get me wrong, I love PlayStation hardware and the games I play on them but they could be so much better with the right optimisation/servers”.
Shawn Ian Contreras says: “No. Their online service sucks, and their "Free games" are games I’ve already purchased, or are games I have no interest in playing (Indie titles). Give me something more. Steam requires no one to pay for their services, give huge discounts, and isn’t trying to gouge the consumer’s wallets.”
David Murphy writes: “No, the offerings have gone downhill. The only plus is the flash sales and other discounts.. But that only really applies to old games I might’ve missed. Then it becomes a Steam feel. The Ps4 offerings are tiny in comparison to how PS + was when it first came out. How about giving us those missing features like themes, friend notifications, full Bluetooth support etc before ANY thoughts of raising prices”.
Leexander Morales says: “ I initially said no but the only way I’d pay more is if they were to let us keep the games we downloaded after our subscription is up. And if they were to add movies to the deal with the same concept/policy. The fact that I can’t use the games after my subscription is up is infuriating.”
It’s hard not to argue with some of the criticism thrown at the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Plus by our readers, but I do feel that PlayStation Plus offers good value for money. It would be nice to have “bigger-named” PS4 titles, but those will come, and some of the indie games I’ve played, such as Pix The Cat, have been brilliant.
Granted, it is becoming increasingly frustrating that a service we pay for has intermittent issues with downtime at the most inconvenient of times, however, I know that Sony is working hard to iron these out and I’m banking on the fact that it will improve. Nevertheless, the only way that I’d be happy to pay more would be if there were some decent new incentives, such as a premium PlayStation Now service for subscribers. As it stands right now, I feel PlayStation Plus is just about good value for money.
What I’ve found surprising about the question that was posed to our readers, is what seems to be a widespread dissatisfaction with the service as a whole, with many seemingly not too happy with PlayStation Plus right now.
What do you think? Are you happy with PlayStation Plus? Would you pay more for the service? If so, what else would you expect for your money?
Note – At no point has Sony stated that there will be a rise in the cost of PlayStation Plus in North America and Europe.