'Free' PlayStation Plus Leaves Gamers Baffled: 'I'm Confused'

PlayStation Plus subscribers are currently being offered a rather weird free upgrade at the moment, although fans can’t seem to wrap their heads around exactly what the offer is giving them.

If you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you might have seen a strange notification pop up on your PlayStation 5 recently.

From what I can tell, you’ll only get this notification if you’re a PlayStation Plus Essential subscriber– although the reasoning as to why will probably become very apparent soon.

Essentially (hah), the offer will convert your remaining PlayStation Plus Essential days into PlayStation Plus Premium days. Although saying that, “convert” might not be the right term exactly.

As detailed in a thread over on the r/PlayStationPlus subreddit featuring the offer, it would seem that the exchange rate here isn’t equal.

The author of the thread shows that they have 245 days of PlayStation Plus Essential, and the offer states that it will convert it into 120 days of PlayStation Plus Premium. Basically, you’re trading half of your remaining days.

Uh, a little bit more than half anyway. I’m not sure why they get 120 days instead of 122, but I’m sure Sony’s maths makes sense to them (somehow).

But why exactly would Sony want to roll out an offer like this? Is it out of the kindness of their hearts?

Obviously not. More than halving your remaining days of your PlayStation Plus subscription massively benefits them, as you’ll have to renew it sooner… and therefore give them more money quicker.

Personally, I’m not sure this is worth doing. If you only have a couple of months of Essential remaining, and there are a few PlayStation Plus Premium titles you really want to try, sure– go for it. But even then, you could just wait for your subscription to end and buy a month of PlayStation Plus Premium anyway.

Ultimately, it only really benefits Sony to use this offer. But hey, I’m not your mum. Do whatever you want. Just don’t blame me when you have to renew your subscription again, much, much sooner.