PlayStation Plus users cancelling their subscriptions over price hike

PlayStation Plus users are finally fed with Sony’s mishandling of the service, to the point that they’re announcing they’ll be cancelling their subscriptions unless things improve.

The cost of a yearly PlayStation Plus subscription has never been cheap, which is probably why its increase back in 2023 stung even more.

For those unaware, the cost of a yearly PS Plus subcription rose dramatically in 2023. PS Plus Essential used to be $59.99 for a year (now $79.99), PS Plus Extra used to be $99.99 a year (now $134.99) and PS Plus Premium used to be $119.99 a year (now up to a whopping $159.99).

Sony stated that this “price adjustment” was put in place so that they could “continue bringing high-quality games and value-added benefits to your PlayStation Plus subscription service” but, nearly two years on, fans seem to think the service has gotten worse.

In a thread over on the r/PlayStationPlus subreddit, one user announced that they’d be letting their subscription run its course and that they’d refuse to renew it afterwards, citing the price hike as one of their primary reasons.

And, based on the majority of the comments, it seems others are planning to do the same.

“I'm in the same boat. I realised I almost never play the monthly games I've been collecting for 10+ years,” commented user First_HistoryMan.

“It would be cheaper for me to just buy what I want to play when I want to play it rather than the annual ps+ cost.”

"I can relate. I joined Extra Plus when Stray came out as day-one release, and I certainly did get some good values from my subscription. But as time goes by, I realize I actually don’t love subscription model," replied user polochai325.

“So I also let it ran out early this year and I am having so much fun going through my own backlog of games that I own.”

Unfortunately, this is probably something Sony has accounted for.

Think of it this way: the cost of the standard PlayStation Plus Essential yearly subscription rose by roughly a third in 2023. So, by that logic, as long as less than a third of people cancel their yearly subscriptions… Sony will get more money.

Unless more people refuse to renew their subscriptions, they’re never going to reduce its cost. The only way to tackle something like this is by targeting their bottom line, and they’re doubtlessly raking in more profits now than ever before.