PlayStation blames gamers 'going outdoors' on 2 million drop in PS Plus subscribers

Earlier this year, Sony completely overhauled PlayStation Plus and I think most of us would consider it a success. If you're a fan of the old ways, Essential retains that exact system but for those who are looking to access a wider Game Pass-style library, Extra and Premium are great additions.

That’s not to say that the new PlayStation Plus is perfect. I certainly would’ve liked Red Dead Redemption 2 to hang around a little longer but I’ll admit, there’s plenty else to keep me busy. Despite the wide array of titles PlayStation Plus now offers, Sony has actually seen a decrease in the number of users subscribed and they’re blaming this loss on a very specific reason.

Speaking of PlayStation, check out the latest trailer for God of War Ragnarök ahead of the game’s release next week.

As reported by VGC, Sony’s latest financial results show that PlayStation Plus has lost two million subscribers since the overhauled service launched in June. The service had 45.4 million subscribers between July and September. This is down from 47.3 in the April to June period. That being said, the results also showed that Sony is earning more per subscriber so profits are actually up for network services.

Why is PlayStation Plus losing subscribers? Because “more people [are] going outdoors”. That’s what CFO Hiroki Totoki claimed during the earnings call (Thanks VGC). He continued, “There have been a declining number of members of PlayStation Plus. However, in the second quarter we renewed our services and there hasn’t been a great momentum as a whole. Also, we didn’t make aggressive promotions during the second quarter. [...] More people are now going outdoors, and we have yet to get out of the negative cycles. PS4 and third-party software sales have also been rather sluggish, and sales of catalogue titles have also been declining.”

Totoki went on to add that PlayStation Plus engagement via PlayStation 5 consoles was high and that’s a key area the company would push going forwards. It wasn’t touched on but I’d imagine the cost of living crisis will also factor into whether people keep or cancel their gaming subscriptions too.