[GameFile] Sony is all-in on PlayStation Plus, says its most expensive tier is thriving

Why do people console war like this?
Same reason people would rather make double posts than just edit the first one?

Games and Movies/Shows are different mediums; sure there will be a larger number of slop added to pump up the numbers but by the nature of gaming being an interactive form of entertainment people will simply refuse to play them.

Admittedly, I've painted a very dystopian picture of a possible future - and it doesn't have to turn out that way.
But even though games are interactive, don't underestimate the stupidity and dullness of consumers.
 
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I'll move to the lowest tier if anything once my current sub runs out. Game pass I'll go to PC only. Screw this sub life.

Not a huge sub guy either. I could see myself signing up towards the end of my sub running through two or three games on the service for like $20 though.
 
PS Plus is a failure in my opinion.

I negatively affects how I approach games as a consumer.

And I think it negatively affects how developers approach game development.

With an active PS Plus sub, I always felt there's a much higher barrier to buying games in the store. 80% of games I would have bought in a world wirhout PS Plus, I skipped because I thought that I will eventually be able to play the game for free with the subscription.

Also, 80% of games I played through PS Plus, I played for less than 30 minutes and then uninstalled them. There's much less commitment compared to a real purchase. And there's definitely a connection between money spent and how invested I am in a game. The more I pay, the deeper I engage.

In my eyes, game subscriptions are a mistake for the entire industry and people in control are not brave enough to correct it. Gaming subscriptions are a key driver for the downward spiral in game quality.

I prefer not to use subscriptions services for flatrate gaming because it doesn't help neither me nor the developer.
 
PS Plus is a failure in my opinion.

I negatively affects how I approach games as a consumer.

And I think it negatively affects how developers approach game development.

With an active PS Plus sub, I always felt there's a much higher barrier to buying games in the store. 80% of games I would have bought in a world wirhout PS Plus, I skipped because I thought that I will eventually be able to play the game for free with the subscription.

Also, 80% of games I played through PS Plus, I played for less than 30 minutes and then uninstalled them. There's much less commitment compared to a real purchase. And there's definitely a connection between money spent and how invested I am in a game. The more I pay, the deeper I engage.

In my eyes, game subscriptions are a mistake for the entire industry and people in control are not brave enough to correct it. Gaming subscriptions are a key driver for the downward spiral in game quality.

I prefer not to use subscriptions services for flatrate gaming because it doesn't help neither me nor the developer.

I am in the same boat. Sometimes I play a game off Plus, but its mostly a game I obviously skipped in the first place. I only play purchases really. This year so far is mostly Astro Bot, Capcom collection, Tomb Raider collection, SH2 and Death Stranding 2 for example. And this looming feeling is true, sometimes I'm eyeing a sale.. but it sounds like a game that _could_ end up on Plus the next month. This actually happened a few times. I was eyeing Veilguard for a while, it appeared on Plus some time later... and I never even booted it up lol. Some games they took away, like Stranger of Paradise, which I actually wanted to continue one day.

If online play wasn't behind this paywall, I would unsub yesterday. Though I don't even play online that much. Ahh PS3, you slow ass piece of shit, just sub to nothing and play rounds of BC2 and Warhawk online when I felt like it. I miss those days.
 
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ps plus is probably why they want to get a handheld out soon. They really need to get the ps5 price down somehow. I know so many who haven't upgraded from ps4 due to price.
 
I didn't find value in the top tier, but I love the mid tier. They really need to put more focus on the classics to bring more value to the top.
 
Microsoft did more to help the PS5 than Sony did, lol.

It's gotta suck having failure after failure and seeing your competition succeed with scammy bullshit versions of your good products that you can barely give away.
 
I can hardly wait for the moment when the subscription no longer bows to the games - but the games bow to the subscription.
How many more years until we reach the "Netflix of gaming"? Complete with all the familiar downsides from video streaming: cheaply produced mass-market junk that exists purely to generate playtime, not quality. Games slapped together to feed the algorithm, not the players.

What happens when games are no longer art, expression, or innovation - but just content? Just filler. Trend-chasing, genre-recycling, monthly releases churned out and buried just as fast. As long as they keep users entertained - or better: subscribed.

And then come the constant adjustments. Games that aren't fully thought through, but are "tweaked" continuously because some TikTok trend demands it. Characters, stories, even core mechanics get "optimized" to go viral - not to be better.
Consistency? Depth? A coherent identity? All sacrificed on the altar of the next KPI.

Imagine playing a strong narrative game, only to find the story rewritten overnight because "act two didn't retain enough engagement." Or PvP systems reworked because some demographic converts better with more "instant rewards."
Creative decisions are replaced by dashboards. It's no longer design by vision, but design by data.

And of course: microtransactions stop being optional and become core to the subscription model. Why design a fair, self-contained game when you can keep players hooked with daily login bonuses, battle passes, and artificial grind? Long-term engagement through dopamine, not design.

The darkest outcome: a gaming landscape full of interchangeable titles that differ only in skin, not in soul. No risky projects. No quirky, rough-edged indies. Just "content" - calculated, smoothed out, anonymous.

At that point, will gaming still mean something - or just become a service we consume, forget, and replace?
It's already like this.
 
Same reason people would rather make double posts than just edit the first one?

Which is why?.............

As a consumer, this isn't relevant.

They will increase the price but still not put day-1 games on it. It sucks.

As a consumer it is relevant, because the brand itself isn't falling apart. The business of Playstation is still growing at a fast clip.
 
The Sony way. Don't release exclusives, set record console sales.

I think the majority of console gamers don't care about exclusives. They just want reliable hardware at a reasonable price. It's why we see such a drastic difference between first-party games sold and number of gamers on platforms.
 
As a consumer, this isn't relevant.

They will increase the price but still not put day-1 games on it. It sucks.

As a consumer who liked their single player offerings it is very relevant. The games not being a day one PS+ means they'll actually make money from them to make more.
 
they are hardly "all in", otherwise they also would need to offer day one and PC crossbuy like MS. They do just enough do not be really be in danger of losing against the GP offer. Also coasting on the loyalty of their customers, like myself.

The GP offer has been in effect for eight years now. I don't think Sony was ever in danger from it and that they actually overreacted by splitting up PS Plus into tiers to compete. Although it's seemingly worked out for them to some degree, they've also lost software sales due to it. A personal example is my brother who no longer buys individual games - opting instead to subscribe to the highest tier of PS Plus. I doubt he's the only one like that and he represents a good example of a person that Sony now makes less money from.
 
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I think the majority of console gamers don't care about exclusives. They just want reliable hardware at a reasonable price. It's why we see such a drastic difference between first-party games sold and number of gamers on platforms.
Nah. I want exclusives from the first party teams. Especially Nintendo that has the best first party games.
 
Nah. I want exclusives from the first party teams. Especially Nintendo that has the best first party games.

That's reasonable and there are many who share your view. I'm talking about majority, though. Your opinion is that their first-party output has been poor and so they've done nothing to deserve their success. I'm pointing out that most people just want a reliable machine/controllers to play games and that's why PS is doing well and will continue to do so.
 
PS Plus is a failure in my opinion.

I negatively affects how I approach games as a consumer.

And I think it negatively affects how developers approach game development.

With an active PS Plus sub, I always felt there's a much higher barrier to buying games in the store. 80% of games I would have bought in a world wirhout PS Plus, I skipped because I thought that I will eventually be able to play the game for free with the subscription.

Also, 80% of games I played through PS Plus, I played for less than 30 minutes and then uninstalled them. There's much less commitment compared to a real purchase. And there's definitely a connection between money spent and how invested I am in a game. The more I pay, the deeper I engage.

In my eyes, game subscriptions are a mistake for the entire industry and people in control are not brave enough to correct it. Gaming subscriptions are a key driver for the downward spiral in game quality.

I prefer not to use subscriptions services for flatrate gaming because it doesn't help neither me nor the developer.

It majorly affected my buying pattern, too. I don't so much only play the 30 minutes as much as full games. But it's not many at all and the games I play don't add up to the cost of the sub. The thing is, and I just said this in another thread, I may be saving total gaming spend on balance because this sub has decimated my steam wishlist. I have to check if games on the wishlist are on that sub already. Like half the game on my wish list end up on there whether I buy them or not.

The thing I like most about it is when Wife and I scroll through looking for dumb shit to try for that 30 minutes or an hour on purpose. I can't say I've discovered anything wonderful on there.
 
PLayPass coming to PC soon and switch soon??

People always saying Gamepass is bad business and hurts sales. Sony say our Highest Tier is thriving... gamepass is the best deal in gaming bar none.

Execs dont care about your opinions on how you consume games. They view games as a means to a finical end. It's a business and if sacrificing games to the meat gear that is a playpass or gamepads than so be it.

We get to caught up in our gaming emotions and what it means to us. Companies dont really care outside a very few.. CDPR comes to mind.
 
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Sony Removes Games From PS Plus — Even Its Own Games — to 'Keep the Proposition Interesting and Help People Find New Games,' Says PlayStation Exec
https://in.ign.com

Sony's "freshness" excuse is another step toward the world I described before. By pruning its own back catalog - games it could keep available indefinitely - PlayStation is conditioning us to treat titles as ephemeral commodities, not lasting works of art. That impermanence pressures us to binge or miss out, priming the subscription for constant churn. And as Sony clings to dropping first-party hits months or years after launch, it cements the idea that these blockbuster experiences are rewards for staying subscribed rather than creative events to celebrate. This isn't curation - it's conditioning. Before long, every update, every removal, every "new" addition will be engineered for the next KPI spike, not for the players who give these games meaning. Gaming risks becoming nothing more than an endless carousel of interchangeable content.
 
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John Candy Reaction GIF
 
Out of the three consoles makers, Sony is the most consumer friendly..no one can convince me otherwise

Yeah, I think we all figured that out a while ago. Imagine simping for a company that locks cloud saves behind a paywall and going on about how they're the most "consumer friendly."

I tell ya, fanboyism does strange and terrible things to a person's mind.
 
Some 81% of PS Plus subscribers own a PS5, up from 70% a year ago, a Sony rep told Game File
Basically even though there was a huge PS Plus price increase right before that 70%, now 80% of all PS5 users are on PS plus...

All this tells me is that these price increases are not decreasing their subscribers in any way which is interesting. Basically not only are they increasing prices, they are also having an increase in subscribers. (unless the number of PS4 users that didn't resubscribe was bigger)
 
I like the catalog.

But I hate it when I start playing a title and they say they're going to remove it in 15 days...
Shit, I just have essential and have never felt the need to go up a tier. But that's definitely a sinking feeling when games come and go.

The person interviewed said only 1 to 3 games are added a month to the classic selection with the emphasis being on they hoped at least 1 classic game would be added. Thats Nintendo online levels of bad adding classic titles at a snails pace.

I end up spending more not getting premier but I'm not attracted to most of the games they offer. Or it takes way too long to show up
 
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