July 30th Update: The content per month isn’t determined as day one content and is content that will be made available through the month.
PlayStation Nation — First off, thank you for all of your feedback regarding PlayStation Plus. There have been a lot of comments and questions surrounding some of the details of the new subscription service so we wanted to provide a little clarification leading up to its availability on June 29th. It’s a lot of info, but hopefully this helps answer most of your questions.
First off, at launch, PlayStation Plus will offer subscribers the full PlayStation Network game, WipEout HD, PSP minis and PS One Classics such as Fieldrunners, Age of Zombies and Rally Cross, full game trial of inFAMOUS, as well as free monthly episodes of Qore – our high-definition, interactive gaming lifestyle show.
With that, here are the basics of the new subscription service that lives on top of the current PlayStation Network:
- The current PSN features will remain free. We are still very committed to PSN as a free comprehensive entertainment service and are certainly not planning on reducing this service following the launch of PlayStation Plus.
- PlayStation Plus is an evolving service and the features included at launch will be:
- Games
- PS Store Discounts
- Exclusive offers on select demos, betas and early purchases
- Full Game Trial
- Automatic Downloads
- PlayStation Plus can be purchased through PlayStation Store on PS3 as a one-year package or a three-month package. The three-month package is available for $17.99 and the one-year package will be available for $49.99. We will also be offering three additional bonus months for free if you purchase the 1-year package — that’s 15 months total for $49.99.
- Payment is a one-time fee for either package and can be purchased with any of the current PSN Store payment methods – credit card or PSN Cards.
(More info on these below)
Here are more details on the features of PlayStation Plus:
Games & Special Offers: As a subscriber, you can expect to get your hands on free monthly PSN games, minis and PS One Classics from the PSN Store. You will be able to download these games during the month they are available until the new selection replaces them.
Once downloaded, the games are yours to keep and play as long as you are a member of PlayStation Plus. If your subscription lapses and then you re-subscribe, the games you have already downloaded will reactivate, so you still have access to them. Additionally, if you delete one of the titles from your PS3, but decide you want to get it back, then you can re-download from the PlayStation Plus section of the PSN Store if the game is still there, or, if the game has expired from the PlayStation Plus section of the PSN Store, you can simply search for it on PS Store and download it again at no extra cost.
Each month there will be dynamic themes, premium avatars and premium game elements/add-ons for you to download and many will be exclusive to PlayStation Plus members only. These are yours to keep forever once you have downloaded them.
PlayStation Plus subscribers will also be given exclusive PlayStation Store discounts each month that are above and beyond the current PSN Store discounts available to everyone. These discounts will range from 20% to 50%, and anything you buy with these is yours to keep and enjoy forever.
Finally, wherever possible we’ll be making sure that members are included in selected demos and beta trials before they go live to everyone else, so you can be the one to tell all your friends about the next big game they ‘must’ get.
Subscribers will get hundreds of dollars of value through the year and, in the first month alone, will receive more than $50 worth of content.
Full Game Trial: Each month we will be offering members the chance to download full games and try them out for a period of time (one hour, unless otherwise stated). After the game trial is complete, simply purchase the game to carry on where you left off. This is a unique way to trial the full game experience and means you don’t have to be restricted to certain levels/game modes when you test out a game.
The games in Full Game Trial will become available to all PS Store users to purchase, but only PlayStation Plus members will have the chance to ‘try before you buy’.
The other great thing about this feature is that you can continue from where you were at the end of the trial period if you decide to buy the game. All game saves and trophies earned during the trial will be unlocked and will show up on your trophy list and your trophy level when you purchase the game. You don’t even have to re-download the game, just purchase and go back to the XMB to access the game.
Automatic Download: Subscribers will be able to set their PS3 to wake up from standby at any time of the day or night, download and install any game updates for the games you have been playing so you don’t have to think about it. Also, select demos and videos will be pushed to your PS3 ready to go. System software updates will also download automatically (manual install still required) and then the PS3 will turn itself off again.
Game updates and demos will also automatically install and the next time you turn on your PS3 you will see a brief on-screen message letting you know what has been downloaded and updated.
Here are some more answers to frequently asked questions from the last blog post:
- Cross-game voice chat is a feature we know our passionate user base has asked for and we’ll continue to look at as a viable offering for the PlayStation Network.
- You need to be the master account holder on the PS3 and be over 18 to purchase PlayStation Plus, but other accounts on that PS3 will be able to play the games you download for as long as you are a subscriber.
- The “free” games you can download each month are yours to keep for as long as you are a subscriber.
- PlayStation Plus is for PS3 owners as subscribership can only be purchased on the PSN Store. However, some of the content – minis and PS One Classics – available each month will also be playable on your PSP if you have one. Download them on the PS3 and transfer to your PSP, or download directly from the PSP Store or Media Go for PSP.
PlayStation Plus is a continually evolving service and we are always working on identifying new partnerships, developing new features and providing new content that our users want. So thanks again for all your comments and questions and please continue to offer more ideas at PlayStation.Blog Share.
I see a fundamental problem with this service. You are almost encouraging Playstaion Plus members to not purchase content from the store in case it is offered at a later date for free.
For example I already own Wipeout HD and a lot of other high profile PSN content. What is the incentive for a user such as myself to opt in? It was one of the reasons I didn’t re-up my Qore subscription because after one full year, I was only offered one free game that I didn’t already own.
In the services current iteration I do not see a reason or need to opt in for this service because the value add is largely negated for a user such as myself. I hope to see some changes to the service because there are features I do genuinely want (such as the auto-update) but until the issues I mentioned are resolved I will be holing onto my 50 bucks.
Hey as a suggestion for these automatic downloads (or just downloads in general) can you assign them a default group such as PS3 Demos, PSN Games, or PSOne Games instead of just Unknown?
If i want to buy playstation plus with a playstation network card (say the $50 card) will there be any additional charges such as taxes making me pay more than $50?
Any idea on if there will be a cloud save feature added? That was one of the rumors and when I heard it wasn’t included in PSN+ I was a little upset and don’t think I’ll be getting it. If you guys did in fact add it at some point I would definitely purchase a subscription. Cross-Game Chat would be cool but I’d rather have the cloud save so you could go from PS3 to PS3 without a USB or if something happened you don’t lose your data (especially copy-written data).
If a bought the 3 month package, can i buy the annuel membership and it will be adding 15month to my membership?
they should stop saying free this is misleading and deceiving on playstations part. they should say you get to play the game as long as your a psn plus account holder. I was ready to buy the service day 1 and now that i read the details on psn plus not buying it at all at least the european psn plus lets you keep the minis and offers u LBP for free. this is a huge rip off that sadly everyone will fall victim of. I usually waited until a game went on sale so I could buy it on the psn but now that this plus thing is happening they probably will stop discounting games on the regular psn just so people will purchase the plus account.
Are the discounts on select items? Or on everything in the store?
Select Items only.
@SuperSwap21
If you are taxed on other PSN purchases you will be taxed on PSN+.
Will ALL upcoming games be try before buy? or will there be some that are not available to try?
100% Not worth it.
SONY – STOP TRYING TO RIP US OFF!
wheres fieldrunners?
when does the 3 extra months free bonus end? I cant get home to sign up on my ps3 until July 5! i dont want to miss it! what about through media go for PC? can we buy it there??
This is a rip-off. I can understand not giving away a bunch of free items from a business stand point, however giving subscribers the games and then taking them away unless they stay subscribed is wrong. From what I have seen so far the first month saves you maybe $10. I used to have Xbox Live and they never took away games they had given you. I can’t even try 1 month to see if I like it. I automatically get pulled into a 3 month subscription. I understand business and making money but come on Sony this is not the way to do it. A 1 hour “full game trial”? I have played demos longer than this. The discount is the only thing in this worth it and unless you buy things all the time you are paying for the discount. Good job competing with Microsoft for the [DELETED] award.
i bought a psn card worth 50 dollars. can i use that to pay for plus?
Man I seriously just renewed my qore subscription 3 days before E3. So I feel like I’m getting screwed over. I end up spending $75 while others pay $50. Qore isn’t a bonus it’s a big selling point. And now feel like this is unfair. Their should be a qore subscriber upgrade incentive. Like prorating the months left on qore beforewe opt into PSN+
@Susan Panico Is there any way to transfer your Playstation Plus to your sub account? I was under the impression that only your master account could get playstation plus
So no 1 year subscription to Qore then I see,. guess I was told wrong on that part it seems then.
i WOULD give it a try IF i could choose the “FREE” game… otherwise, psn will just give us games like wipeout…sure some ppl may like it but…i don’t, this means i’m “losing” this month’s “PLUS”… it would be like a prize draw… we might not get what we want.
next month will probably be “pinball something” i wouldnt download it even for free…
now give me final fantasies – castlevania – pixeljunk and etc.. and i’ll take another look in this service…
Fieldrunners, promised as a free launch download in this blog, is showing up at $6.99 still even though I have PS+. When will this be fixed?
Also, why is there additional items included for the European subscribers? And my last question: Is there an option to subscribe as PS+ for EU instead of US?
Simple question – SONY: WHY HAVE YOU STILL FAILED TO PROTECT CONSUMERS WHO HAVE PAID FOR DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT?
SONY: Just allow us to back up all our downloadable content (ALL OF IT!) Like movies and game data (ie Rockband) so we do not have to re-download or completely lose it ALL!
Sony, all you have to do is establish a little system (you already have in place!) to verify the content is being played on the machine/account it was purchased on. Again, you ALREADY do this, so we can we not back it up on our external drives?
It takes me 10-15+ hours to redownload only what I’m allowed to, losing money on movies and such……..Sony gets no more money from me until this issue is resolved!
How long exactly will the 3 extra months with the annual subscription offer last?
how long is the 3 free months limited time offer going on for? 1 month? 1 week?
If you are a + member can you still purchase the games we would get for free, if we want to own them forever?
the messages we get about free money for playstation store are they real or fake cause i did two and got nothing. And if they are fake is there any way to stop it. Please respond back
I don’t understand why all these people are hopping in line for this service. It sounds like a gigantic rip-off to me. Like someone else said, what you’re offering is rental…and you would think with just the subscription fee alone that would merit being able to keep games permanently. If it’s not outrageous DLC prices now you come up with this? Thanx Sony, really feeling the love.
Not.
Do we get any sort of discounts in the video service as a PSN+ member?
its is possable to pay the 17.99 now check it out for 3 months then decide if it worth it.. then upgrade to the 49.99 package for the year and get the 3 month free.
Please somebody explain this to me:
Does PS+ includes a subscription to Qore?
I ask this because I did not see anything regarding Qore in section for PS+ on the PlayStation Store.
So, does it include it or not?
Can I get fieldrunners please?
I managed to forgive the fact that you advertised the cross game chat then deleted it from all your blogs and said you’d look into it.
I would at a minimum like the stuff that you did not delete from your blogs that was part of the deal.
As a Qore subscriber from day 1, I’m amazed my patronage is trivialized in such a manner as to be ignored for purposes of PlayStation Plus.
In all honesty, Qore has been more of a gift of money to the PlayStation brand than a service that offered value. Having actually purchased High Velocity Bowling only to find it is offered month after month as the Qore free download wasn’t a great experience. The few betas I was invited to were overall a good experience, but it is also like work to those of us who take them seriously and report bugs with pictures, etc (don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy beta testing; however, there are people who are paid to do this). The news aspect was old by the time we received our subscriptions due to the Internet and many of the other downloads were masked advertising. Sadly, my patronage as a loyal Qore customer has been completely overlooked and/or neglected.
Simply put, PlayStation and Sony have the history of having terrible synergy and this is just another example. Being an optimist I look at the bright side: This adds to my MBA research paper regarding Sony’s poor synergy. Expect a copy next year (two more CPA exam sections then finishing the MBA paper).
On the post #45, Susan Panico posted:
“We realize that some Qore subscribers will also want to subscribe to PlayStation Plus. We are sure that you will find there is a ton of great content, special deals and cool features in PS Plus and recongize that adding Qore is a bonus for Plus users and not the main contraction.”
But there’s no signs of Qore under the PS Plus tab on the PlayStation Store… maybe it happened the same thing that happened to Fieldrunners…
Has anybody subscribed that can tell us about the Qore thing?
I just subscribed and I can´t find qore either…
@Dreanmirc: Did you get the 3 month or 1 year subscription?
I have the 3 month one and no signs of Qore, maybe the 1 year subscription offers it.
nope. I got the 1 year subscription.
This is what your article said:
(Each month there will be dynamic themes, premium avatars and premium game elements/add-ons for you to download and many will be exclusive to PlayStation Plus members only. These are yours to keep forever once you have downloaded them.)
So I subscribed thinking you get to keep the add-ons even if your subscription expires, only to find out they expire too. Thanks for the false info.
OMG such a ripoff 50 dollars for 15 months…thats $3.34 a month….thats three things i cant order off the dollar menu each month now…WHY MUST YOU CHARGE SO MUCH!!!…….(sarcasm) Really? also you know something great about it….you don’t have to buy it so why is there complaining…just don’t get it…
ok i understand the chat and stuff but will you be doing more i dont see the point in buying it if it on comes with just one feature that no one else will have. because everyone can just buy the games you have on ps plus. all people truely want more system software such as video record,live chat,add ons,etc yes it is good to see the qore and all that but we can just look all that up online. so what im trying to figure out is what would make a better experience for the gamers community such as. chat rooms and others in that genre of psn thats what people are looking forward to having. im not trying to sound offensive dont get me wrong but people want more than just demos and games whats your ideas on communication ?
I was interested in this service, until it said that sub accounts can not subscribe to PS+ :| Now I can’t get PlayStation Plus even if I wanted to! Thanks Sony!
No thanks, I dont want to rent or lease or license a game from you for 50 bucks a year.
“Once downloaded, the games are yours to keep and play as long as you are a member of PlayStation Plus”
Are you kidding me Sony? Yes you are.
To the above idiot!!!!
No thanks, I dont want to rent or lease or license a game from you for 50 bucks a year
THE GAMES ARE FREE, EVERYONE ELSE HAS TO PAY FOR THEM!!!! STOP COMPLAINING!!!!
ok so i bought the year subscription but i havent recieved any issue yet
i bought it at midnight on the first day it was released. and still nothing.
how do i get this months issue?
that is total BS xbox has cross game chat ever scince its launch yet 3-4 years scince playstations launch and they strugle to give users what they want. Message for Sony YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT USERS WANT, when you ask the customers what they would like to see you just ignore them, if people want something from a console than why give loads of other crap which most customers will not want or need just do what we ask. Cross game voice chat is one of the only things that is holding Sony back from realy contending with Microsoft, the lack of a feature to talk to your freinds. further more why would I pay £40 for something that does not improve the sevice i get from the console where as Microsoft does for the same price.
Hi, qhere’s my free Fieldrunners?
Please don’t tell me you’re going to make getting Hulu means I have to get PS+ as well.
when does the free Qore downloads start if your already signed up for Playstation Plus?
If I already own a game that Plus is offering for free, do I get something in it’s place?
There are currently too many restrictions and omissions for me to even consider signing up for PSN+.
First of all, if only the PSN+ account has access to said content, that leaves my kids unable to use any of it; fail.
Second, trials should have already been available for everything on PSN, as Microsoft has done for years (Gold subscribers get them a week early, which is acceptable); fail.
Third, content shouldn’t expire at subscription’s end; fail. It’s also unclear as to which content can be kept and which can.
Fourth, and finally, after reviewing the terms of PSN+, you seem to have picked the Microsoft scheme of auto-renewal. How does one opt not to renew a subscription? fail.
I’ll give you a pass on the auto-downloads, as Microsoft hasn’t done that yet. However, I *can* queue up downloads on my 360 and turn it off. My 360 will then download those queued items in the background in a reduced power mode, and turn off when complete. That feature should be available to everyone, not just PSN+ subscribers.
Bundling Qore alleviates some of the pain, but the other issues I pointed out are too big for me to overlook.