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.
Will some of the discounts in the range of 20-50% off be towards PSP games too, that would be great for PSP Go owners???
Aw come on… Does this mean Cross-game chat WON’T be in PS+?
Im sorry Sony but this should be called Qore +. The second year of service was terrible. Im usually first in line to throw cash at something like this… However until you add some “useful” features i’ll have to pass.
Next thing you know, you will be dogging peoples dissatisfaction with this product too.
i dont think its worth it no cross chat no radio
I will be getting this. I can see it being well worth my $50 over a 1 year period. The possibilities are endless!
Will this service will be available for Canada?
and i dont feel like renting stuff ether
Very important question:
Are current annual Qore subscribers going to be offered a deal to migrate/upgrade their existing subscriptions to PSN+?
All Qore subscribers have been very upset at the lack of downloadable goodies in the second year of Qore. It is now clear that PSN+ coming was the reason you removed all the free games and did fewer early demos.
The least you can do is say “Sorry we gutted Qore on you without warning you first. As a make up for that, we’re offering all Current Qore subscribers 50% off PSN+ for the first year.
You really should thank the day one Qore subscribers in this way.
(you should probably do something to Qore subscribers who renewed in the past couple of months as well for that matter).
i will in fact subscribe for a year but if in a year sony dont release in game voice chat i wont subscribe no more.
I don’t have a PSP so is there a way i can get a PSN or a
PS1 classic instead of the 2 psp mini games.If you guys gave
us that option im sure a lot more people would subscribe.the
psp mini games are kind of useless if you dont have a psp.
Please let us know what you think!
Add MMO GAMES to playstation plus ..
Wow! I was going to wait to next month because I already have Wipeout HD but I have to say this is a better deal than I expected:
1) PSones games
2) Minis
3) Qore episode
4) Avatars and themes
If you don’t have Wipeout HD you get your 50 bucks worth it just the first month! I’m paying for the online in the other console and I don’t get even a nice theme for free!! I’m in!!!
Also @87, CASTERTROY, has a great point. A free movie for example each week will be nice, also some free comic books ^_^. I’m hoping games like FFXIV, the Agency, DCUniverse Online and Free Realms for the ps3 will be included with PS+ (or at least a reduced subscription). I can’t wait for this games but there is no way I’m going to pay 15 bucks for each one, specially having some decent free MMORPG’s for PC.
@SpitFireAce: minis are playable on PS3.
I want it now :o
I’m wondering will we be getting the demos in PS+ earlier than everyone or will they be delaying the PSN version by a week or two and PS+ will be getting it at the same time as the “other console”?
Side question: with the Minis and PSone games. I assume that If I put a Mini onto my PSP Go the expiry date of the license will be the expiry date of my subscription.
If/when I renew, will just connecting my PSP to my PS3(while signed into PSN) update the license expiry dates? or will I have to re transfer the games onto the PSP?
You guys made a sale with a few excellent details:
– “These are yours to keep forever once you have downloaded them.” (I predicted this fact during the first post, as you said only games expire)
– “you don’t have to be restricted to certain levels/game modes when you test out a game.” (Sounds like I’ll be able to boot up my inFamous save file)
– “minis and PS One Classics – available each month will also be playable on your PSP if you have one” (This is great to hear they will work on PSP, although full game PSP freebies would be cool. Super Star Dust Portable or Pixeljunk Monsters Portable full versions would be great titles you could rotate in as free content.)
The only question I have is if downloading content is limited to one PS3, or if it’s the same 5 console setup. This sort of goes together with allowing “cloud” save file backup. One thing that has always scared me is having my hard drive crash, so I would love that feature of being able to move copy protected saves to another system before I lose them.
By the way, I’m much happier with 3 free months than a free game. I already played LBP.
@112 being a member of playstation plus should offer a lesser subscription to MMO GAMES…
A list of which Titles will be available thru this Service would help me to decide if this program has value for me;
I read on another site, cant remember which, a list of the games slated for release.
Thing is, I either had purchased those Titles already, or had no interest in them in the first place.
So, for those that have already bought a fair amount of content on the Store, I am not sure how much value this would have for the time being.
i agree with @15 and whats funny is that the beta part aswel as the themes are diminishing the value of QORE,will QORE be reduced in price to make the lacking perks look better for lesser buyers money-wise (ppl who dont have $50,) compared to the “Dynamic” themes in PSN Plus? as much as i want to its not hitting me. After E3 i was soo disapointed that i lost hope for this gen console an QORE’s Sophmore year was basically dry. :(
everything we hear from sony is “its a evovling” offering like it’ll add later on down the road, ok i understand that but didnt they say that about HOME? how does soo much info on XGC cross game hat come out like ” atleast one person has to be a PSN Plus member” but then here today you say “its being looked into”? in other words? if the other box ever has Blu-Ray SONY, You guys are really in trouble.
OK… I just made a huge post and I don’t see it. Is there a character limit? I was just thanking you guys on some specific details such as the ability to move those games to PSP freely, as well as mentioning that themes/addons will remain ours indefinitely (I guessed this in the first blog post, because it was said that only games expire).
Anyways, I’d love to hear about “cloud” game saves so I can get these copy protected saves off my dying PS3.
“full game trial of inFAMOUS”, does that mean we have to download the whole game? or is it just one hour worth of the whole game? and if/when we decide to buy the game, I assume the actual disc right? It would be a lot of trouble downloading a whole game.
and why post about stuff you just answer the easy stuff and never talk about the stuff people really want and i am looking forward to a another lame ass video by one of you people talking about fw 3.40 when it comes out and with what little it will do
I’m going to compare this to XBL. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a 360 (and still keeping the PS3). If XBL seems to offer more, I’ll just get a 360 and XBL instead.
Will the video capabilities be available on the browser? Or is it as useless as ever?
@118, i doubt youll get a years worth of titles EVER, thats giving away there busniess plan, be forreal as to the games.
How hard is to grasp the concept that you don’t get to keep the free games if you don’t keep subscribed to the service? Is everyone in America really that friggin cheap nowadays that you think you can just get everything for (almost) nothing? Wow. No good company lets you keep the products/services if you don’t continue to pay. Why don’t you go tell Netflix that you want to keep the movies after you unsubscribe, see what they say. I suppose Sony could just make the free service pay too, but then there would be even more whining.
That just raises further questions?
;-P
@119
Does it seem that PSN+ looks more like a Repackaging of Qore?
But cost $25 more!!
polo155, I am sorry you feel my request is unrealistic.
The EU blog listed all the content and discounts available for the first two months. Can you provide the same details please?
FYI the two PSN Plus blog posts on the EU blog have over 100 replies combined. If you’re not willing to put in the same effort you may as well call this post “PSN Plus: You’re questions ignored”.
5 bullet points you selected as “frequently asked Questions” is not nearly enough. So much of what has been said is so vague. As Marcus would say: “Step your game up” SCEA.
Get to it.
and it looks like you only get discounts on certain games http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/06/24/playstation-plus-first-2-monts/
I’m willing to give it a shot for the first year. I keep checking the PSN Store and I don’t see it. When will it be available? I don’t want to miss out on the 3 months free promotion.
The only thing that matters here is are we getting better servers? While the current PSN is ok, it could be better if we had better servers. While playing COD 4 on PS3, I get sometimes a lot of lag or random drop outs. But playing COD 4 on XBL, I tend to never lag or have any problems. Will PSN+ bring a better solution to this?
What about multiple PS3s with the same account? I have 2 PS3s.
what does “we’ll continue to look at as a viable offering for the PlayStation Network” mean? Your working on it, thinking about it, or ducking the elephant in the room?
130 something questions n comments and zero feedback. I think i’ll wait til there is somethin tangible offered.
What a waste for the people (including myself) that have been with the PS3 since day 1! I own most of the stuff that they are offering with the service because there were no games back then. I need a lot more options/services inorder to give them my $50. How about choices? I would rather pay a few dollars more to have some form of choice. Seriously, if you would have offered the “Cloud” storage with this service it would be worth the purchase alone. How about a list of “rental” games (please stop saying free) for the next six months so we don’t purchase one of the games by mistake. If you are honestly thinking about buying this service, DO NOT buy anther game online so this does not happen.
looks promising but pleeeease we need
CLOUD STORAGE!!!!!!!!! this feature would save millions of PS3 owners hard work (game saved data)
if you could bring this, you can have my annual fee every year. that feature alone is worth it to be perfectly honest. i hope you guys are looking hard at the survey we filled out, because ims ure cloud storage has to be up there. thanks and keep up the good work.
Cannot wait to get some awesome content! thanks for this sweet service SCEA. Just to make sure, this is available in Canada right?
People on these forums kill me. I don’t know if your just dumb or what, but more than half of the questions people ask are already answered if you just take the time to read everything and actually comprehend it!!
“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.”
OMG, am I seeing things? Someone pinch me.
PSN PLUS IS JUST A CUPON CARD BECAUSE ANYTHING ELSE IS BORROWED. Amazon gives me $10 if i preorder from them and i use gamefly so im ok.
Guys, don’t get ahead of yourselves and start begging for things on day #1 (it’s not even day #1 yet lol)…it’s a brand new thing..so slowly Sony will start adding things like Cloud Feature, Cross Game Chat, and a ton of stuff more…it’s the first month…give em some time :)
@139 “and we’ll continue to look at as a viable offering for the PlayStation Network.” i think they opied and pasted that from somewhere 3 years ago
Copied**
GRR :@ why wont you make cross party chat available!!??
I live in Ontario, Canada.
If I buy a $50 PSN card, would that be exactly what I need to subscribe for a year? Or is tax taken into account like it is for DLC?
Is the subscription date to day – so if I get it on July 15th 2010 – it expires July 14th 2011?
I just wish you can pick your own games because 70% of the PSOne on the PS store I have no interest in them. Like You get to choose which PSOne game you like every month, now if you add a PS2 library then that would be stepping the game up.