Image: Sony
Sony will no longer let users stack subscription memberships to PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now, a policy shift that blatantly prevents PS5 owners from getting long-term discounts on the revamped PlayStation Plus service.
The new PS Plus is now split into three tiers – Basic, Extra and Plus – basically combining PlayStation Now and the soon-to-be former PlayStation Plus. As a reminder, PS Now is a streaming service that gives users access to hundreds of games made for current and previous generations of consoles, while the current PS Plus gives users monthly access to online multiplayer games, discounts and some Free games. Both services will be retired on June 13 and merged into the new PS Plus.
Previously, PlayStation users could “stack” PS Now and PS Plus subscriptions by purchasing multiple (if discounted, for example) and activating them one at a time or one after the other. With this new suspension, PS Now and PS Plus subscribers will not be able to redeem coupon codes that have been dormant until their current membership ends or the new PS Plus service becomes available in their region – whichever happens first prevail.
“As we prepare to launch our new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are doing some work behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members,” Sony wrote in a blog post. “As part of this work, we are Temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers until after launch.”
If you have a coupon code and are not currently subscribed to either service, or if your membership runs out before a new membership, you can still redeem it. If you have an active PS Plus membership when the new version is released, you will enter PS Plus Essential, the lowest level of the new service. If you have an active PS Now account, you will be migrated to the highest level, PS Plus Premium.
Here’s where the fine print matters: If you’re not already an active member, a PS Plus voucher redeemed after the new version arrives will give you access to PS Now Essential for the length of time stated on the original voucher (12 months = 12 months). The same goes for PS Now, but so does PS Plus Premium.if you are a existing PS Plus or PS Now customers, any unredeemed coupons will be converted for a length of time equal to the monetary value of the coupons you redeemed.
Image: Sony
What does this conversion look like? Sony has released a table showing how much you can get with each new tier with an old PS Now or PS Plus subscription. As a taster, a 1 month (previous generation) PS Plus voucher gets you a full month of PS Plus Essential or 21 days of PS Plus Extra or 17 days of PS Plus Premium.
Those who have redeemed the code and subscribed to both services are in luck; Sony clarified earlier this week that it will honor the longest-lasting subscription. So, for example, if your PS Now subscription expires in one month and your PS Plus subscription expires in three years, you’ll get PS Plus Premium access until 2025.
That’s exactly the hole Sony is filling by preventing users from stacking subscriptions and then migrating to a new service for perks without paying the difference. As a reminder, the PS Plus Premium service costs $17.99 per month and gets all the benefits of the original PS Plus plan, plus access to over 400 PS4 and PS5 games and 340 other titles from previous Sony consoles via cloud streaming.