Sony has increased the price for its subscription service PlayStation Plus. While most regions saw double-digit increases, Turkey experienced the biggest hike.
What happened?
The prices for the PlayStation Plus subscription were updated on September 6. Users in most regions experienced price increases of 20-30%, but it appears that Turkish players were affected the most. This move has already caused debate on platforms like Reddit.
For example, the annual cost of the most expensive subscription tier, PS Plus Deluxe, went from ₺460 to ₺2,740, a 5.95x increase, or 495.6%. Prices for 1-month and 3-month subscriptions also increased significantly, with Deluxe memberships for these plans up 335.7% (from ₺70 to ₺305) and 336.8% (from ₺190 to ₺830) respectively.
It is worth noting that the price increase won’t take effect until the next renewal date that occurs on or after November 6.
Here are the new 12-month subscription prices in selected regions and their percentage change compared to the old plans:
- Turkey — Essential: ₺1400 (+483%), Extra: ₺2,340 (+485%), Deluxe: ₺2,740 (+495.6%);
- US — Essential: $79.99 (+33.3%), Extra: $134.99 (+35%), Deluxe: $159.99 (+33.3%);
- UK — Essential: £59.99 (+20%), Extra: £99.99 (+19%), Deluxe: £119.99 (+20%);
- Europe — Essential: €71.99 (+20%), Extra: €125.99 (+26%), Deluxe: €151.99 (+26.6%);
- Japan — Essential: ¥6,800 (+32.2%), Extra: ¥11,700 (+36%), Deluxe: ¥13,900 (+35.6%);
- Argentina — Essential: $54.99 (+37.5%), Extra: $93.99 (+40.3%), Deluxe: $106.99 (+38.9%).
New PS Plus prices in Turkey
Why did Sony raise PS Plus prices?
In a blog post announcing the decision, Sony said this price adjustment “will enable us to continue bringing high-quality games and value-added benefits to your PlayStation Plus subscription service.”
However, the real reasons are much more trivial, as global tech companies continue to raise prices in certain regions trying as one of the easiest ways to protect themselves from additional losses in an unstable economic environment. Turkey, which has long been a country with some of the lowest game prices, suffers the most due to soaring inflation in the country and the lira losing its value against the US dollar.
For example, Steam introduced new recommended regional pricing last October, with prices for $60 titles in Turkey and Argentina (another country with historically cheap games) going up over 450%. Valve explained that its recommendations are based not only on exchange rates, but also on consumer price indexes and purchasing power parity in different countries.
Interestingly, Sony’s decision to increase PS Plus prices had a positive impact on its stock. According to Bloomberg, the company’s share price increased by 3.4% last Friday, the largest gain since July.
CLSA analyst Amit Garg believes that the latest subscription price increase could add ¥100 billion ($688 million) to Sony’s net sales and ¥55 billion ($378 million) to its operating profit annually. However, he is also concerned that “there may be fallout for gamer spending given the weak macroeconomic conditions.”
Microsoft, Sony’s closet rival in the console market, also hiked the price of Game Pass in June, with the Ultimate subscription plan going from $14.99 to $16.99 per month. Turkey also experienced the biggest surge of 168%, going from ₺44.99 to ₺120.99 per month.