[Updated]Sony Raising Price on PlayStation Plus in North America

Published: August 22, 2016 3:07 PM /

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Playstation Plus Blue

On the PlayStation Blog, Sony has updated the PlayStation Plus games for August post, to announce that the price for PlayStation Plus memberships in the US and Canada will be raising starting on September 22, 2016.

Here's a quick breakdown of the prices

  • Yearly: Previously $49.99 USD and CAD. Now will be $59.99 USD/$69.99 CAD
  • Quarterly: Previously $17.99 USD and CAD. Now will be $24.99 USD/$29.99 CAD
  • Monthly: Staying at $9.99 USD for the US. Canada is having it raise to $11.99 CAD

This is the first change to happen to the price of PlayStation Plus in the US and Canada since the program began in 2010. According to Sony, the change was made to reflect the current market conditions, while allowing them to continue providing the current services to subscribers like online multiplayer, several games a month, and special discounts. 

On the changes to the Canadian price, it is more in line with what Canadian's have had to accustom themselves to with pricing again as the Canadian Dollar has fallen significantly since 2010. In 2010, the Canadian Dollar was trading roughly on par with the US Dollar, while now it is trading at around 77 cents on the dollar. 

In America, one can look to inflation and the fact that Sony is relying more and more on its PlayStation subsidiary to keep profits flowing for the company. Using a quick check, $49.99 in 2010 money, would equate to about $55 in 2016 money.

There is no announcement about any change for pricing in Europe at this time. 

One issue that arises here is that auto-renew is the default option for PlayStation Plus, and the only announcement Sony has made on the price change is an edit to a two-week old article that has already lost most of its relevancy given that it was talking about the PlayStation Plus games for August. One hopes that Sony will communicate the increase better as the September 22nd date approaches on the matter.

One thing that many may wonder is if this will lead to a better line-up of PlayStation Plus games. That is impossible to tell, but perhaps the price hike will finally inspire Sony to put Knack on PlayStation Plus' Instant Game Collection.

Update: Sony has started sending emails out regarding the change now, including providing details onto how to cancel it. 

Here is the email if you haven't received it yourself or just wish to look.

PS Plus Letter

What do you think of the price hike? Do you think it's a cynical cash grab or an intelligent business decision to keep the price from losing too much to market conditions and inflation? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Don Parsons
| Senior Writer

A longtime lover of speculative fiction, in almost all its forms, Don joined TechRaptor in 2014 on a whim sending in an application as he was looking for… More about Don