Sony has temporarily prevented existing PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now members from renewing their subscriptions while preparing to combine them in the renewed PS Plus. It is a clear attempt to prevent users from accessing the highest level of the updated service cheaply for many years.
When Sony announced the new plans last month, it said PlayStation Now members would have their subscription converted to PS Plus Premium in the same time period. This level of service will include the current PS Plus benefits and 400 mid-level PS4 and PS5 titles, as well as hundreds of games from previous generations and cloud streaming on PS4, PS5 and PC.
Sony clarified this week that if a user has both PS Plus and PS Now memberships active when the new service launches in the coming weeks, they will have access to PS Plus Premium for the longer period of the two periods before they need to be renewed. In other words, if you had seven years left to run on your PS Plus plan after stacking one-year memberships, but recently signed up for a 12-month PS Now subscription, you would have seven years of access to PS Plus Premium on a significant discount after the shift.
Sony confirms that they have blocked the stacking of PS + / PS Now codes for existing members prior to the new PS + launch. The codes can be redeemed after launch. Anyone who is not a member of the service for which the voucher is available can redeem a voucher https://t.co/PLbscXCxhT pic.twitter.com/F4M47vgZm1
– Wario64 (@ Wario64) April 29, 2022
As discovered by Twitter gaming offers maestro Wario64, Sony has updated its PS Plus FAQ section to note that current subscribers of PS Plus and PS Now are not able to redeem coupon codes and renew their memberships at this time. They will be able to redeem them again when either their current membership expires or the new PS Plus service is available in their area – whichever comes first. As such, the company has prevented people from taking advantage of the PS Plus Premium loophole.
“As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are working behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members,” said Sony. “As part of this work, we have temporarily disabled stack memberships for existing customers until after launch.”
If you have an unredeemed coupon, it will now convert to a length of time equal to its monetary value. So if you are currently a subscriber and have a one-month PS Plus or PS Now code lying in a drawer somewhere, it can convert to a month with PS Plus Essential or 17 days of PS Plus Premium access. Sony has released a conversion chart that describes how it all works.
The renewed PS Plus service is scheduled to launch in some Asian markets on May 23, Japan on June 1, America on June 13 and Europe on June 22.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial staff, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we can earn an affiliate commission.