Sony will no longer allow users to stack subscription memberships for PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now, a policy change that openly prevents PS5 users from obtaining long-term discounts on renewed PlayStation Plus service.
The new PS Plus, which is now divided into three levels – Essential, Extra and Plus – essentially combines 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 console generations, while the current PS Plus gives users access to online multiplayer games, discounts and a few free games every month. Both of these services will be retired on June 13 and combined in the new PS Plus.
Previously, PlayStation users could “stack” PS Now and PS Plus subscriptions by purchasing multiple (for example, if there was a discount) and activating them all at once or one at a time. With this newly created team, PS Now and PS Plus subscribers will not be able to redeem coupon codes that have been dormant until either their current membership expires or the new PS Plus service becomes available in their area – depending on what happens first.
“As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are working a little behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all our existing members,” Sony wrote in a blog. “As part of this work, we have temporarily disabled stack memberships for existing customers until after launch.”
If you have a coupon code and are not currently subscribing to any of the services, or if your membership expires before the new one, then you can still redeem it. If you have an active PS Plus membership when the new version launches, you will be placed in PS Plus Essential, the lowest level of the new service. If you have an active PS Now account, you will migrate to PS Plus Premium, the highest level.
This is where the small print matters: If you were not already an active member, a PS Plus voucher redeemed after the new version arrives will give you PS Now Essential access for the period of time specified on your original voucher (12 months = 12) months). The same goes for PS Now, but with PS Plus Premium. If you were one existing PS Plus or PS Now customer, any unredeemed coupon will convert to a length of time equal to the monetary value of the coupon you redeem.
What is it talking aboution similar? Sony released a table showing how much of each new level an old PS Now or PS Plus subscription gives you. As a taste, a 1-month (previous generation) PS Plus voucher gives you a full month of PS Plus Essential or 21-day PS Plus Extra or 17-day PS Plus Premium.
Those who have already redeemed codes and subscribe to both services are lucky; Sony clarified earlier this week that it will honor the subscription that remains active the longest. So, for example, if you have a PS Now subscription that expires in a month and a PS Plus subscription that expires in three years, you will have PS Plus Premium access until 2025.
This is the exact hole Sony is closing by preventing users from stacking subscriptions and then migrating to the new service to enjoy the extra perks without paying the price difference. As a reminder, the PS Plus Premium service costs $ 17.99 a month and gets all the benefits of the original PS Plus plan plus access to more than 400 PS4 and PS5 games and 340 additional titles from formerly Sony consoles via cloudstreaming.