Sony has announced a range of new “perks” for PS Plus, including a three-month trial to YouTube Premium, as well as trials and discounts for other services. But not all fans are on board.
“Enjoy a range of special offers, trials and discounts from PlayStation, Sony and select partners. All included with your PlayStation Plus membership,” Sony’s announcement reads.
Those partners include YouTube Premium, DAZN, Audible, and Sony Pictures’ own Core. Elsewhere, PS Plus members get a 5% discount when they buy direct from PlayStation, they can save 10% on gaming and audio from Sony Electronics, and a two month trial of Calm Premium.
“How is a free trial a perk?” one person complained on social media. “Calling free trials a perk is a big reach,” another person commented. “These are not real perks, these are just money for Sony by funnelling people into these other subscriptions,” another said. “Nobody cares about a free trial. Give us full crunchy roll premium on ps plus and then maybe we will be happy,” one person suggested.
Others are using the perks announcement to once again criticize Sony for its decision to kill PlayStation discs from 2028. “Are Physical discs a perk?” said one social media user. “This reeks of desperation,” said another before continuing: “So many people have abandoned PS Plus as a result of Sony’s plans to end physical discs, that they are now trying to entice people with the old carrot and the stick routine.”
The disc backlash does not appear to have affected Sony’s bottom line so far. In Sony’s recent financial results, the number of monthly active users (MAUs) across the PlayStation platform actually increased 7% in September compared to the same month of the previous fiscal year to 127 million accounts — that’s a record high for September. Sony said this indicates “the baseline of engagement is steadily improving.”
According to the same results, 78% of game sales over the period were digital, which is a significant majority. With digital sales of first-party games, Sony gets the full cut of revenue.
Kirk McKeand is a Contributor on IGN News. Find him on Twitter @MckKirk