Sony has attempted to justify its decision to raise PlayStation Plus prices by up to 35% last month.
The move saw the cost of 12-month subscription plans for the service’s Essential, Extra and Premium tiers rise by $20-$40 / £10-£20 / €12-€32 depending on the chosen membership plan.
Sony Interactive Entertainment’s senior vice president and head of global marketing, Eric Lempel, was asked to explain the price hikes in an interview with Barron’s (via Resetera).
“We want to make PlayStation Plus great,” he said. “With our reboot last year and introducing the tier system, a lot of consumers have recognized that there’s a lot of value in PlayStation 5.
“Like practically everything else in the world, we have to look at our pricing and we have to adjust to market conditions.
“I’m happy to say, unlike a lot of other subscription services out there, we haven’t touched the PlayStation Plus pricing for 85% of the world in many years. So, this was the first time we did something there.”
Microsoft also raised prices for its rival subscription service, Game Pass, in July, although the increases were relatively small.
The monthly price of a Game Pass console subscription rose from $9.99 to $10.99 (£7.99 to £8.99 / €9.99 to €10.99), while the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price increased from $14.99 per month to $16.99 (£10.99 to £12.99 / €12.99 to €14.99).
Lempel was asked for his thoughts on Game Pass, and Microsoft’s strategy of adding first-party titles to the service at release, which Sony doesn’t do with PlayStation Plus.
“It comes down to what you’re going to get in the service in terms of the type of game and the quality of games,” he said. “I can’t comment on what the competition is doing. But with us, we feel we’re offering a great curated catalogue of games, as well as other features and services with PlayStation Plus.
“Also, we give you the options with the three tiers to engage as much or as little as you want, depending on what you’d like to do.
“It’s a very different offering, but it’s one that resonated with consumers. Since we introduced the tiers, we’ve seen a third of the Plus user base opt for the upper two tiers, which was more than we had expected.”
Lempel also told Barron’s Sony is “expecting one of the strongest seasons in our history in terms of console sales” this holiday.
