Clearly, the PS Plus price increase and the move upmarket with more offerings have not weakened PlayStation's subscription business. In an interview with investors, Hideaki Nishino, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, stated that subscribers were willing to pay more than before. "Subscribers are increasingly choosing our Premium and Extra plans, which now represent approximately 38% of our total subscribers. This is despite the overall price increases implemented in fiscal 2023, as well as more localized increases in certain countries, with the aim of improving our pricing strategy in specific markets, and also to take into account exchange rate fluctuations."
Another price increase for PS Plus?
According to Hideaki Nishino, if PS Plus subscribers are ready to abandon the Essential offer in favor of the Extra & Premium subscriptions, it is thanks to the value offered and therefore the available content. "These price increases result in part from the added value we offer players, through the quality and diversity of the content we continue to add, but also thanks to investment in new features, such as the personalization of the experience and better content discovery." It is true that despite the price increase, the appearance of the PlayStation Plus Premium & Extra tiers has made it possible to include bigger games, but also smaller productions available upon their release.
But during this financial report, Nishino-san made a statement that will annoy more subscribers. Like Xbox Game Pass, whose prices are not fixed, Sony Interactive Entertainment is leaving the door wide open to a future price increase for PS Plus. "The PlayStation Plus service offers great value to our players, and we will continue to strengthen this value and dynamically adjust our pricing strategy to maximize our profitability." You're not done paying more... but is this a completely unexpected surprise? No. You only have to look at the way SVOD platforms like Netflix operate to see that this type of service is destined to continually increase prices. If PS Plus reaches a new milestone, will it stop you from subscribing?
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment (via VGC).
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