Earlier in the week, PlayStation posted on its official X account that it would be raising prices of PS Plus subscriptions for new customers. The change in price was noted to be taking effect starting 20 May, affecting one- and three-month subscriptions. It looks like it’s hitting the local market as well, affecting all three tiers.
Previously, the one- and three-month subscription prices of PS Plus Essential was RM35 and RM95 respectively. These have been bumped up to RM39 and RM99. It’s a similar story for the Extra and Deluxe tiers. The former’s prices have gone from RM55 and RM155 to RM59 and RM159 respectively, while the latter sees prices go from RM65 and RM185 to RM69 and RM189.
Compared to, say, the US market, this is a smaller jump in price, being only a RM4 jump across all affected tiers, as opposed to US$1 for every month. It’s also a smaller price hike this time around than the previous episode, which happened just over a year ago. But a price hike is still a price hike, and the cherry on top is that the reasoning provided this time around is the same as the last time – “market conditions”. Except this time it’s ongoing market conditions instead of global market conditions.d
For what it’s worth, if you usually take the annual subscription anyway, then you’re not affected by this price change at all. And for those with an active three-month subscription ongoing, you’re definitely a smaller group of gamers, but you’re also unaffected. But it’s hard to ignore that sour taste in the mouth when, just at the start of the month, PlayStation already announced a general price hike for the PS5 consoles. It’s not a particularly comforting trend either to see prices invariably rising every year for three years in a row.
(Source: PlayStation [1], [2], The Verge)