Sony’s Nick Maguire – vice president and global head of subscriptions – revealed during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that PS Plus Premium has a higher share of subscribers than PS Plus Extraproving that PlayStation console owners are more than happy to pay for the top tier of PlayStation Plus. The executive admitted that it’s a “pleasant surprisethat PS Plus Premium managed to attract more subscriptions than the mid-tier option, as Sony thought PS Plus Extra would be the main competitor.
Maguire precisely stated: “Personally I was surprised by the fact that Premium has achieved a greater share of the base than Extra. We all thought Extra would be the first one most people would turn to, but actually Premium was more popular and bigger. It’s a pleasant surprise.”
“And I’m surprised at how good things are similar from country to country and from region to region. There are clearly some exceptions but, broadly speaking, the top 10 and top 20, with some different orders, are generally the same across countries. There are countries that prefer different titles, but on average the mix is very similar.”
PS Plus is available on PlayStation and is divided into three levels: Essential, Extra and Premium
However, it should be remembered that when the new trio of PS Plus levels were released, although revenues increased, the number of subscribers has dropped. According to Maguire, this is due to the post-pandemic decline that hit the entire gaming industry last year. According to Maguire, the service is back to growth and there is no need for the company to deviate from its current strategy.
“I don’t think anything has told us that we have to change course,” he concludes. “Now it’s about finding ways to add new features that players want, new games that people ask us that we don’t have, other benefits that they ask us… like keeping the service relevant, making it more valuable and bringing in more people.”
“Il involvement it was really impressive in the first year: more people than we thought were playing these games and spending more hours than we expected. This reinforced our strategy of finding a variety of different games to appeal to people. It’s about keeping that commitment and making sure we’re not complacent or staying too much in the present. We think ahead and try to predict what players might want in a year or five years time. It’s really exciting.”
We too have offered you an interview in which we talked to you about various topics, from streaming PS5 games to the news of the Extra and Premium catalogue.