Sony tried to justify its decision to raise the prices of the PlayStation Plus service by up to 35% last month.
The move saw the cost of 12-month subscription plans for Basic, Plus and Premium service levels rise by $20 – $40 / £10 – £20 / €12 – €32 depending on the membership plan chosen.
Sony Interactive Entertainment senior vice president and global head of marketing, Eric Lempel, was asked to explain the price hike in an interview with Baron (via Recitera).
“We want to make PlayStation Plus great,” he said. “With the reboot last year and the introduction of the tier system, a lot of consumers realized there was a lot of value in PlayStation 5.
“Like almost everything else in the world, we have to look at our prices and we have to adapt to market conditions.
“I’m happy to say, unlike a lot of other subscription services out there, we haven’t reached PlayStation Plus pricing for 85% of the world’s population in many years. So, this was the first time we’ve done 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 has risen from $9.99 to $10.99 (£7.99 to £8.99 / €9.99 to €10.99), while the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has risen from $14.99 per month to $16.99 (€10.99). £ to £12.99/€). 12.99 to 14.99 euros).
Lempel was asked about his thoughts on Game Pass, and Microsoft’s strategy of adding first-party titles to the service at launch, which Sony isn’t doing with PlayStation Plus.
“It’s about what you get on the service in terms of the type of game and the quality of the game,” he said. “I can’t comment on what the competition is doing. But with us, we feel like we’re offering a great catalog of games, as well as other features and services with PlayStation Plus.
“Also, we give you options in three levels to participate as much or as little as you want, depending on what you want to do.
“It’s a very different offering, but it resonated with consumers. Since we introduced the two tiers, we saw a third of the Plus user base choose the top two tiers, which was more than we expected.
Lempel also told Barron’s Sony that it “expects one of the strongest seasons in our history in terms of console sales” this holiday.
