PlayStation Plus has reported a significant loss since its revamp. It seems that despite the introduction of PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers, Sony’s subscription service is still making a loss.
Sony announced earlier this year that it was bringing extra tiers to its PlayStation Plus subscription service. By paying an increased fee for Premium or Extra tiers, users could access a library of classic PlayStation titles and new AAA games. Fans initially welcomed the fact that Sony was adding value to its subscription service with these additions. It has been confirmed that Sony has lost nearly two million PlayStation Plus subscribers since the launch of the revamped service.
Many assumed that PlayStation Plus would be able to better compete with Xbox Game Pass, which has been offering consumers a range of titles on Xbox and PC for years. While the launch of PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra tiers has brought a host of big-name games to the service, including some first day releases such as Stray, it seems Sony still has a lot of work to do before all its users see the value of the revamped system.
Despite the new levels and game library added to PlayStation Plus, Sony’s latest financial figures show that nearly two million subscribers have left the service since the launch of PS Plus Premium and Extra. This is the third consecutive quarter of declines for the service, with total users down from 47.3 million in March to 45.4 million this quarter. PlayStation Network monthly active users are also down by one million compared to the previous quarter.
When asked about the decline in an earnings call, Sony’s CFO Hiroki Totoki blamed the lack of third-party releases and the fact that people are “going out” more regularly for the drop in subscribers. While the latter is difficult to explain, other companies have blamed the lack of big game releases for the lack of financial growth. Capcom recently shared its financial numbers and reported that despite slowing sales, it expects the tenth year of growth thanks to big titles coming out towards the end of the fiscal year.
Totoki expects the numbers to rebound in the next quarter when the impact of the release of God of War Ragnarok and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be felt. Despite the lack of growth in subscriber numbers, PlayStation Plus is still generating excellent revenue for Sony as users pay more for Premium and Extra tiers. So Totoki remains upbeat as he also talks about possible ‘promotions’ that could see PS Plus subscriber numbers grow again.
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