For those who have been in the PlayStation ecosystem for very long, you’re probably familiar with how the multiplayer experience has evolved over the years. We had free online play back with the PS3, while a move to the PS4 required a PlayStation Plus subscription to play on the internet with your friends. Players were incentivized to avail of these by providing 2 free games on a monthly basis as long as one remained a subscriber of the service. Now Sony is back with a massive revamp of the current system, with a 3-tiered service now made available to users around the world.

The three PlayStation Plus tiers are as follows: Essential, Extra, and Premium. These all differ in subscription rates and inclusions, so we’ll break it down to make it easier to understand.

An example of a PS Plus Free Games Advert. 

The first is PlayStation Plus Essential. It’s basically a clone of the current setup that users are connected with. It includes online multiplayer access, discounts, cloud saves, and 2 free games per month. However, we’ve seen the number of games go up to 3 or even 4 in past iterations of this subscription. Now it’s really locked at 2 downloadable games. Users who are currently activated will see their duration continuing with this new service. Pricing is the same at $10 USD monthly, $25 quarterly, and $60 yearly.

Moving on to the middle of the pack, we have PlayStation Plus Extra. As expected, it carries all the benefits of Essential and a little bit more. These additional incentives have been revealed to be a library of up to 500 PS4 and PS5 games which come from the in-house PlayStation Studios and other third-party developers. These will be downloadable and playable as long as the user is subscribed to the program. Pricing is increased to $15 monthly, $40 quarterly, and $100 yearly.

Standing at the top of the food chain is the PlayStation Plus Premium plan. It holds everything made available to Extra users – but wait, there’s more! This subscription is only available in countries with cloud streaming as it adds an array of around 340 gaming hits from all PlayStation gaming consoles. Yes, that includes the PS1, PS2, PSP, PS3, and PS4. There isn’t any news yet about whether PS Vita games will be part of this deal, but we’d sure hope so. Costing for this top-of-the-line is at $18 monthly, $50 quarterly, and $120 yearly while existing PlayStation Now users will be migrated automatically.

Cloud streaming will be playable on the PS4 and PS5 consoles and on PC. However, an internet speed of at least 15 Mbps is advisable based on the current recommendations for PS Now. If you have spotty internet, then you might have to think twice before forking the extra cash for a Premium subscription.