Not long from now, Sony will be rolling out the revamped PlayStation Plus, which will merge the existing PS Plus and PS Now services and add several new perks and benefits across three total tiers of subscription. The run-up to the new service’s launch has been a little messy though, to say the least.
Recently, for instance, it was discovered by many that existing subscribers of both services looking to stack their subscriptions by redeeming vouchers on top of existing memberships for the same were being blocked from doing so. Now, Sony has officially confirmed that that is indeed happening- no, it’s not a glitch.
In an updated FAQ page for the new PlayStation Plus, Sony confirms that it’s temporarily blocked subscription stacking until after the revamped service launches, or your subscription expires, whichever happens first.
“As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are doing some work behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members,” Sony says. “As part of this work, we’ve temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers until after the launch. Rest assured that your voucher code is still valid, and you will be able to redeem your code either when your existing membership expires and deactivates, or after the new PlayStation Plus service launches in your area, whichever happens first.”
Sony also clarifies that anyone who isn’t a current member of either service can still redeem vouchers. As confirmed previously, when the new service launches, if you’re an active member of both services, you’ll get automatically bumped up to PlayStation Plus Premium, the highest tier. Those with only a PS Plus subscription will be converted to PS Plus Essential, the base tier, and those with only a PS Now subscription will be converted to PS Plus Premium.
There is a catch, however. While a solitary current PS Plus subscription’s conversion to PS Plus Essential will be pretty much one-to-one, if someone who isn’t an existing member redeems a PS Now voucher after the new service launches, your automatic upgrade to PS Plus Premium will be “for the length of time equivalent to the monetary value of your original voucher”. So a month of PS Now will translate to approximately three weeks of PS Plus Premium.
Similarly, if you are an existing member and redeem PS Plus or PS Now vouchers after the revamped service is live, your subscription “will be converted to a length of time on your current PlayStation Plus membership plan equivalent to the monetary value of the voucher you are redeeming”. So a month of PS Plus, for instance, becomes either three weeks of PS Plus Extra or two and a half weeks of PS Plus Premium.
It’s a complicated mess, to say the very least, and doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in these early days. Hopefully Sony will be able to sort out its communication in the coming days and weeks and be clearer and more concise with its messaging. And hopefully the library of games offered with PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium will be worth the headache.
To learn when the revamped PlayStation Plus will be launching in your region of the world, head on over here.