PS Plus tax reveal!
Discussion
I am a PS4 user, I dont play consoles much but I play a few games online, and obviously have noticed the decline in quality and quantity of the monthly games you get as a "reward" for being taxed to play online since the PS5 launch and especially now when you really only get crud if you are a basic member.
But it seems Sony are so desperate for money they are now telling me that in 2026 they will stop uploading games for free, so you are basically revealing exactly what PS Plus is really for, you are being taxed by Sony to play online!
I do find this staggering, not at all surprising as why continue to serve people who will not upgrade and spend hundreds of pounds on your brand new machine, why look after tham they have only paid out hundreds of pounds to you for basically nothing for years, why not make them pay to play online and give them nothing in return! Not only will you give me nothing for paying a subscription, you are basically trying to manipulate your loyal customers into buying a new machine by cutting off any reason they might have to keep using the old one lol! Pretty ruthless
I mean I have heard of dumb decisions but this one, well guess what I did, I instantly cancelled my membership. Nice move Sony
But it seems Sony are so desperate for money they are now telling me that in 2026 they will stop uploading games for free, so you are basically revealing exactly what PS Plus is really for, you are being taxed by Sony to play online!
I do find this staggering, not at all surprising as why continue to serve people who will not upgrade and spend hundreds of pounds on your brand new machine, why look after tham they have only paid out hundreds of pounds to you for basically nothing for years, why not make them pay to play online and give them nothing in return! Not only will you give me nothing for paying a subscription, you are basically trying to manipulate your loyal customers into buying a new machine by cutting off any reason they might have to keep using the old one lol! Pretty ruthless
I mean I have heard of dumb decisions but this one, well guess what I did, I instantly cancelled my membership. Nice move Sony
Firstly it isn’t a tax, obviously.
Secondly, the games on the lowest tier have rarely been that good, or if they are they are usually older. It’s always been about online play fundamentally.
Now you have a console you can only play offline games on or games in offline mode. There can’t be that many of those surely, depending what you play?
So I’m not sure Sony are the ones majorly affected by the decision to cancel.
So to conclude I’m not sure this is the Tah Dah revelation you think.
Removed the additional thought, was nonsense given the facts.
Secondly, the games on the lowest tier have rarely been that good, or if they are they are usually older. It’s always been about online play fundamentally.
Now you have a console you can only play offline games on or games in offline mode. There can’t be that many of those surely, depending what you play?
So I’m not sure Sony are the ones majorly affected by the decision to cancel.
So to conclude I’m not sure this is the Tah Dah revelation you think.
Removed the additional thought, was nonsense given the facts.
Edited by Dingu on Saturday 8th February 11:37
Edited by Dingu on Saturday 8th February 11:40
Dingu said:
Now you have a console you can only play offline games on or games in offline mode. There can’t be that many of those surely, depending what you play?
Its not even that, PS4 can still play online in 2026, the only change that the OP is highlighting is that in 2026 there won't be any free monthly games for a 13 year old platform.Crafty_ said:
Dingu said:
Now you have a console you can only play offline games on or games in offline mode. There can’t be that many of those surely, depending what you play?
Its not even that, PS4 can still play online in 2026, the only change that the OP is highlighting is that in 2026 there won't be any free monthly games for a 13 year old platform.There is absolutely no scandal then.
I don't see a scandal but as someone that pretty much just played one game for years and bought Plus just to be able to do so (online FPS) it finally got to the point where it just didn't make sense to keep paying it.
I didn't download a single free game but added them to my library on the chance I might one day.
The loss of Black Friday deals for the subscriptions at around £30 a year wasn't ideal either as that seemed about right for the few hours a week I used it.
I'll probably jump back on out of necessity if Battlefield 6 arrives and pushes me to finally get a PS5 but for now the PS4 is just gathering dust.
I'd like a lower tier subscription on a per game basis but I know I'm in a minority of weirdos that pretty much stick to one game for years
I just read it's been down all day anyway.
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/02/psn-down-w...
I didn't download a single free game but added them to my library on the chance I might one day.
The loss of Black Friday deals for the subscriptions at around £30 a year wasn't ideal either as that seemed about right for the few hours a week I used it.
I'll probably jump back on out of necessity if Battlefield 6 arrives and pushes me to finally get a PS5 but for now the PS4 is just gathering dust.
I'd like a lower tier subscription on a per game basis but I know I'm in a minority of weirdos that pretty much stick to one game for years
I just read it's been down all day anyway.
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2025/02/psn-down-w...
Edited by thetapeworm on Saturday 8th February 12:38
So you all think it's fine to have to pay to play online with no other benefits? That to you is all fine? I know the system is old, but to basically pull any other benefit for the sub model is pretty poor don't you think?
The games will still exist, a lot of the stuff you pay for (it is not free) is old anyway, and pretty poor quality in recent months as they clearly scale it down to make it less and less worthwhile.
Or are they simply trying to force you onto the better monthly sub plans where you get more for your money?
The games will still exist, a lot of the stuff you pay for (it is not free) is old anyway, and pretty poor quality in recent months as they clearly scale it down to make it less and less worthwhile.
Or are they simply trying to force you onto the better monthly sub plans where you get more for your money?
bergclimber34 said:
So you all think it's fine to have to pay to play online with no other benefits? That to you is all fine? I know the system is old, but to basically pull any other benefit for the sub model is pretty poor don't you think?
The games will still exist, a lot of the stuff you pay for (it is not free) is old anyway, and pretty poor quality in recent months as they clearly scale it down to make it less and less worthwhile.
Or are they simply trying to force you onto the better monthly sub plans where you get more for your money?
As stated above I think it's fine to pay "something" but there's a limit to where I feel there's value vs what they want me to pay, hence my cancellation because I don't think paying ~£60 a year to enable the online play feature in a 6.5 year old game where the online stuff is run by EA and not Sony is good value for the limited play time I had. The games will still exist, a lot of the stuff you pay for (it is not free) is old anyway, and pretty poor quality in recent months as they clearly scale it down to make it less and less worthwhile.
Or are they simply trying to force you onto the better monthly sub plans where you get more for your money?
I don't want to be able stream games, I don't want access to a back catalogue of games, I don't really want the free monthly stuff as invariably it's a mechanism to then try and sell me add-ons to them but now and again there were some decent offers, I believe one of the F1 games was available not so long ago, maybe PS5 only though?
Gold, Silver and even Bronze are too much for what I need, I'd take a £20 a year "zinc" level just to allow online play but even then I still think that kind of thing should be a given with Sony taking a small cut from the sale of the actual game that relies on the online mode.
bergclimber34 said:
So you all think it's fine to have to pay to play online with no other benefits? That to you is all fine? I know the system is old, but to basically pull any other benefit for the sub model is pretty poor don't you think?
The games will still exist, a lot of the stuff you pay for (it is not free) is old anyway, and pretty poor quality in recent months as they clearly scale it down to make it less and less worthwhile.
Or are they simply trying to force you onto the better monthly sub plans where you get more for your money?
Not that bothered. They aren’t going to continue to support an old console indefinitely. The games will still exist, a lot of the stuff you pay for (it is not free) is old anyway, and pretty poor quality in recent months as they clearly scale it down to make it less and less worthwhile.
Or are they simply trying to force you onto the better monthly sub plans where you get more for your money?
PS Plus is a shadow of what it once was - ever since they came up with the more premium tiers, the 'free games every month to claim' base tier has been getting worse and worse in terms of selection.
Not a patch on the glory days late in the PS3 cycle where you got some top PS3 games plus also great Vita/PSP Games and then when PS4 came out, some PS4 *as well* (including PSVR). Quite a few of the titles were cross-play too so you could use them on PS3 or Vita if there was also a version on that. eg. I got one of my most played games on the Playstation - Resogun - off of PS+ when I didn't even own a PS4 but was able to play it on PS3 and later, Vita, before I finally got a PS4 Pro a couple of years into the PS4 lifecycle and could enjoy it in all its glory.
The only reason I'm still bothering with PS+ is to keep access to the dozens of games for PS3/Vita/PS4 that I already downloaded over the years. The PS5 offerings just aren't worth it on their own and TBH there weren't all that many really great PS4 releases on plus either.
Not a patch on the glory days late in the PS3 cycle where you got some top PS3 games plus also great Vita/PSP Games and then when PS4 came out, some PS4 *as well* (including PSVR). Quite a few of the titles were cross-play too so you could use them on PS3 or Vita if there was also a version on that. eg. I got one of my most played games on the Playstation - Resogun - off of PS+ when I didn't even own a PS4 but was able to play it on PS3 and later, Vita, before I finally got a PS4 Pro a couple of years into the PS4 lifecycle and could enjoy it in all its glory.
The only reason I'm still bothering with PS+ is to keep access to the dozens of games for PS3/Vita/PS4 that I already downloaded over the years. The PS5 offerings just aren't worth it on their own and TBH there weren't all that many really great PS4 releases on plus either.
Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff