In June, Sony launched an all-new, tiered PlayStation Plus that replaced the existing subscription service. A month later, the gaming juggernaut announced PlayStation Stars, a rewards and loyalty program. Of course, you are probably confused about the differences between the two services. Don’t worry, we’re here to highlight the couple’s characteristics so you can make an informed decision before signing up for either one.
What happened to the old PS Plus and PS Now?
Before the debut of the new PlayStation Plus, Sony offered two subscription services: PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. The original PlayStation Plus offered online multiplayer, three free games per month, and exclusive discounts. PlayStation Now, on the other hand, lets you stream hundreds of older Sony games on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, or PC. The new PlayStation Plus effectively combines and revamps the two services into one.
What do you get with the new PlayStation Plus?
The new PlayStation Plus offers three different subscription levels: PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium. But PlayStation Plus is a tiered system, so there are different features available for each of the three. Let’s see what you get.
PlayStation Plus Essential
This entry level is essentially the same as what the original PlayStation Plus offered. If you had the original PlayStation Plus subscription, your subscription will automatically transfer to this subscription.
Price: $9.99 per month, $24.99 per quarter, or $59.99 per year.
Functions:
- Online Multiplayer
- Exclusive Online Store Membership Benefits
- 100 GB cloud storage
- Allows you to share your games online via Share Play
- “Free” Monthly Games
- Exclusive skins and in-game items for select games
PS5 owners get additional benefits:
- Access to the PlayStation Plus collection. This includes games like God of War, Crash Bandicoot, Ratchet and Clank, and Uncharted 4.
- Help with playing. You can get hints during games if you are stuck. These hints leave out spoilers (something you might come across when searching for answers online).
PlayStation Plus Extra
Price: $14.99 per month, $39.99 per quarter or $99.99 per year.
Functions:
PlayStation Plus Premium
Price: $17.99 per month, $49.99 per quarter, or $119.99 per year.
Functions:
- All the same benefits as PlayStation Plus Extra
- Taste game. You can demo games, such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Horizon Forbidden West, for a few hours before purchasing. The saved data from your demo will be carried over to the full game.
- Over 300 additional games, including PSP, PS1, PS2, and PS3 titles.
- Play games on your PC. Your saved data is transferred between devices, so when you return to your console, you can pick up where you left off. Note: You need an internet connection to play games on your PC.
What is PlayStation Stars?
PlayStations Stars differs from PlayStation Plus in that it is a free rewards and loyalty program. This will earn you loyalty points or trophies for completing certain in-game goals or playing specific titles. You can exchange loyalty points for PlayStation Network wallet money. Sony’s phased rollout of PlayStation Stars will take place later this year.
What do you get with PlayStation Stars?
Sony has been a bit vague about program details, but here’s what we know so far.
Price: Free
Functions:
- Earn rewards that can be redeemed for PlayStation Network wallet.
- Monthly check-in campaign that rewards you for playing at least one game.
- Enter tournaments to win specific trophies or play a specific game online to receive targeted rewards.
- Win special prizes for completing all in-game achievements. Do it first in your local time zone and you can take home a unique reward that no one else can get.
- Digital collectibles. These are 3D rendered rewards based on video game characters and previous Sony hardware. Some are extremely rare and hard to come by. While they may sound like NFTs, they are not. They’re just digital, collectible PlayStation Stars exclusives.
Do you need PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Stars?
Now that you know the difference between the two services, you can see that they are quite different ideas. If you’re trying to choose between the two, your decision is pretty simple: PlayStation Stars is free!
However, if you’re curious to join PlayStation Plus, your decision may come down to one simple question: do you want to play online games? Then you need to sign up for a PlayStation Plus subscription. Even if you don’t want to play online, you may want to subscribe to one of the service’s newer tiers to play classic games.
Please note that subscribing to both services will earn you additional PlayStation Store points. More details on PlayStation Stars are yet to come, but for now, take advantage of everything the new PlayStation Plus has to offer.
To learn more about PlayStation, check out our list of the best playstation 5 gamesbest playstation 5 games.
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