If you’re a PlayStation owner in Europe, you may have received an email from Sony today with some bad news. PlayStation Plus–Sony’s online service which not only sets up online matches, but also provides members with exclusive sales and free games–is getting a price hike. In the email Sony sent out to European subscribers earlier today, they informed recipients that subscription prices would rise starting August 31st.
According to an article from Engadget, UK prices would rise as follows: monthly price would go from 6 pounds to 7, quarterly from 15 pounds to 20, and the annual pass is going from 40 pounds to 50. In the rest of Europe, the prices for monthly, quarterly and yearly subscriptions jump to 8 euros, 25 euros, and 60 euros, respectively. Sony has yet to offer an explanation as to why its raising prices, only suggesting that subscribers adjust their auto-renewal settings if they don’t feel like paying the new costs, as membership renewals after August 31st will be charged at the new price.
This sudden and unexplained price hike seems similar to the one that hit American subscribers last September. Honestly, European subscribers should feel lucky Sony waited this long to raise their prices. Sony didn’t provide much of an explanation then either, simply stating that the new prices reflected the “current market conditions.”
Along with all this news. Sony’s email assured subscribers that PlayStation Plus will still continue to provide online multiplayer, two PS4 games a month plus a social party game called That’s You! until October 25th, exclusive discounts and 10 GB of online storage. If all that still sounds appealing to you, you may want to think about paying for an annual membership before August 31st to avoid paying the raised prices for another year.