Analysis: Making sense of Sony's new PlayStation Plus conversion chart

We break down Sony's new PlayStation Plus conversion charts to tell you everything you need to know about the upcoming changes to the PlayStation subscription.

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Yesterday, Sony opened up a can of worms by issuing out a very confusing and needlessly complicated PlayStation Plus chart. Sony is attempting to answer everyone's questions about the new three-tiered PlayStation Plus platform.

Like, for instance, what happens to your existing subscription when the new service rolls out.

There's a lot to go over here, so let's get started.

The new PlayStation Plus: Three Tiers

First let's do a recap on what's changing with the new PlayStation Plus.

• Sony is merging PlayStation Plus with PlayStation Now
• The service is coming out on June 13
• The new service combo has been rebranded with three separate PlayStation Plus tiers with different prices: Essential, Extra, and Premium

They look like this:

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Sony has temporarily disabled all PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now voucher redemptions

• Sony has turned off redemptions for all PS Plus and PS Now code vouchers
• That means if you purchased a card or a code in a store, you can't redeem them to your PlayStation Account
• Sony is doing this to prevent users from stacking up subscriptions and to force new subscribers into buying the more expensive tiers at MSRP rates

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Conversions - Existing Subscribers & New Subscribers

Now let's talk about conversions.

• All existing PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus users can convert NEW SUBSCRIPTIONS/VOUCHERS to Essential, Extra, or Premium
• Existing stacked subscriptions will be honored
• It's not a 1:1 ratio though and subscription length will be reduced if you upgrade to Extra or Premium tiers
• New subscribers are treated differently (see below)
• PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now both have their own separate conversion ratios, but again, only for newly redeemed vouchers

Here's a breakdown.

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PlayStation Plus Conversions - Existing Subscribers ONLY

• Existing PS Plus subscribers can convert to new tiers
• You're not grandfathered, though. There's a time reduction when moving to a higher-priced tier
• The PS Plus conversion rates for EXISTING SUBSCRIBERS can be found above
• New PS Plus subscribers cannot upgrade
• All new PlayStation Plus code redemptions or subscription sign-ups will be LOCKED to the PS Plus Essential tier

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PlayStation Now Conversions - Existing Subscribers

• If you already have an active PS Now subscription as of June 13, you can upgrade to Extra or Premium at the above rates
• These rates are exclusive to EXISTING SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
• New subscribers aren't eligible for these rates

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PlayStation Now Conversions - New Subscribers

• New PS Now subscriptions will be converted into PS Plus Premium at the above rates
• Sony has removed the option to buy PS Now subscriptions from the PS Store

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Wrap-Up

We hope this article helped you make sense of what's going on with Sony's new PlayStation Plus. The company isn't doing anyone any favors for either existing or new subscribers, and is basing its conversions on ratios between cost and subscription times across the three tiers.

The new PlayStation Plus offerings are priced to artificially skew value towards yearly subscription pricing. We have an analysis on this above, which suggests the PS Plus Extra tier simply isn't worth buying due to the $20 differential between the value-oriented Premium tier.

The new business plan has drawn significant controversy and push-back among PlayStation fans.