PS Plus subscribers stabilize at 46.4 million through PlayStation's record Q3

Sony has re-captured enough users to stabilize PlayStation Plus after losing nearly 2 million subscribers in the Q2 period.

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PlayStation Plus has bounced back. Sony just reported its best-ever Q3 period in the history of PlayStation with $8.8 billion revenues generated during the holiday 2022 period, and PS Plus numbers also surged by 1 million subscribers during the expansion point.

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Sony has yet to recoup all of the 1.9 million PS Plus subscribers that it had lost throughout Q2, but did manage to pull in 1 million subscribers to push PlayStation Plus' total count to 46.4 million. These are hardly record numbers for the service--the current high for PS Plus was set in Q3 FY2020 with an all-time high of 47.6 million subscribers--but the quarter-over-quarter growth is quite important for Sony's long-term digital earnings.

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Most PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 gamers still aren't subscribed to PS Plus. However, this trend is nothing new and has been reflected throughout the fluctuations in quarterly subscriber counts. Our findings indicate that 59% of users are not subscribed to PS Plus, whereas 41% of PlayStation users are subscribed to the service.

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Based on numbers provided by Sony and converted using foreign exchange rates, the PlayStation games division made a strong $862 million from the Network Services segment, which primarily includes subscriptions and advertising revenue.

The current earnings record for Network Services is $931 million, which was set in Q1 FY2021. Earnings slid down to $823 million following the launch of Sony's three-tiered PS Plus service in Q1 FY22, which was the lowest point since before the pandemic started.

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Sony is continuing its efforts to drive up subscribers by adding more valuable content to its three-tiered PS Plus offerings, including a bevy of first-party PlayStation 5 games available on its Extra and Premium tiers. Sony is also making the decision to end its popular PS Plus Collection bonus for PS Plus subscribers who own a PlayStation 5, likely due to licensing expirations.