The new PlayStation Plus service combines the PlayStation Now streaming service into all subscriptions, with three tiers available to choose from — PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra, and PlayStation Plus Premium. Any kind of PS Plus subscription is a requirement if you want to maximize certain PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games, as membership is needed to join your friends in online multiplayer modes. With PlayStation Plus, you’ll also get the chance to avail exclusive deals on the PlayStation Store, and get the best of PlayStation deals: free games to download every month that you’ll be able to keep playing as long as you keep your PS Plus subscription active. The free games alone make PlayStation Plus worth the cost of admission, but why pay full price? Below, we’ve got the latest PS Plus sales and prices available right now, so you can save money if you want to play online, while also enjoying free games on the cheap.
Best PS Plus deals
12-month membership for PlayStation Plus Essential — $50, was $60
PlayStation Plus Essential is the new name for what was previously known simply as PlayStation Plus. The main purpose of signing up for the service is to access the online modes of your favorite games, though there are added bonuses such as free games to download every month. You’ll be able to keep playing these games as long as your PlayStation Plus Essential membership remains active, or you decide to upgrade to the higher tiers — PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium.
What is PS Plus?
Along with online multiplayer and other in-game network features, a PlayStation Plus Essential membership grants you access to exclusive discounts and other promotions. Perhaps the most notable benefit of PS Plus is that every month, Sony gives subscribers two PlayStation games that are free to download. You have one month to add these free PS Plus games to your library.
After that, these titles are yours to keep so long as you have an active PS Plus subscription. The free-to-download games are generally pretty good (they are often some of the best PS4 games that have been out for a little while), and these alone justify the cost of PS Plus even for people who don’t do a lot of online gaming.
If your membership lapses, you lose access to these games; however, you can download them again if you re-activate your PS Plus account. In other words, you don’t need to worry about losing your free games if you decide to go without PS Plus for a while (or if you just forget to add more time to your subscription) — once they are in your library, these free PS Plus titles are yours to play whenever you have an active PS Plus membership. Just note that you may only add them to your library during the month that they are free.
PlayStation Plus Extra grants access to around 400 PS4 and PS5 games available to download, while PlayStation Plus Premium adds more than 340 games from the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP libraries. The highest tier also lets you stream PS3 games, the option to stream or download PS1, PS2, and PSP games, and an extra option to stream PS4 games in addition to just downloading them.
Is PS Plus needed to play Fortnite?
Although PS Plus is required to enjoy the networking features of most PlayStation 4 games, you do not need a PS Plus subscription to play Fortnite. Fortnite’s online multiplayer is hosted by the publisher, Epic Games, on its own servers, meaning that you can enjoy Fortnite multiplayer for free just as you would on a gaming PC.
Editors’ Recommendations
