Sony claims 'error' on extortionate PS Plus upgrades killing discounts [update]

PlayStation Plus subscription stacking and discounts appear to not carry over to the new tiered structure, with reports from the Asian territories suggesting that all the money saved will be wiped out by upfront fees.

Update:
There are two follow-ups here, courtesy of Push Square. The first is that ResetEra picked up an email found through VG Time.

How has Sony responded to the PS Plus upgrade situation?

A Google translated version of the email suggests that the recouping of discounts on Plus by marking up the upgrade price appeared to be intentional on Sony's half:

“If you need to upgrade to the second or third tier of the membership, you need to make up for the difference in the previous discounted price first to return to the normal price. For example: a one-year PS Plus membership was HK$308 and the discounted price was HK$187.60, so the difference is HK$120.40 divided by the number of remaining months.”

While we would say it certainly reads like an intentional move, we do have to point out that — having worked in customer service ourselves — you always try and make it look like your mistakes are on purpose in this kind of situation regardless of if it was or not. Regardless, Sony has now issued a tweeted apology over the upgrade situation, claiming it was an 'error.'

Reports had already claimed the issue had been resolved, but now PlayStation has confirmed the matter. Somehow, we are still sceptical that this was a clerical issue. Hey, whatever: your savings will be restored, rejoice!

Original Story:
Sony might be about to unleash a world of hurt upon players who have stacked up PlayStation Plus subscriptions hoping to save money. A Reddit thread spotted by Push Square stated that in Asian territories, Sony is requesting that you upgrade for the length of time you have left in one big, inseparable payment that seems to eliminate any previous discounts.

What is happening to your PlayStation Plus upgrades?

At the moment, a PS Plus subscription converts into the Essential tier. Now, if you want to upgrade from Essential to Extra or Deluxe (this is the Asian variant of Premium without streamable games), it looks like it might cost a fortune to players who stacked their subscriptions. Sony is demanding an upfront fee for an upgrade in one payment that isn't divisible by months or lengths of time. So if you have three years ready to go, then you will be — according to the reports in Asia — paying the whole three years of whatever upgrade you desire. Just to be clear, that could result in hundreds of pounds, dollars, and euros on an upgrade over several years of a subscription because you can't just upgrade for a smaller length of time.

Apparently, another wrinkle has arisen. Historical discounts from the PS Store are being eliminated from the total upgrade price, meaning you have to pay the normal upgrade fee and however much you once saved. It looks like those of you who bought pre-paid cards with bonuses on them — some cards used to come with three extra months — won't have the discount wiped, but will still need to abide by the upgrade fee.

It's important to note that this might not happen in the rest of the world — and we can bet that the historical discounts aspect will be righted before releasing in other territories. In fact, we are willing to say that Sony has performed a staggered rollout just because of these kinds of potentially unexpected issues.

Thoughts on this? Is anyone concerned about their subscription stacks? Let us know in the comments, and I'm sure one of the team will see you there!

PlayStation Plus

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.