Sony Silently Withdraws PS Now Annual Offer from the PSN Store

Sony has withdrawn the annual subscription (PS Now) option from its website after a revelation that gamers could accumulate years of PlayStation Now memberships in a deceptive way.

Users have started stockpiling years' worth of PlayStation Now memberships. Users are doing this, in order to get the new, updated PlayStation Plus Premium tier for half the price when it launches in June. According to Eurogamer, Sony has removed the annual  PlayStation Now subscriptions from its servers, leaving the monthly option only.

Users identified a workaround earlier today that allowed them to purchase several annual memberships to PlayStation Now for $59.99 each. According to Sony, existing PS Now subscribers will automatically upgrade to the new PS Plus Premium tier at no cost.  According to PlayStation's announcement last week, the Premium tier would cost $119.99 per year when the time comes. This deal was particularly a good one as it would save players $60 per year. That exploit, however, is no longer available. 

PS Now, on the other hand, can only be purchased on a monthly basis ($9.99). PS Now will no longer be available as a separate product once the new PS Plus starts. Therefore, players will be sent to the corresponding tier, which will cost $17.99 per month.

Last week, Sony unveiled the new and improved PlayStation Plus. Players had been waiting for months after reports that Sony was working on a PlayStation counterpart to Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass. Like its competitors, the redesigned PlayStation Plus has multiple tier options. The base tier of PlayStation Plus, Essential, includes all of the services currently available through PlayStation Plus and costs $9.99 per month. The next tier, PlayStation Plus Extra, costs $14.99 per month and includes the previous tier. Additionally, the tier includes up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games that are available for download to the subscriber's system.

The most expensive tier is PlayStation Plus Premium, which costs $17.99 per month. This plan includes everything from the other tiers and a library of 340 games for PlayStation One, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable. 

The new PlayStation Plus subscription has a downside in that it lacks access to new games on their release days. This feature has helped the Xbox Game Pass become a smashing success. 

PlayStation Plus will launch in June all over the world.

What’s your take? Why did Sony withdraw the PS Now feature? Let us know over on our socials here or down in the comments below.

Looking for more content? Check out these articles.

PlayStation Now April 2022 Update Adds Four PS4 Games

World of Warcraft 2022 Expansion Details Leaked Early