The new PlayStation Plus will bring cloud-based titles to PC

Sony revealed this week that it’s revamping the PlayStation Plus service. There will be three separate tiers, with the streaming service PlayStation Now getting rolled in. But it’ll cost a premium price. It’s available in the new highest-tier option, which will grant customers the ability to not only play titles natively on their PlayStation console, but also access to certain games via cloud streaming on PC.

Starting in June, Sony is offering PlayStation Plus subscriptions in three tiers:

• PlayStation Plus Essential (the same as the existing service)
• PlayStation Plus Extra – the same benefits as Essential, but with “up to 400 of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games” downloadable.
• PlayStation Plus Premium – the same benefits as Essential and Extra, but with additional cloud-streaming access for PS1, PS2, PSP and PS4 games across PS4/PS5 consoles and PC.

The Premium tier is, as mentioned, the most expensive option. It’s set at a monthly price of $17.99 USD monthly and $119.99 USD annually.  With this, Sony has basically taken its existing PlayStation Now streaming service and rolled it into PlayStation Plus.

Now you’re playing with (cloud) power

While this is great news for folks who’ve never had a chance to dabble in the PlayStation library before, there are some caveats (beyond the price). The quality of the streaming, and also the availability of titles, isn’t always guaranteed.

Some who have tried PlayStation Now streaming in the past have commented on how it’s not always the greatest experience.

Sony has not explicitly mentioned that any improvements to its streaming infrastructure have been made. Time will eventually tell if it proves to be more reliable. As it relates to game availability, Sony has mentioned that it will not bring its newly released blockbuster titles to the service on day one. Xbox is already accomplishing this with Game Pass.

In fact, Sony has yet to provide a real timeframe for when customers can expect such tentpole titles to release for the service. So, hot new releases like Gran Turismo 7 may very well not come until a year or so down the line. Thus, especially for PC-only customers, access to this library seems like it will mostly be regulated to a “retro” affair.