PlayStation's new tiered PS Plus service has been rolled out in certain parts of Asia this week, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, which means we are slowly starting to learn more about how it will work. Certain classic games having trophy support, and the ability to play games downloaded through Premium offline, for example. Mostly good news, aside from the fact certain subscribers are just now discovering Sony won't be honoring PS Plus discounts they received through stacking their subscription.
The news appears to have been shared for the first time on Reddit and then relayed by Push Square. There are two major issues being reported by Asian PS Plus subscribers right now. The first is that PlayStation is asking for subscribers who want to upgrade their PS Plus to effectively pay back any discounts they were offered in the past. The second claims if you have a stacked subscription, you have to pay to upgrade the entire thing in one fell swoop.
That means subscribers who want to upgrade their Essential subscription to Extra or Premium are being asked to pay hundreds of dollars to do so in some instances. For example, if your PS Plus sub is stacked until 2024, perhaps because you took advantage of a previous discount offered up by PlayStation, you will have to pay for two whole years of Extra or Premium all in one go if you want to upgrade. What's more, the discount that likely enticed you to sign up for that much PS Plus in the first place will be wiped out, further bumping up your upgrade bill.
The news really has to be seen and re-read multiple times to be believed. That Sony would do something like this is almost unbelievable, but it appears to be happening to a lot of people who currently have access to the new PS Plus right now. As you can see in the comments on the Reddit post above, it is severely deterring others from wanting to sign up to higher tiers, something that flies right in the face of the whole reason behind this revamp.
You would have to think this is all one pretty huge oversight on Sony's part. A consequence of the complicated changes that were made to prevent subscribers from stacking Plus and Now subscriptions a few weeks ago in an attempt to get Premium for a lot less than intended for a very long time. Fingers crossed this is one of the reasons why PlayStation opted for a staggered launch and the problem is rectified before the service is rolled out in other parts of the world.