Sony claims PS+ upgrade fee was a ‘technical error’

After months of leaks and rumours, Sony is finally launching the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers, with the rollout kicking off this month in Asia, with the US and Europe to follow in the coming months. Ahead of the launch, many stocked up on PS+ and PSNow subscription time in order to take advantage of the upgrade to the new tiers at a discount. Unfortunately, many who did this were met with an ‘upgrade fee', forcing customers to pay the difference in order to jump to one of the new tiers. 

Sony did stop accepting PS+ and PSNow subscription codes in order to put a stop to the number of users upgrading to the new subscription tiers at a discount. Sony then took things a step further, with an upgrade fee to completely remove the discount. After contacting Sony support, customers were told that in order to upgrade to PS+ Premium or Extra, customers would have to pay the difference. Depending on how much subscription time you stacked up ahead of time, this upgrade fee could cost hundreds of dollars.

Due to a technical error, players in Asia who have previously purchased a PlayStation Plus membership at a discount have been incorrectly charged for their upgrade pricing. This error has been fixed and impacted players will receive a credit. We thank you for your patience.

— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) May 25, 2022

This news quickly sparked backlash on social media, with many labelling it as another anti-consumer move from the PlayStation team. Now, Sony is backtracking on the upgrade fee, claiming that it was a “technical error” and offering store credit to those who paid the upgrade fee. Moving forward, this fee will not be in place, so those upgrading when the new tiers arrive in the US and Europe shouldn't have to worry.

PlayStation+ Extra and Premium will roll out in Japan starting on the 2nd of June, the US on the 13th of June and Europe starting on the 23rd of June.

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KitGuru Says: Those that stacked up on PS+ subscription time ahead of the new service have locked themselves into the PlayStation ecosystem for years to come, something that will assuredly earn Sony more money in the long-run. 

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