After PlayStation announced a price increase for PlayStation Plus during the months of August-September worldwide, PlayStation executives recently addressed this issue for the first time in an interview with Barron’s. Eric Lempe, the senior vice president of the company, provided reasoning behind this decision, explaining that the company needed to adjust prices according to market conditions, similar to how it occurs in every industry around the globe. However, Lempe clarified that the company did not increase prices uniformly across all countries where it operates, with only 85% of them experiencing price hikes over the past few years. The last price increase occurred in 2017, which sets it apart from other subscription services that have undergone continuous price increases.
After the PlayStation price hike, the company has been striving to enhance the value of its service by introducing features such as Picture Core for movie-watching and cloud streaming.
Lempe was also asked for his opinion on comparing PlayStation to Xbox Game Pass in terms of releasing new games from day one. In response, Lempe emphasized that PlayStation focuses on what customers will get in terms of game categories and quality. The company already provides a relatively good catalog of games, excluding the additional features and services that come along with it.
Lempe reiterated that although the approaches may differ, they all reflect consumers’ desires. Since the introduction of the new tier system for PlayStation Plus, the company has observed that one-third of customers choose to subscribe to the two higher tiers (Extra/Deluxe), surpassing expectations.
TLDR: PlayStation executives have addressed the recent price increase for PlayStation Plus, stating that it was necessary due to market conditions. The company has been focusing on adding value with features like Picture Core. They believe in providing customers with a range of game categories and high-quality options. Despite different approaches, customer preferences have been reflected in the subscription choices, exceeding initial expectations.
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