SONY announces increase in PS+ Pricing. How will this affect the service?

Just when many PS+ members already felt let down by the considerable low-quality service that is the PS+ membership, Sony made an update to their latest “free games” blog post and sent emails to respective members regarding a price change to the current PS+ model.

As of September 22nd, the company will be upping the prices of their 1-year membership cards from $49.99 to $59.99 ($69.99 CAD) and the 3-month cards from $17.99 to $24.99 ($29.99 CAD). The 1-month membership, however, will remain at $9.99/month.  The price raise is justified by the company in the following:

PlayStation Plus strives to enrich your PlayStation experience through a world-class service built for our fans. This marks the first time that PS Plus membership prices will increase in the U.S. and Canada since the launch of the service in 2010. The new pricing reflects the current market conditions while enabling us to continue providing exceptional value to our members. As a member, you will continue to enjoy the benefits and features that enable shared experiences, such as online multiplayer, free games, and exclusive discounts. You will also continue to get exclusive benefits such as online game save storage and discounts across the PlayStation digital services.

From a business perspective, the change is somewhat understandable. They’re matching their price for their online service subscription to their competitor XBOX LIVE, and many theorize that this is Sony’s attempt at delivering more AAA and quality titles to their monthly “free games” release. Since the inception of PS+, many of had a problem with their free games that arrived each month; most being unknown and/or low quality indie games from the store whilst the rival XBOX LIVE members received quality games and AAA titles. This surprising move by SONY had led many of its users to hope this is their first step in finally delivering non-stop high quality and AAA titles to their lineup each month; which in turn can entice more gamers to switch from the Xbox over to PS4 and bring back old patrons of PS+.

How this can affect the company

On a more personal note, I personally hope that SONY understands their current situation with PS+. They do not own any of the game servers that you pay to play on, and their monthly 2 to 3 (and more depending on which consoles you own) “free” games being indies and/or low quality have disappointed many of the subscribers. Though the change in price is not an insane increase, it’s an increase none the less for a service that has seemingly failed to consistently satisfy its members, and if it does not deliver on the first month of its price change (October will see the first (if any) changes of the price increase) then I feel it is safe to assume many will drop the service, and some devotees leave the entire console all together.

What are you’re thoughts on SONY’s price change to PS+? Do you believe this is to bring better “free games” and discounts to keep them on-par with XBOX LIVE? Let us know your thoughts below.