Here’s the tiered PlayStation Plus launch timeline

June 13 is the big day in the Americas

Sony has narrowed down the launch timeline of its new multi-tier approach to PlayStation Plus. The revamped subscription service will roll out regionally, and the first launch, for “Asia markets (excluding Japan),” is happening in just over a month on May 23.

Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan the new PS Plus timeline in a blog post today, citing Sony’s “fantastic progress with our launch efforts”:

• Asia markets (excluding Japan) — targeting May 23, 2022
• Japan — targeting June 1, 2022
• Americas — targeting June 13, 2022
• Europe — targeting June 22, 2022

That’s all well and good — but what about the games, especially the fan-favorite legacy PS1/PS2/PSP games that may (or may not) make it in? We’ll have to wait for the full list.

What are the different tiers again?

A “quick” refresher on what’s included in the three PlayStation Plus tiers:

• PS Plus Essential — $60 per year with two monthly games, discounts, cloud saves, and online multiplayer, aka what we currently have as “PlayStation Plus.”
• PS Plus Extra — $100 per year with “up to 400” PS4 and PS5 games.
• PS Plus Premium — $120 per year with “340 additional games” including titles from the PS1, PS2, PSP, and (cloud steaming only) PS3 catalog, as well as PlayStation Now-style cloud streaming and “time-limited game trials.”

The pricing is going to be too steep for plenty of people, particularly folks who a🏅re into Xbox Game Pass or are struggling to find enough value in PlayStation Plus as it is. That said, plenty more of us are waiting to hear about the speci☂fic games in the latter two tiers.

Access to hundreds of (hopefully not filler) games in a digital pile doesn’t necessarily do much for me — my backlog is big enough! — but seeing certain PlayStation classics lined up together could quickly sway me through brute-forced nostalgia. I mean, hell, I’m subbed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack for N64 access. I’m an easy mark!

Curiously, Syphon Filter could be in the running for PlayStation Plus Premium if a recent rating in Korea is any indication. With around a month to go before the subscription becomes available to the first players, I’m sure we’ll hear concrete details soon.