Sony blocks PlayStation Plus stacking ahead of June revamp
Users could previously stack years and years for the new service.
If you hadn't already stacked up your PlayStation Plus member to get the most Premium possible later in 2022, it's no longer possible.
With the upcoming launch of Sony's PlayStation Plus revamp in June 2022, some PlayStation users have been jumping on the ability to "stack" their memberships. When the change happens in June, Sony has stated that existing subscribers to both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now will be converted to PlayStation Plus Premium, with their new subscription length based on the longer of their two prior subscriptions.
As a result, players could purchase discounted years of PlayStation Plus at retail, subscribe to the basic plan for PlayStation Now, and end up saving money when the transition happens. PlayStation Plus Premium, the highest of the three new tiers, is set to be priced at at $18 monthly, $50 quarterly, or $120 for a year.
Earlier in the week, some PlayStation users across social media began noticing that the stacking was no longer possible, getting error messages. Now, a stealth update to the FAQ (as noticed by Push Square) indicates that players will no longer be able to.
"As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are doing some work behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members," the quietly updated FAQ reads. "As part of this work, we’ve temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers until after the launch. Rest assured that your voucher code is still valid, and you will be able to redeem your code either when your existing membership expires and deactivates, or after the new PlayStation Plus service launches in your area, whichever happens first."
For now, this means that any PlayStation Plus subscription cards purchased from retailers cannot be redeemed by anyone with a current membership. Anyone signing up for a new membership seems to be able to redeem an initial card, but the aforementioned stacking will still be disabled.
None of this has been officially communicated via PlayStation Blog or other channels. Sony includes a conversion chart in its FAQ. An example given indicates that a month of PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now will provide three weeks or roughly 2.5 weeks of PlayStation Plus Premium.
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PlayStation Plus 12-month
PlayStation Plus enables players to get free monthly games and access to online multiplayer for paid titles. New membership bonuses are coming in June, but you can't stack your subscription right now.
Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on PlayStation on Android Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert