An email sent from Sony Asia customer service would appear to confirm that those with an active PlayStation Plus subscription purchased at a discounted price will have to pay more to upgrade to Extra and Premium / Deluxe tiers.
For those who do not know what we are talking about, let’s do a quick summary. According to reports from Asian players, the upgrade system to switch to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium recognizes if a user has an active subscription purchased by taking advantage of an offer on the PlayStation Store.
In this case, the cost of the upgrade is calculated not only on the basis of the remaining days of the subscription but also on the price difference caused by the discount, which should therefore be repaid.
An undoubtedly anomalous solution and that at first many thought it was a simple system error. However, a few hours ago on ResetEra an email from Sony Asia customer service (translated into English by VGC) was shared confirming the upgrade at a higher price for those who purchased a discount subscription, which we report below:
“Thank you for contacting PlayStation Support and checking the price of your PlayStation Plus membership.”
“Since you purchased PlayStation Plus at a discounted price at the time of subscription, there are two PlayStation Plus subscriptions that are not eligible for other discounts:
1) PlayStation Plus membership purchased at a discount.
2) PlayStation Plus subscription redeemed with redemption code.
“Therefore, if you need to upgrade to Tier 2 or Tier 3 Premium membership, you will need to offset the difference between the previous discounted price and the regular price. For example, a PlayStation Plus membership costs HK $ 308 for one year and the discounted price is HK $ 187.6. The difference is $ 120.4 divided by the number of months remaining.”
“Please be assured that the system will automatically calculate the difference that needs to be refunded if you need to upgrade. Of course, you can also upgrade or downgrade your subscription according to your preferences.”
The email would therefore seem to confirm that those who have purchased a subscription to PlayStation Plus at a discounted price will have to pay for an upgrade with an increased cost, which also takes into account the difference in price divided by the number of remaining subscription days.
Without a doubt, this is a solution that will not go down for many, especially those who have accumulated years and years of subscriptions taking advantage of the offers of the PlayStation and now find themselves paying a drain for the upgrade to Extra and Premium / Deluxe.
That said, at the moment the FAQ on the official Italian PlayStation site does not mention this “extra tax” in any way, so the hope is that it will not be extended to Europe as well.