Help Desk

PSLS Help Desk – PlayStation Plus Benefits and FAQ

PlayStation Plus is often seen as one of two things if comments are anything to go by: That service that gives players a bunch of crappy no-name indies or that required fee for online games that PS4 gamers begrudgingly pay, but the fact is that your $60 per year (price based on US based subscriptions) gets you a number of additional great benefits throughout the year that are all too easy to forget each time Sony announces the next round of included games that come to the service.

The Benefits of PlayStation Plus

Online Multiplayer

Most people just have Plus in order to be able to play online multiplayer. While there are a few exceptions, almost every PS4 game requires an active Plus subscription in order to play online. If you have a single PS4 with multiple accounts, you only need a single Plus subscription on the account that has activated that PS4 as their primary system to allow every account on the system to play online.

PS3 and Vita do not require a Plus subscription for online play.

Monthly Plus Games

Plus subscribers get access to a library of games that come complimentary with the service. New games are added to the service each month, and once you’ve redeemed those games, they are accessible to you and all users on your primary PS4 as long as your Plus subscription is active. Typically Sony offers two titles for each console (PS4, PS3, and Vita), for a grand total of six games if you have all three. Sometimes games are cross-buy, which means that the PS4 often gets more than just the two games advertised on the Plus section of your PS4.

Check PlayStation LifeStyle on the last Wednesday of each month to see what games are coming to PlayStation Plus for the following month.

Online Storage Automatic Upload

We’ve detailed how to set this up in the past, but with Plus you can make sure that your PS4 automatically downloads any game updates while your PS4 is in rest mode, so you don’t have to wait for an hour while that latest Overwatch patch downloads in order to play.

Previously this feature was Plus only, but it was added for all PS4 users. However, the automatic upload of your game saves to online storage is a Plus exclusive feature, and you get 10 GB of online storage for your saves, which should be more than enough. People often pay more than $60 a year for auto backup on their computers, so the subscription is a small price to pay for peace of mind for your save files.

Exclusive Content and Discounts

By just being a PlayStation Plus member you get the opportunity to get exclusive content and discounts through the PlayStation Store. When Sony decides to run flash sales, often the prices for Plus members end up being deep discounts that offer great games at really low prices. Other times you may find exclusive themes, avatars, or special pricing on game pre-orders, so if you buya lot of games digitally, you may find the Plus subscription to be worth it for these discounts that you get throughout the year.

Obviously not everyone will find the same value in every aspect of PlayStation Plus, but for the combined lot of features, $60 ends up being a small price to pay for the benefits that you get over the course of your active twelve month subscription to the service.

What’s your favorite part of the PlayStation Plus subscription? Do you feel that you get the full value for the $60 you pay each year? Remember that if you have any PlayStation questions that you think Help Desk could assist with, let us know in the comments.

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