New PlayStation Plus debuts with fewer titles, additional upgrade fees for discounted subscriptions [Update]

Sony’s all-new PlayStation Plus debuted in select Asian markets at the start of its global rollout, but with far fewer games than the more than 700 titles originally announced. Some players in the region are understandably complaining about the move. Separately, Sony was found to be charging more for upgrades to new PS Plus tiers, for subscribers who previously got the discounted PlayStation Plus service. The subscription-based service, which was revamped in March, comes in three different tiers – to better counter Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass.

The revamped PlayStation Plus has arrived in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand as part of its initial global rollout. Sony has promised to offer more than 700 titles through the service. An official PlayStation Plus guide released earlier this week also mentions that subscribers will get access to “700 titles across three subscription plans.” However, that has not been the case – at least for the first subscribers.

Some gamers who subscribe to the new PlayStation Plus have taken to Twitter to report that the service launched with around 230 titles in total. Xbox Game Pass, on the other hand, has over 400.

As reported by Eurogamer, the list of games available as part of the PlayStation Plus service in Hong Kong shows that there are 269 titles for subscribers. The same is true in Malaysia and other markets, where the updated PS Plus service has just been introduced.

Sony has yet to respond to messages from subscribers regarding the number of titles available when the new PlayStation Plus service launches. However, he mentioned in his blog post announcing the launch that the given catalog of games “will be refreshed over time and with more exciting titles.” This suggests that gamers may have to wait a bit longer for new titles to hit the service.

Still, it’s unclear if the claim of bringing over 700 titles is limited to certain markets, as Sony doesn’t offer PS3 games for streaming in Asia.

The collection currently available to subscribers also includes select bundles, including Sony’s own collections such as BioShock 2 Remastered and BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition. It’s possible that Sony considered the games available in these bundles as separate offers to market the “over 700” figure. That said, some subscribers don’t think it’s worth spending on the new PlayStation Plus service in its current form.

In addition to fewer titles than expected, Sony is charging more for upgrades to subscribers who purchased the original PlayStation Plus service at a discount.

As reported by GameSpot, a PlayStation customer service manager allegedly confirmed to a subscriber in Hong Kong during a phone call that he had to pay an additional amount to make up the difference between the standard price and the discount that he had received before upgrading to the Essential or Premium Level of the new service.

The company reportedly asked the subscriber to pay 600 HKD (about 5,900 rupees) to upgrade to the revamped PlayStation Plus service over the 400 HKD (about 4,000 rupees) charged to a new user. This was because the subscriber in question had purchased the initial subscription at a discount.

Gadgets 360 has reached out to Sony for clarification on the reduced number of titles at launch and the price disparity for subscribers who originally received PlayStation Plus at a discount. This article will be updated when the company responds.

To update: Sony announced on Thursday that it had fixed the “technical error” that required users to pay more to upgrade from an existing PlayStation subscription.

The new PlayStation Plus service will launch in India as well as markets such as the United States, Europe and New Zealand in June. He’s also making his way to Japan in the second round after the initial deployment to Asia next week.