PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium are Sony’s take on Xbox Game Pass

After months (if not years) of speculation, Sony has officially announced its revamped game subscription service as it looks to take on Microsoft’s all-conquering Game Pass. The company is keeping the PlayStation Plus branding as it combines PS Plus and PlayStation Now into a three-tier service, but don’t expect Sony to add new PS4 or PS5 games on their release day. 

PlayStation Plus Essential is the lowest tier and it’s effectively the same as the current version of PS Plus. You’ll be able to claim two games per month that you can download and play as long as you maintain your subscription. You’ll also get discounts in the PSN Store, cloud storage for save files and access to online multiplayer. Those on PS5 will still have access to the PS Plus Collection, which includes a great batch of PS4 classics.

Pricing stays the same at $10 per month; $25 per quarter and $60 per year in the US; €9 per month, €25 per quarter and €60 per year in Europe; £7 per month, £20 per quarter and £50 per year in the UK; and ¥850 per month, ¥2,150 per quarter and ¥5,143 per year in Japan.

The middle tier is PlayStation Plus Extra. You’ll get access to the same benefits as the Essential tier along with a library of up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games. These will include PlayStation Studios titles as well as ones from third-party publishers. At the outset, Sony plans to offer games including Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11 and Returnal. 

You’ll be able to download these games, and everything else on the Extra tier, for offline play. Sony says the library will be refreshed regularly, so, as with Game Pass, some games might be dropped after a certain period.

The Extra tier costs $15 per month; $40 per quarter and $100 per year in the US; €14 per month, €40 per quarter and €100 per year in Europe; £11 per month, £32 per quarter and £84 per year in the UK; and ¥1,300 per month, ¥3,600 per quarter and ¥8,600 per year in Japan.

PlayStation 5 and DualSense controller
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget

At the top end is PlayStation Plus Premium. You’ll get access to everything in the Essential and Extra tiers, of course, and this is where the PS Now aspect really comes into play.

You’ll get access to another 340 or so games, including PS3 titles you can stream via the cloud. A bunch of PS1, PS2 and PSP games will be available to stream or download, meaning that Sony is using on-console emulation. Time-limited game trials will also be available on this tier.

Here’s where things get a little a more complex. Premium subscribers will be able to stream PS1, PS2 and PSP games, as well as PS4 titles on the Extra tier, but only in markets where PS Now is currently available. Those are the US, Canada, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

Sony plans to bring cloud streaming to more regions at a later date. In the meantime, those in markets without cloud streaming will get access to a cheaper version of Premium. Those who subscribe to that service, which is called PlayStation Plus Deluxe, will be able to download and play PS1, PS2 and PSP titles and have access to the game trials as well as the Essential and Extra perks.

The cloud gaming option will work on PS4 and PS5 consoles as well as PC. At least for the time being, you won’t be able to stream PlayStation games natively on phones or tablets (though there’s always the Remote Play option). Xbox Cloud Gaming is available on mobile devices in many regions. 

PlayStation Plus Premium costs $18 per month; $50 per quarter and $120 per year in the US; €17 per month, €50 per quarter and €120 per year in Europe; £13.50 per month, £40 per quarter and £100 per year in the UK; and ¥1,550 per month, ¥4,300 per quarter and ¥10,250 per year in Japan. Notably, at least in the US, the annual price is $60 less than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members pay for a year of access to that service.

PlayStation 5 DualSense controller.
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget

One thing you definitely won’t get anytime soon, no matter which tier you subscribe to, is first-party PlayStation games on the day they’re released. “We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken,” Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview. “The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want.”

This is a huge move for Sony as it tries to get players more invested in its platforms. Between PS Plus and PS Now, Sony has more than 50 million subscribers. The vast majority of those (more than 48 million) are PS Plus members that Sony is hoping will upgrade to a higher tier. Around 75 percent of PS Now members are also PS Plus subscribers, so they’ll soon pay less for the combined service.

The new-look PS Plus will start rolling out in June. It’ll debut in some markets in Asia before expanding to North America, Europe and other territories where PlayStation Plus is available. It plans to have the new tiers live in most PlayStation Network regions by the end of June. Expect to learn more details about the service in the coming weeks.

Otter’s AI now spares you the pain of summarizing meetings

You might not have cause to panic the next time you miss an important meeting. Otter is updating its collaboration tool with a beta “Automatic Outline” feature that uses the AI-based Assistant to automatically create a meeting summary. You should get the gist of what your colleagues said without having to listen to an entire conversation or read a transcript.

The new version should make it easier to translate meetings into real-world decisions, too. Otter is introducing a “Meeting Gems” panel that can create to-do entries and highlight crucial moments by highlighting segments from the notes. You can also mark action items as complete and copy notes for sharing.

Other improvements aren’t quite so dramatic, but could still prove helpful. You can use Otter Assistant to quickly add slides and other presentation images to your notes, and you can join meetings directly from the calendar panel. The home feed now prioritizes “high signal” meetings, and rookies will find more help from the outset.

The AI summaries may tempt you to skip less-than-essential meetings. However, they could easily prove useful as companies settle into the realities of hybrid and remote work. The pandemic has led to a surge in virtual meetings, and it’s not always easy to attend every one. Otter’s new AI functionality could help you spend more time working — and less time helping coworkers catch up.

The Morning After: Tiktok tests a watch-history feature

Your TikTok habits may vary, but I’ve sometimes pulled myself out of a fugue of lengthy viewing, hopping and browsing on the social app, barely recalling what I just spent 15 minutes doing. For me, and possibly you, a new watch-history feature could offer some insight to exactly what we’re wasting our time on.

According to Hammond Oh, TikTok is testing a watch-history tool to show you a list of videos that previously appeared in your For You feed, making it easier to rediscover clips (and creators) you may have not liked or followed.

There are other ways to seek out your TikTok watch history, but they’re not exactly easy to use. One method involves navigating to the Discover page, tapping search, entering an asterisk and toggling on the “watch videos” option in the search filters tab. As is the case with random feature tests on TikTok, Instagram and others, this might not make its way to all users, but keep an eye on your For You feed — just in case.

— Mat Smith

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OnePlus as we knew it is dead. Here’s what’s next

The company is chasing mainstream appeal.

OnePlus began as a startup making smartphones with high-end specs at relatively reasonable prices. In an age of black slabs, the company was able to forge an identity for itself, backed by devoted fans and a strong online presence. But now, after 10 generations of flagship phones, Sam Rutherford feels like the OnePlus we knew is gone, and it’s probably not coming back.

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Samsung’s $700 Smart Monitor M8 is now available to pre-order

You can control smart home devices using the 32-inch 4K display.

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Samsung

Samsung’s latest Smart Monitor is now available to pre-order. The kinda-familiar-looking Smart Monitor M8 has support for streaming services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV, as well as cloud gaming platforms. You won’t necessarily need to connect to external speakers, with two built-in 5W speakers and a tweeter that delivers 2.2-channel audio. The Smart Monitor M8 starts at $700 for the white model. The spring green, sunset pink and daylight blue models will cost you a little extra at $730.

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Amazon Games’ chief is leaving the company

Just after finally achieving some success with ‘Lost Ark’ and ‘New World.’

The Amazon Games struggle bus was finally going somewhere, but now studio head Mike Frazzini is stepping down. On LinkedIn, Frazzini cited the desire to spend more time with family. “While there’s never really a perfect time to step away from a great role, now is a good time,” he wrote. Amazon’s MMORPG New World was one of 2021’s biggest moneymakers on Steam.

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Spotify adds promised COVID-19 content advisory

This follows the drama with Joe Rogan’s podcast.

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Getty

Spotify has finally acted on its promise to add a COVID-19 content advisory label. You’ll now see a tab for a COVID-19 Guide when you visit podcasts and other content discussing the coronavirus. Tap it and you’ll visit a section that points you to authoritative sources (such as the World Health Organization and the UK’s National Health Service) as well as trustworthy content from the likes of The Guardian and the BBC.

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8BitDo’s Pro 2 controller drops to an all-time low in Amazon’s gaming sale

8BitDo’s Pro 2 was already great value at its regular price of $50, but now the controller has dropped to an all-time low on Amazon. It’s on sale for $42.50, which is 15 percent off the usual price.

Buy 8BitDo Pro 2 controller at Amazon – $42.50

As with the excellent SN30 Pro+, the Pro 2 is compatible with Nintendo Switch, Windows, macOS, Android and Raspberry Pi. This time around, the controller has two back buttons. Like all of the other inputs, those buttons on the handles (where your ring finger or pinky might rest naturally) are fully customizable through a Windows, Mac, Android and iOS app. The controller has a profile configuration switcher as well, so you can swap between three input configurations without having to fire up the app.

It’s a little disappointing that the controller isn’t compatible with iOS devices, PlayStation or Xbox. For those who game on pretty much every other major platform, though, the 8BitDo Pro 2 is well worth checking out, particularly if you pick up a cheap smartphone clip so you can more easily play cloud gaming titles just about anywhere.

Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma from side with yellow-green lighting
Razer

Elsewhere as part of Amazon’s gaming accessory sale, you can save on Razer’s wired Wolverine V2 Chroma controller. It also dropped to an all-time low. At $127.50, the white variant is slightly cheaper than the black model ($130). The controller usually costs $150.

Buy Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma (white) at Amazon – $127.50Buy Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma (black) at Amazon – $130

The Wolverine V2 Chroma is compatible with Xbox consoles and PC. It’s a worthy alternative to Microsoft’s Elite Wireless Series 2 controller.

It has six more buttons than a standard Xbox controller and they’re all remappable. Those could be useful for swiftly building structures in Fortnite (once that becomes a thing again) or executing rapid combos. There’s also full RGB support via Razer’s Xbox controller app, swappable thumbsticks and a hair-trigger mode that could give you an advantage over your rivals.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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‘Apex Legends’ will get dedicated PS5 and Xbox Series X/S updates today

The long-awaited current-gen versions of Apex Legends are almost here. Respawn Entertainment will release native PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of the battle royale when the Warriors Collection event goes live today.

All three consoles will support 4K output and full 60Hz gameplay as well as HDR. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions are getting higher-resolution shadow maps and larger level-of-detail distances (so you can see objects from further away).

Some features players might have been expecting at the outset will arrive in future patches. Those include support for 120Hz gameplay, adaptive triggers and haptic feedback on PS5, as well as audio and visual improvements.

Not having 120 fps capabilities at the jump will be disappointing for many, given the fast pace of Apex Legends matches and the fact the developers have long been discussing that feature as one of their goals for the current-gen versions. Still, after the native PS5 and Xbox Series X/S editions land, it should be somewhat easier for developers to roll out updates across all platforms, so hopefully it won’t be long before 120 fps support is added.

Thanks to Microsoft’s Smart Delivery tech, the Xbox Series X/S versions of Apex Legends should automatically download if you have the Xbox One edition installed. PS5 players will need to download their console’s version manually from the options menu on the Apex Legends game page or from the PSN store if they don’t have the PS4 edition on their system.

Beyond the current-gen versions, there’s a lot more for Apex Legends players to check out later today. The 9v9 Control mode, which proved popular when it debuted earlier this year, is back until April 12th. The Caustic Treatment area of King’s Canyon is getting some changes so it can act as a Control battleground.

There’s a new map called Drop-Off for the 3v3 Arena team deathmatch mode. A collection of 24 limited-time cosmetics will be available during the Warriors Collection event, including skins. Collect them all and you’ll unlock a new sword Heirloom item for Crypto.

Apex Legends
Respawn Entertainment/EA