Sony’s support email reportedly confirms that players must pay back PS Plus discounts in order to upgrade

An email published online appears to confirm previous reports that players who subscribed to PlayStation Plus at a discount may need to pay the discount back to Sony in order to upgrade to PS Plus Extra or Premium.

The revamped PlayStation Plus service rolled out across much of Asia this week and is slated to launch in June in Japan, the Americas, Europe and Australia.

It has since been claimed by some Asian gamers that anyone who bought PS Plus subscriptions at a discounted rate, including those who opted to stack subscriptions before the option was disabled earlier this month, was charged an additional fee for the upgrade to another PS Plus tier will be charged any previous savings they have made by purchasing reduced cost memberships.

This appears to be confirmed in an email from PlayStation’s Hong Kong support, published on ResetEra and translated by VGC. It is reading:

“Thank you for contacting PlayStation Support and checking the price of your PlayStation Plus membership subscription.

“Since you purchased PlayStation Plus at a discounted price at the time of membership, there are two PlayStation Plus memberships that cannot enjoy other discounts:

“1) PlayStation Plus membership purchased at a discount.
“2) PlayStation Plus membership redeemed with redemption code.

“So if you need to upgrade to Tier 2 or 3 Premium membership, you need to make up the difference between the previous discounted price and the normal price.

“For example, a PlayStation Plus membership is 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 rest assured that if you need an upgrade, the system will automatically calculate the difference to be refunded. Of course you can also upgrade or downgrade your membership according to your wishes.

“Failing to upgrade will not affect your current PlayStation Plus membership. Please rest assured that gaming deals, free monthly gaming subscriptions and access to 100GB of online storage will remain the same.”

VGC has contacted Sony to clarify the matter and will update this story if we receive any comment.

Also, players who previously stacked PlayStation Plus subscriptions claim that in order to upgrade to a new membership level, they must do so for the entire duration of their current plan, which in some cases runs for years and requires a significant upfront payment, especially if they bought it at discounted rates.

Seemingly to confirm that users looking to upgrade will need to do so for the remainder of their current plan, PlayStation’s UK website currently offers the following information on PS Plus upgrade options:

“When the new PlayStation Plus membership plans roll out, you’ll be able to upgrade to a plan with more features and benefits.

“When you upgrade, you will be charged a prorated fee to increase the remaining time on your existing membership to the desired level.

“For example, if you purchased a 12-month membership five months ago and have seven months left, you must pay a prorated upgrade fee to upgrade your remaining seven months to the plan level you want.

“Then, on your next payment date, you’ll be billed at the standard rate for the membership plan tier you’ve upgraded to with your current payment frequency.”

VGC has asked Sony if players with stacked annual subscriptions will be able to upgrade to a higher tier for a shorter period, say one year, with the option to revert to the lower tier after that 12-month term has expired.