Jack Buser, Sony’s Senior Director of PlayStation digital platforms, revealed that the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers doubled during E3 week last June, thanks to the announcement of the Instant Game Collection.
“At E3 we announced the Instant Game Collection. That’s when we focused the value proposition of the membership on the notion that if you’re a member, you have access to an instant library of games. And these are great games like Little Big Planet 2, Infamous 2, and Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One. That week of E3, we saw a 2-times lift of new membership sales, it just skyrocketed…”
“Gamers want games… In retrospect, it seems like, yeah, of course. Gamers love games. But we came to that conclusion through a mountain of data, and we really landed on this idea that not only are we going to put free games on the service, but we’re going to put great free games on the service.”
PlayStation Plus was heavily criticized for not being worth the $50-a-year subscription fee when it launched in 2010. Now, because of added benefits like the Instant Game Collection, the premium service boasts that 97% of users are either satisfied or very satisfied with the service and 93% intend to renew their subscription.
I’ve never found myself short of things to complain about when it comes to Sony and certain aspects of how they run their business, but PlayStation Plus is one area where they got it 100% right.
Before the Instant Game Collection was announced at E3 there was a case that could be made that Xbox Live Gold was a better service than the PSN/Plus combo. Post E3, PlayStation Plus gives users access to so much free content and discounts that Sony wins hands down.
Plus is actually such a good deal, that I have to wonder if Sony makes any money from it.
Source: VentureBeat