I Just Cancelled my PlayStation Plus Subscription
Here’s Why
My PlayStation Plus subscription ran out a few days ago, and I haven’t missed it yet. It’s a little weird not to see the yellow cross right by name whenever I turn my PS4 on, but that has been roughly the extent of the impact that this change has had on my life. I’m currently playing through the fantastic God of War, and anything that doesn’t relate to Sony’s newest masterpiece has been pushed to the backburner.
I don’t write this post to sound sanctimonious about cancelling my subscription. For most people, keeping it around is probably the best option. Rather, I think it’s an interesting encapsulation of how the ways I play video games have changed since I bought a PS4 a few years ago. I still play games a great deal, but the benefits of this subscription (which are considerable) just aren’t enough to keep me around. In the paragraphs below, I’ll explain why.
Multiplayer
The first and most obvious reason that I don’t need this subscription anymore is that I rarely play online games anymore (with a few exceptions that I’ll cover in a second). The last few games I played on my PS4 are Horizon Zero Dawn, The Witcher 3, and (now) God of War. These games are all incredible, immersive experiences that require absolutely no online connection of any kind. These games aren’t an outlier, either — I don’t play online games as much as I used to.
As I continue to age, I find myself more drawn to single-player games (which I realize is the opposite of the video game world at large. My favorite recent games are the ones mentioned above, with some Mario and Zelda thrown in as well. I can appreciate the allure of a Destiny or Call of Duty, but I don’t have the time or energy to devote to building up enough skill so that I would feel truly invested in the game. These sprawling, single-player masterpieces allow me to get all the enjoyment that I would find in a multiplayer title without the pressure or stress of an online environment.
I do still play some games online, most prominently Splatoon 2 and Rocket League. I think what I like most about these games is the short game length. If a match goes sideways, I don’t feel like I wasted much time on it since they rarely go over five minutes. I also play these two games on my Switch, which was yet to charge me money for the privilege. I will most likely pay for Nintendo’s paid online service when it arrives, but its $20 price tag for one year is much more palatable than Sony’s $60.
Games
PlayStation Plus also gives away two “free” games each month for subscribers, a benefit that I have used many times in the past. I feel reluctant to give up my considerable catalog of such titles, and came close to keeping the service for this reason alone. At the end of my subscription period though, this ultimately wasn’t enough.
As fun as these games are, I can’t ever feel like I really own them when a lapsed PlayStation Plus payment means lost access to them. In addition, I also have a large stockpile of PS4 games that I actually own and haven’t completed yet. With so many games that I haven’t played yet clamoring for my attention, it’s difficult to justify continued payment for others that I may or may not ever get to.
Final Thoughts
As far as subscription services go, Sony’s PlayStation Plus is good enough if you’re willing to overlook the fact that the company used to offer online multiplayer for free not too long ago. The included games are a nice deal, and I’ve played many of them happily in the past. If I ever get through all the games sitting in my library now, and need more to play, I may be happy to pony up the money to access PlayStation Plus again. I’ll also probably choose to play again if there’s a multiplayer game on the system that I feel truly intrigued to play (Perhaps The Last of Us: Part II will fit this bill). For now though, I feel perfectly at ease without this service.
