In another case where Aussies take the cake when it comes to online services, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has announced that a slightly worse version of the newly revamped PlayStation Plus is coming in June.
While most overseas subscribers will have a choice of Essential (free monthly games, online multiplayer, exclusive discounts, cloud saves), Extra (access to up to 400 downloadable PS4 and PS5 titles) and Premium, Australians they will get a stripped down version of the top tier called PlayStation Plus Deluxe.
Essentially, PS Plus Deluxe is identical to PS Plus Premium, but without access to the PlayStation Now cloud streaming functionality that was added to PS Plus in the US, Japan, UK, and other European territories.
Simply put, territories that don't already offer PlayStation Now as a service (such as Australia) will still not when the new PS Plus launches. No official reason was given for this, but we have to assume that poor Australian internet is to blame.
This is what it means to Australians
The main problem with PS Plus Deluxe boils down to one thing: the back catalog of Sony's PS3 game library is only available via cloud streaming. This means Australians will miss out on revisiting an entire generation of PlayStation games.
On the plus side, PS Plus Deluxe subscribers will still get all the benefits of the Essential and Extra tiers, plus access to a catalog of original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP games, and limited-time play trials, allowing users to try certain games. before you buy them.
Sony has yet to reveal Australian pricing for the new PS Plus - we've reached out to a rep who says they're working on a confirmation and will update as soon as we know.