Following months of rumors, speculation, and leaks, Sony finally unveiled its plan to revise PlayStation Plus into a three-tiered subscription service. The full details of the plan, which launches in June, align closely with what we heard before the announcement. But unfortunately, that also means that Sony has opened itself to the criticisms that we all saw coming. And while the new PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers may be a fine offering for PlayStation devotees, they feel outclassed by its closest competitor, Xbox Game Pass.

PlayStation Plus is turning into three tiers: PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra, and PlayStation Plus Premium--priced at $10, $15, and $18 per month, respectively. Xbox Game Pass, by comparison, has roughly equivalent console and PC tiers for $10 per month apiece, and a combined Game Pass Ultimate for $15 per month. Sony does also offer annual pricing, which does result in Plus Premium being cheaper than Game Pass Ultimate. It's a slightly different value proposition, and you can read more about how the Plus tiers compare with Game Pass. But in broad terms, Essential is like the current Plus service, Extra adds in PS4 and PS5 games, and Premium throws in additional games from Sony's back catalog and streaming support.

It almost goes without saying that the strength of PlayStation's subscription will depend largely on its catalog. This is, unfortunately, the one aspect in which Sony is being very vague. It has touted the approximate number of games you get in each tier but hasn't given specific names beyond a small handful, so it's left to our imaginations. Some of my assumptions are based on how closely the announcement has already matched the earlier leaks. And if those remain accurate, the top-tier version of the service is essentially Plus, Now, and some PlayStation back catalog rolled into one.