DLC Review · Purchased February 21, 2025 · $106.39 CAD via PSN
The Setup
After reviewing last year’s single-month PS Plus Essential top-up and explicitly calling out how much worse the per-month math was compared to the annual plan, I actually followed my own advice this time and bought the full 12-month Essential subscription upfront.
The Review
The service itself is unchanged from last year’s review: online multiplayer access and a rotating monthly selection of free games, delivered exactly as advertised without incident. What’s different is purely the math, and the math is genuinely better here. Paying once for the full year works out to meaningfully less per month than the single-month purchase I made in December, which is the whole reason this review exists as a kind of quiet correction to last year’s entry.
There isn’t much drama to a subscription renewal done correctly. It’s the boring, sensible version of the same purchase, and boring and sensible is exactly what you want from a recurring cost like this.
What I Liked
- Meaningfully cheaper per month than paying monthly, exactly as expected
- Same reliable online access and monthly game claims as always
- A rare case of actually taking my own advice from a previous review
What I Didn’t
- A larger upfront cost, even though the per-month value is better
- Locks you in for a full year rather than leaving room to cancel if your habits change
The Verdict
Rating: 4/5
If you use PS Plus regularly, this is simply the correct way to buy it. Nothing new to report on the service itself, just a smarter purchase than the one-month top-up from last year’s list.
The Compulsive Canadian Gamer 