Sony prepping PlayStation Plus revamp with top tier free games, expansion to Vita

Sony is readying a revamp of PlayStation Plus to be revealed during its E3 press conference, Eurogamer understands.

Multiple sources have indicated that part of Sony's E3 press conference, set for Monday 4th June, will be devoted to running through the revamp, which is designed to help convince more people to sign up to the premium subscription service.

One of the ways Sony will do this is by giving subscribers top tier games for free, and implementing proper integration with PS Vita. Plus on Vita will offer Vita exclusive titles and DLC and cloud services that mean you won't have to connect the handheld to a PlayStation 3 or a PC to back up saves and other content.

Currently PlayStation Plus, which costs £39.99 for a one-year membership and £11.99 for a 90-day membership, grants full game trials, automatic updates, cloud game saving, discounts and early access to content. Sony says Plus offers content worth around £200 a year.

While a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe spokesperson declined to comment on our report, PlayStation Plus content manager Ross McGrath expressed his enthusiasm for the service on his Twitter page.

"By the way, if you don't have a PS+ subscription, now is the time to get one. For real. Just get 3 months if you aren't sure. Trust me," he said.

Earlier this month several possible tiers of subscription options were highlighted by a user survey designed to poll potential customers on what they would like Plus' rewards to focus on, including offering new releases free of charge.

One possible tier would offer 61 new "A" quality games a year, but with only one PS3 release a week. Sony's suggested price would be a $7.99 (about a fiver) monthly fee, with three-month and yearly price plans also available. Another option offers 80 games a year, mostly "C" and "B" quality, for $10 a month (about £6). Titles would be at least a year old, although 10 full PS3 releases would be offered every week.

The revamp of PlayStation Plus marks the beginning of a wider effort to improve the PlayStation Network across multiple devices over the coming year, and, we've heard, may include a new, redesigned PlayStation Store that also facilitates purchases from a proper PC web store similar to Xbox Marketplace.

Eurogamer has also heard from a separate source that Sony has secured the cloud gaming services of either OnLive or Gaikai. Reports indicate this deal could be announced at E3, although it may not directly relate to a PlayStation console, rather, cloud gaming through Sony televisions. Both Gaikai and OnLive declined to comment on our report, but in an email to Eurogamer Gaikai teased "some major announcements in store for E3 that have the potential to change the future of video games, game consoles and how we play".