PS4 Updates: PS Plus Price Increases As New Games And An Official eSports Platform Debut

Sony Playstation — A person plays a video game at a Sony PlayStation in the Sony's flagship store in Berlin, April 27, 2011. Reuters/Thomas Peter

Outside the U.S., the price of the PS Plus has seen an increase of about as much as 50%. Some of the areas that have seen a hike in prices include South Africa, Russia, some areas in India, Ukraine and Turkey.

It appears that, while the prices for North America have been confirmed to stay, GameSpot reports that the increase in other areas was to stay with the market conditions. But the keyword here is that the prices are now near or at par with what customers in North America have been originally paying for.

LazyGamer adds that, technically, other areas have been underpaying for the PS Plus subscription. And quoting Sony's Robert Fisser, who heads the Middle East and Africa department for the PlayStation, it seems that the increase was to put the model being followed for the PS Plus in the same level as that of the European market.

Giving a good point of the need to have a library of games, particularly for the next-gen console PS4, the PlayStation Plus subscription may still be a pretty good choice. Check out the interview in the video below.

New Games Debuting On The PS Store

Alongside the release of the much-awaited Minecraft PS Vita Edition, which is now available on the PS Store, an Ultimate Six Edition sale is on discount at the PS Store as part of the Ultimate Deals, which is ongoing now until October 20. Announced over at the PlayStation Blog, the game bundles will all include the playable DLC add-ons. Non-PS Plus members can get the Ultimate editions at a 67% discount while members have a higher edge at a 75% discount.

The PS4 will have two Ultimate Editions up for grabs, namely the "Sound Shapes Ultimate Bundle" and the "Amazing Spider-Man 2 Gold Edition." Some of the titles for the PS3 include "Batman Arkham Origins," "Borderlands," "Mortal Kombat Komplete," "Resident Evil 6," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist" and more. Check out the rest of the list over at the link above.

PlayStation Official League Now a Go

Sony has announced a new eSports platform specifically for the PS4. Dubbed the PlayStation Official League, this hub will offer prizes for players of AAA games. According to Gamasutra, the PlayStation Official League will make use of matchmaking with games including "Call of Duty: Ghosts," "Battlefield 4" and "FIFA 15."

These are some of the games that will be made available once the service launches first in Spain. Other countries are already slated to experience the service, which is also aimed at PS Plus subscribers. There are more games also lined up to be included in the roster for the PlayStation Official League.

The model will follow "seasons" as in other multiplayer platforms. The players can increase their ranks for a set time period, so they can reap rewards at the end of it. A new season will start afterwards.