Playstation Plus is not always the apple of players; In fact, many in the gaming community have taken Stora Umbridge with the subscription service over the years. Common complaints can extend from the service, as a paid subscription was not needed to play online before Playstation 4, all the way to serious privacy and performance problems, such as PS PLUS's major interruption earlier this year.
But recently, the platform has come under fire for another reason completely: dark patterns. The term “dark patterns” is usually used with reference to all parts of the user experience designed with the explicit purpose of keeping users in a loop that is harmful to them but which is beneficial to the platform holder. For example, if anyone wants to cancel a subscription, but the relevant site hides the “Cancel subscription” option with unclear issues or otherwise makes it difficult to reach, it is a dark pattern. Playstation has usually not been too unhappy in this regard, but a relatively new change in PS Plus Account Management has opened the flood of criticism.
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What one might expect from PS plus 2025
PS Plus has followed a very clear trend since the introduction of its level, and the chance is that 2025 is a continuation of that trend.
Why Sony's change of “cancel subscription” has made consumers angry
Sony's changes to subscription management implement a dark pattern
For several years now, if anyone wanted to cancel auto renewal for their Playstation Plus subscription, they could enter the relevant category in the system settings and select the “Cancel automatic renewal” option. That's all there was: Users would choose this option, and it would almost be as if they removed their card information from their console. They would not be repaid for the subscription period they already paid for, but they could rest easy to know that they would not be charged again. This option was particularly suitable for those who simply did not want to continue paying for PS Plus, but who had no behaviors to ride out the rest of their during period.
It has been reported on PS Plus subscribers who receive predetermined repayments based on how much time they have left when they cancel, but this apparently must be prepared directly with customer service, which will hidden repayments on a case-by-case basis.
Users can cancel their PS Plus Auto-Renewal by navigating to their system settings, but instead of meeting the Cancel Auto Renewal option, they will meet a button that says “Cancel subscription.” As of this year, the option “Cancel automatic renewal” – whose function was clear as a day – has given a much more ambiguous name, despite achieving exactly the same goal.
There are some reasons why this change is problematic. For the first time or inexperienced PS Plus subscribers, there may be some confusion when it comes to what “cancel” really means in this context: will it interrupt their subscription now and there, or will it let them enjoy the rest of their sub-period and simply not renew the service? Those who are looking for the latter result can skip the canceling subscription button and either waste time searching for the “right” solution, or give up, or forget the process altogether, let the subscription renew when it's time. Spiced PS PLUS subscribers who have interrupted their subscriptions in the past can be even more confused, as they will probably assume that the button is doing something different from the previous one, which they had become so used to.
In the end, it is only the existence of this ambiguity, combined with the invisible lack of a real reason for changing the name of interrupting automatic renewal button, which has consumers so frustrated over Playstation. It feels dishonest and manipulative, as if the gaming giant is trying to confuse their audience in the hope that at least some of them will think about their plans to cancel.
Playstation Plus offers three membership plans packed with benefits and games to level up your game.
Playstation Plus Premium
Enjoy all the Core Playstation Plus benefits, hundreds of games in the gaming catalog and premium benefits such as gaming attempts, cloud flow and the classic catalog.
PlayStation Plus Extra
Get all the major benefits included in Playstation Plus Essential Plan, as well as access to the gaming directory, with hundreds of games to download and explore.
PlayStation Plus Essential
Enjoy all the Core Playstation Plus benefits: Join your friends in multiplayer matches online, add new games to your collection every month, save in the Playstation Store and more.
