“DLC and add-on content is not supported when streaming a title,” according to Sony
Every day, we’re learning something new about what we can — and crucially can’t — expect from the tiered PlayStation Plus revamp launching on June 13 in North America. Today, it’s a caveat about the subscription’s streamable PS3 games: namely, you won’t be able to access any of their DLC. This was an issue before with cloud-based games played via PlayStation Now, and it’ll still be present with PlayStation Plus Premium.
As pointed out by Video Games Chronicle, Sony confirmed this week that “DLC and add-on content is not supported when streaming a title.”
This shouldn’t be a huge surprise given the previous limitation with PlayStation Now, but offering DLC would’ve been a good chance for Sony to increase the value of streamable PS3 games. $120 per year for PlayStation Plus Premium isn’t exactly an easy sell.
Pour another one out for Asura’s Wrath
For me, the big omission is Tokyo Jungle, which had some fun DLC animals, including a salaryman, a saber-toothed tiger, and a fat cat. For the rest of the anime-loving world, the lack of DLC for Asura’s Wrath stings even worse — the story is incomplete without it.
What about DLC for PS4 and PS5 games in the Extra and Premium tiers?
It’s worth noting that, per Sony, players “can purchase DLC and add-on content for the [PS4 and PS5] games you download from the games catalog through PlayStation Plus.”
“If your membership expires, or if the content leaves the service you’ll also lose access to the DLC and add-on content associated with that game. Once you resubscribe to the service or decide to purchase the title, you’ll be able to use your purchased DLC and add-on content again.”
Offline play is possible with check-ins
I was also curious about online check-ins. According to Sony, “game catalog titles in the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium/Deluxe plans” will require a connection to PlayStation Network every seven days for validation, at which point you can continue to play them offline. This rule does not apply to the “monthly free games” offered in the (cheapest) PlayStation Plus Essential plan — no weekly check-ins are needed.
Overall, I’m not sure if or when PlayStation Plus Premium will convince me, but I’ll spend a few bucks here and there for piecemeal PS1 classics, most likely. As Dan put it in Slack today, “My PS3 will remain plugged in as the PS1-3 machine for another decade, I guess.”
