Technologies

PlayStation Plus Deals: How to Save Cash on Sony’s Gaming Subscriptions

We break down how PlayStation’s multitiered subscription works and the best ways to get signed up for less.

This year brought some big changes to Sony’s gaming subscriptions. In the past, PlayStation users had two different memberships to choose from — PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. But after an overhaul that took place in June, both of those subscriptions have been rolled into a single service with multiple membership tiers, though it still falls under the PlayStation Plus label. To help you get a handle on how things have changed, and find the right membership tier for you, we’ve broken down the different options below.

We haven’t seen many deals since the service was overhauled, but that doesn’t mean they’re completely nonexistent. Below, you’ll find just about the only PlayStation Plus deal available at the moment, but we’re hoping to see some more deals and offers on the updated PS Plus service start to crop up in the coming weeks and months, so be sure to check back here often for the best prices available. And for even more savings, be sure to check out our roundup of the best bargains on PlayStation gear and accessories.

What’s changed?

Before the revamp, PlayStation offered users two different subscription services. PlayStation Plus was a $10-per-month service similar to Xbox Live Gold that allowed users to play games online and participate in multiplayer matches. PlayStation Now was a $10-per-month cloud gaming service that gave players access to a huge library of classic titles from the PS2, PS3 and PS4. The revamp, which went live in June, has essentially rolled both memberships into a single, multitiered subscription, though it will still technically fall under the PS Plus label. There are three different membership packages available, combining different features and benefits of both previous subscriptions.

PS Plus: Essential

At $10 per month or $60 for the year, PS Plus: Essential is essentially no different than the previous PS Plus subscription. It offers all the same features, including access to online play, two monthly games for free, cloud storage and exclusive discounts at the PlayStation Store. If you had a PS Plus membership before the revamp went live, it was automatically converted to an Essential membership.

PS Plus: Extra

At $15 per month or $100 for the year, a midtier Extra subscription is somewhat similar to the Game Pass Ultimate membership offered to Xbox users. It includes all the benefits and features of an Essential membership, but also gives you access to a catalog of up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games. The selection includes plenty of hit titles like God of War, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima.

PS Plus: Premium

A Premium membership is the highest tier available, and clocks in at either $18 per month or $120 for a full year. In addition to all the benefits of both an Essential and Extra subscription, it gives you access to a massive library of more than 700 games. That includes the recent PS4 and PS5 hits from the Extra subscription, but also a catalog of more than 300 classics from the PS1, PS2 and PS3 eras (similar to the pervious PS Now subscription). It also allows you to stream many of these classic titles, so you don’t have to worry about them eating up your valuable storage space. You also get access to time-limited game trials, so you can try out new games before you commit to a purchase. If you had a subscription to PS Now before the revamp went live, it was automatically converted to a Premium membership.

PS Plus deals

Things were pretty chaotic leading up to the revamp, with people stacking discounted memberships and racking up hundreds in savings before Sony got wise to the loophole. It’s been closed for a while now, and we haven’t seen too many chances to save on a service since. Sony and retailers appear to have pulled any remaining membership codes to the now-discontinued PS Now service, but if you’re only interested in the Essential-tier membership, there are still a few holdover deals on the original PS Plus.

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Technologies

Google I/O 2025: How to Watch and What to Expect

With Android 16 out of the way, Google I/O will certainly be all about AI.

Google I/O 2025 takes place on May 20 and 21 with Google’s big keynote happening on day 1. We expect Big G to talk about its myriad innovations across its ever-expanding portfolio of products — almost certainly with a huge focus on AI every step of the way. If we collectively cross our fingers, promise to be good and eat all our vegetables then we may even be treated to a sneak peek at upcoming hardware.

Read more: Android 16: Everything Google Announced at the Android Show

Google also hosted a totally separate event that focused solely on Android. The Android Show: I/O Edition saw the wrappers come off Android 16, with insights into the new Material 3 Expressive interface, updates to security and a focus on Gemini and how it’ll work on a variety of other devices.

By breaking out Android news into its own virtual event, Google frees itself to spend more time during the I/O keynote to talk about Gemini, Deep Mind, Android XR and Project Astra. It’s going to be a jam-packed event, so here’s how you can watch I/O 2025 as it happens and what you can look forward to.

Google I/O: Where to watch

Google I/O proper kicks off with a keynote taking place on May 20, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. BST). It’ll almost certainly be available to stream online on Google’s own YouTube channel, although a holding video is yet to be available. There’s no live link on the I/O website yet, either, though you can use the handy links to add the event to your calendar of choice. Expect links to a livestream to be available closer to the day.

What to expect from Google I/O 2025

Little chat about Android 16: As Google gave Android 16 its own outing already, it’s likely that it won’t be mentioned all that much during I/O. In fact at last year’s event, Android was barely mentioned, while uses of the term «AI» went well over a hundred.

Android XR: Google didn’t talk much about Android XR during the Android show, focusing instead on the purely phone-based updates to the platform. We expected to hear more about the company’s latest foray into mixed-reality headsets in partnership with Samsung and its Project Moohan headset, so it’s possible that this is being saved for I/O proper.

Gemini: With Android being spun out into its own separate event, Google is evidently clearing the way for I/O to focus on everything else the company does. AI will continue to dominate the conversation at I/O, just as it did last year (though hopefully Google can make it more understandable) with updates to many of its AI platforms expected to be announced.

Gemini is expected to receive a variety of update announcements, including more information on its latest 2.5 Pro update which boasts various improvements to its reasoning abilities, and in particular to its helpfulness for coding applications. Expect lots of mentions of Google’s other AI-based products, too, including DeepMind, LearnLM and Project Astra. Let’s just hope Google has figured out how to make this information make any kind of sense.

Beyond AI, Google may talk about updates to its other products including GMail, Chrome and the Play Store, although whether these updates are big enough to be discussed during the keynote rather than as part of the developer-focused sessions following I/O’s opening remains to be seen.

Technologies

You Can Now Buy Nike’s $900 Workout Shoes for Compression and Heating

The Nike Hyperboots, designed to help you warm up and recover from workouts, launched Saturday.

Those workout shoes with compression and heating that Nike and Hyperice showed off at CES 2025 earlier this year weren’t just a concept. The Hyperboot is now available to buy online in North America, so they’re within reach, as long as you’re willing to spend $899.

The high-tops, which Nike and Hyperice call a wearable much like your smartwatch, help your feet warm up before a workout, and then recover after it. The shoes do this with heating and air-compression massage technology, taking the idea of heating pads and compression socks and making them mobile.

«You can definitely feel the heat in here,» CNET former mobile senior writer Lisa Eadicicco said when she had the chance to try these workout shoes on in January. She walked across a demo room in Las Vegas wearing the fancy footwear to test out the compression and heating features.

The boots massage and compress your ankles and feet, and in CNET’s test, we could especially feel the heat around the ankles. Buttons on the shoes let you adjust compression and the amount of heat with multiple settings for each.

«The Hyperboot contains a system of dual-air bladders that deliver sequential compression patterns and are bonded to thermally efficient heating elements that evenly distribute heat throughout the shoe’s entire upper,» Nike said.

The battery lasts for 1 to 1.5 hours on max heat and compression settings, or 8 hours if you’re only using the massage setting. It takes 5 to 6 hours to charge via USB-C cable. The boots come in five sizes: S, M, L, XL and XXL.