Sony Interactive Entertainment is said to have shared its plans for timed game trials for its PlayStation Plus Premium service with developers.
According to Game Developer, developers creating games costing £26.93 ($34) or more will be required to create time-limited game trials that are at least two hours long. This equates to €33 in Europe and $4000 in Japan.
Games that cost less than this amount will not be subject to a timed trial of the PlayStation Plus premium service.
According to the report, “many developers were informed about the new policy via an update to Sony’s developer portal,” and sources said they had “received no other communication about this change.”
This new policy does not apply to upcoming PlayStation VR titles, but developers will have three months after their games are released on the PlayStation Store to release their timed trial.
Sony is open to developers releasing a custom game demo instead of a timed game trial, but they would need to be approved “on a case-by-case basis.”
Sony unveiled its PlayStation Plus rebranding in March, with three tiers. These tiers are Essential, Plus Extra, and Plus Premium, and will cost £6.99, £10.99, and £13.49 per month, respectively. Users will be able to choose between quarterly and yearly prices for each tier.
The company officially announced last week that the new PlayStation Plus subscription service will be available globally beginning in May. According to its website, Asia will be the first to receive the service on May 23, followed by Japan on June 1, the Americas on June 13, and Europe on June 22.