If you want to play your PlayStation 4 games online, you’re going to need a PlayStation Plus subscription, and the new consoles only tend to come with a short trial certificate in the box. Luckily, Amazon is offering a $15 Black Friday discount on a yearly membership, and you can redeem it instantly using a digital code.
Typically $60, a PlayStation Plus yearly membership is $45 on Amazon right now. Even if you are set up with automatic renewal, it’s a good idea to purchase the membership via the deal in order to extend your subscription without having your card automatically charged. PlayStation Plus is required for multiplayer in almost all PS4 games, save for a select few free-to-play titles, and is almost certainly going to be required for multiplayer on the PlayStation 5 when it launches next year.
You get more than just online multiplayer with a PlayStation Plus subscription, however. It also includes additional discounts on items in the PlayStation Store, on top of any savings available to the general public. Perhaps most importantly, a subscription also gives you access to two free games each month. These games can then be played for as long as you have a subscription. The November titles include the hits Outlast 2 and Nioh.
Unlike on Xbox One, a paid membership is needed on PS4 to use the cloud saves system. With PlayStation Plus active, you need only put your system into its “rest” mode and it will automatically upload your save data to the cloud, where it can be stored and re-downloaded later. Should something happen to your console and you lose access to those saves on your hard drive, you can always download them later on to continue playing your favorites without erasing any progress. When you move to PS5, it should also make it a breeze to keep playing your favorite PS4 games on the new system.
Sony is certainly offering plenty of great savings on PS4 this year, including a bundle that packs in a PlayStation VR headset with five games. Keep an eye out on Cyber Monday to see what other PlayStation deals you can snag before it’s too late.
