PlayStation users subscribed to the Premium tier of PS Plus are experiencing a serious issue that is preventing them from using one of the service's best features: cloud streaming. To be more specific, the outage is preventing PS Plus Premium subscribers from streaming any PlayStation 3 title from the classic catalogue. While some users have reportedly found a workaround to the problem, it's somewhat convoluted and tedious.
Ever since its revamp in 2022, PlayStation Plus has had three tiers available, each with its own separate benefits. The lowest tier, known as PlayStation Plus Essential, is the most basic and cheapest of the three, costing $9.99 USD per month. Included in the subscription are free monthly games to keep for as long as there is an active subscription, access to online multiplayer, exclusive discounts, cloud storage, and more. The Extra and Premium tiers also include these benefits, as well as some additional extras, such as access to the game catalogue, which regularly rotates with new games arriving each month. Those subscribed to the highest tier will also be able to stream a wide variety of classic games, one of the service's most popular benefits.
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PS Plus Premium Users Frustrated As PS3 Game Streaming Goes Down
As one of PlayStation Plus Premium's most beloved features, it's no surprise that subscribers are outraged by the fact that cloud streaming classic PS3 games has been unavailable for a few days now, with no sign of when it will be fixed. Numerous posts have been made by players online, expressing their frustrations and questioning why it appears to be just this one feature that isn't working. According to one user, there is no error message presenting itself when attempting to stream a PS3 game. Instead, the game simply does not open when selected.
Another subscriber took it upon themselves to contact PlayStation Support about the issue, and it seems like the company is aware of the problem. "This issue only impacts PS3 titles within the Classics Catalog," a PlayStation Support representative told the user. They then explained how all other cloud streaming functionalities are operating as normal. But, as the user rightly pointed out, streaming PS3 titles is part of the paid service, with some having a Premium subscription for this sole reason. Thankfully, it's on PlayStation's radar, as the support rep said the team is still working on solving the issue. No timeline for when a fix will be deployed was shared, and the team is offering no compensation to subscribers as of writing.
A fellow PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber has discovered a workaround, but it's not guaranteed to work for everyone. Reddit user Snoo36143 says they discovered the workaround specifically for Ratchet & Clank games, but speculates it may work on other classic titles too. Players will need to download the PlayStation Plus app on their PC, connect a DualShock 4 controller via Bluetooth, and then start the app. Scroll to find the game and then start it. Then, connect the controller via a USB cable and run the game to create a save file. Afterwards, players can return to their PlayStation 5, and the first game in their collections should be the one just played on PC. Once selected, it should start as normal. While this is a pretty tedious workaround, PlayStation hasn't provided any official information about when a fix may arrive, so this could be the best subscribers get for a while.
While the cloud streaming outage is certainly annoying, there are plenty of other games on PlayStation Plus Premium to keep subscribers occupied in the meantime. Just this week, Sony added nine new games to its game catalog, allowing Extra and Premium users to check out a plethora of new titles, including A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Resident Evil Village (just in time for the launch of Resident Evil Requiem next month), and many more.