Sony is coming down hard on loopholes in its PlayStation Now subscription program that allowed users early discounts on its upcoming Plus Premium service. Sony is also pausing the activation of PlayStation Plus and Now vouchers for current subscribers until after the new service begins operations in June.

When Sony announced its plans to restructure PlayStation Plus into a three-tiered service to compete with similar services provided by Microsoft’s Game Pass and Nintendo, players began to purchase PlayStation Now prepaid subscriptions in hopes of them converting to the PlayStation Plus Premium plan ($119 annually). This practice is called stacking.

However, Sony is holding people from redeeming prepaid vouchers until the PlayStation Plus three-tier services launch in June. Currently, only users that are not subscribed can redeem a prepaid card. Those who have already redeemed their cards prior to this announcement will not have their codes removed.

In a statement from Sony:

“As we prepare to launch the new PlayStation Plus membership service, we are doing some work behind the scenes to make the transition as smooth as possible for all of our existing members. As part of this work, we’ve temporarily disabled stacking memberships for existing customers until after the launch. Rest assured that your voucher code is still valid, and you will be able to redeem your code either when your existing membership expires and deactivates, or after the new PlayStation Plus service launches in your area, whichever happens first.”

Many online have called the move “anti-consumer.”


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Zainah Yousef is a writer for The DZSH Group. She is also the author of “The Fallen Age Saga.” Her areas of focus are on psychology, politics, public security, and war. She is also a frequent contributor in articles on video games and entertainment news.

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Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.