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Sony raises PS Plus prices for one- and three-month subscriptions – Engadget

Sony raises PS Plus prices for one- and three-month subscriptions – Engadget

The company is blaming this increase on “ongoing market conditions.”

Sony has raised pricesof the PS Plus subscription service. A one-month subscription to the Essential tier now costs $11 per month, an increase of $1. Additionally, a three-month subscription just went up to $28, an increase of $3. It looks like annual subscribers are off the hook for now, and the wording of Sony’s post on X announcing the change makes it sound like the Extra and Premium tiers are also impacted. This only impacts new subscribers, except in Turkey and India.

The company is blaming this increase on “ongoing market conditions.” When a tech company says this in 2026, it’s typically referring to Trump-adjacent tariffs or AI-based memory crunch. However, PS Plus is a digital subscription service that provides a handful of monthly game titles to download. Members do get cloud save storage and online multiplayer access, both of which require servers that could be more expensive to operate nowadays. Maybe that’s it.

We don’t know if annual plans will be getting a price increase in the near future, but the company only mentioned the one- and three-month plans in the announcement. Engadget has reached out to Sony and will update this post when we hear back. The company jacked up annual plans by as much as $40 back in 2023.

Microsoft recently raised prices of Xbox Game Pass Ultimateall the way to $30 per month, which rightfully annoyed many players. New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma quickly reversed course on this.

As for Sony, a monthly increase of $1 isn’t the biggest deal in the world. The same cannot be said of console price increases. A standard PS5 with a disc drive now costs a whopping $650. That’s a mighty big price of entry to even get started with PS Plus.

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X accounts are limited to 50 posts and 200 replies a day unless they pay for a blue checkmark – Engadget

X accounts are limited to 50 posts and 200 replies a day unless they pay for a blue checkmark – Engadget

That’s down from the previous 2,400 posts per day limit.


The X logo on the platform's landing page.
Thrive Studios ID/Shutterstock

X has introduced some more incentive to get users to pay for “verification” on its platform, but the new limitation may have angered some longtime users. As seen on X and Reddit, users are reporting that X has quietly restricted the amount of posts allowed for those without the blue checkmark. Now, the X Help Center page on limits reads that posts are limited to “50 original posts and 200 replies per day for unverified accounts.”

Compared to cached versions of the same Help Center page, the new limit is much lower than the previous “2,400 per day” rule. Interestingly, the updated page still references the 2,400 updates per day restriction. However, X will inform users of when they hit the new limits and which limit they reached with an error message.

This move could be a part of X’s campaign to cut down on spam and bot activity on the platform, as seen when it introduced the “about this account” feature in October that reveals where an account is based. However, those unhappy with this restriction said it could result in more users leaving the platform. For those who want to stick around and post to their heart’s content, X Premium’s most affordable option, its Basic tier, starts at $3 a month or $32 per year.

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PlayStation Plus Prices Are Increasing for New Subscribers Starting May 20

PlayStation Plus Prices Are Increasing for New Subscribers Starting May 20

PlayStation Plus, Sony’s subscription gaming service for its consoles, is increasing its price for new subscribers. The company blamed “ongoing market conditions” for the price increase. It’s the go-to explanation for gaming hardware companies, including Microsoft and Nintendo’s increases in pricing for the Xbox and Switch 2 consoles.

The price for PS Plus subscriptions for new customers will increase by $1 from $10 to $11 for a one-month subscription starting on May 20, according to a post from the official PlayStation X account on Monday. The three-month subscription price will jump by $3, from $25 to $28, on the same effective date.

Read more:Nintendo Offers Free Games Prior to Switch 2 Price Hike

Sony didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the specific market conditions.

Although it wasn’t specifically mentioned in the post, this increase appears to apply only to the PS Plus Essential tier, the lowest-priced tier. PS Plus Essential is needed for online play with PS4 and PS5 games, as well as having access to a select number of games each month.

This doesn’t appear to affect the PS Plus Extra and Premium tiers, both of which allow subscribers to access a catalog of hundreds of games. Those two subscription options will, as of now, stay at the same price of $15 and $18 a month.

The post did say this price change affects new customers, not current subscribers, except for those in India and Turkey. This would include those who have never subscribed to the service and those who canceled their subscription and are looking to restart it. Sony rarely provides PS Plus subscriber numbers, but an Icon Era report from January estimates the number at just over 50 million as of the end of 2024.

Back in March, Sony increased the price of its PS5 console lineup across the board. Microsoft had to do the same with its Xbox consoles. Nintendo announced earlier in the month that it will increase the price of the Switch 2 in September. The most likely reason for these jumps in pricing is the current memory shortage, aka RAMageddon. A spike in demand for computer hardware to run AI data centers has led to huge price increases for both RAM and solid-state drives.

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Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, May 18

Looking forthe most recentMini Crossword answer?Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s a pretty fun and easy one today. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visitCNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for May 18, 2026.

NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Questionable
Answer: IFFY

5A clue: Country that’s about 25 times longer than it is wide
Answer: CHILE

6A clue: iPhone setting that reduces distractions
Answer: FOCUS

7A clue: Magnum ___ (masterpiece)
Answer: OPUS

8A clue: Get-together, slangily
Answer: SESH

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: “Fingers crossed!”
Answer: IHOPE

2D clue: Indoor plant whose name is one vowel off from 6-Across
Answer: FICUS

3D clue: A❤️ 9❤️ 6❤️ 4❤️ 2❤️, e.g.
Answer: FLUSH

4D clue: What “aye” means
Answer: YES

5D clue: Corp. money managers
Answer: CFOS

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Fortnite players get a 10-minute sneak peek of The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 19 – Engadget

Fortnite players get a 10-minute sneak peek of The Mandalorian and Grogu on May 19 – Engadget





A still from Fortnite showing the Watch Party Island with the title text for The Mandalorian and Grogu on a large screen
Epic Games/Disney/Lucasfilm

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on Friday, and Fortnite is hosting a special Watch Party Island this Tuesday so players can get in on the hype a bit early. After completing a few activities, Fortnite players will get access to 10 minutes of the movie, and hear a message from director Jon Favreau. The Mandalorian and Grogu Watch Party Island opens at 10AM ET on May 19.

Here’s how it’ll work, according to the Fortnite team: “Created with Fairview Portals and Beyond Creative, you’ll be recruited as a Deputy to collect bounties, defend the city from waves of enemies, and find Grogu. Once you’ve spent 20 minutes exploring Nevarro you’ll unlock the exclusive Mandalorian Sanctuary loading screen!”The Mandalorian and Grogu follows the events of the Disney+ series, and brings back Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin. It also stars Sigourney Weaver as the new character Colonel Ward and Jeremy Allen White as Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta.