PlayStation Plus’s upcoming game trials will reportedly be at least 2 hours long

New details have emerged about the limited-time playtests that Sony previously announced it would be part of your new PlayStation Plus Premium subscription tier. According to sources who spoke with game developer these free trials will be required for any game with a wholesale price of $34 (€33) or more, and must be a minimum of two hours in length. They will not be required for previously released games or PlayStation VR titles.

game developerThe initial report raised concerns that requiring developers to offer these time-limited trials could place a significant burden on smaller teams. Nevertheless, by kotaku Ethan Gach reports that the PlayStation Store team will create the tests, suggesting that developers shouldn’t have to do any additional work.

In some cases, custom demos with original content may be allowed in lieu of providing a portion of the original game for a limited time in accordance with game developer, but either way, developers will have to make a test version available within three months of a title’s release, and be available for at least a year. Developers will still be able to offer promotional material such as free game weekends outside of the PlayStation Plus Premium tier.

Sounds like good news for anyone planning to sign up for Sony’s $18-a-month PlayStation Plus Premium tier, which is currently written for US release June 13, and in Europe on June 22. If accurate, these reports suggest limited-time trials will be widely available for premium-priced titles, and two hours is a good amount of time to determine if a game is worth buying.

But Kotaku has raised concerns that offering limited-time trials could potentially hurt sales, as people would get fed up with a game from a limited demo instead of making a purchase. On the other hand, a trial could encourage a purchase from someone who was previously hesitant.