What is the name of Sony's subscription service for online multiplayer on PlayStation 4?

Sony’s subscription service for online multiplayer on PlayStation 4 is PlayStation Plus.

PlayStation Plus, commonly shortened to PS Plus, is a premium service connected to the PlayStation Network. On PS4, membership was generally required for online multiplayer in paid games, while free-to-play games were typically exempt. The service also offered benefits such as cloud save storage, member discounts, and monthly games.

Sony launched PlayStation Plus on June 29, 2010, initially for PlayStation 3. It later expanded to PlayStation Vita and became central to the PS4 online experience when that console launched in 2013. This history creates a frequent mix-up: PlayStation Network is the broader online platform, while PlayStation Plus is its paid subscription tier.

PlayStation Store is Sony’s digital marketplace, not the multiplayer subscription. PlayStation Now was a separate game-streaming and subscription service that was eventually folded into the higher PlayStation Plus tiers in 2022. The service’s modern structure includes Essential, Extra, and Premium or Deluxe tiers depending on region, but the canonical answer to the PS4 question remains PlayStation Plus.