PlayStation Plus hits 7.9 million subscribers

Newsbrief: Sony announced that the PlayStation Plus service has hit 7.9 million paid subscribers in its earnings call last week, GamesIndustry.biz reports. The service offers free and discounted games on its three active platforms: the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation 4. Most games on the PS4 also require an active subscription for online play, which is not the case on the company's other consoles. Xbox Live has 48 million active users, according to The Verge, with half of them being paid "gold" level members. Unlike Sony, Microsoft required a paid membership for online play during the prior generation.