Developers working on PlayStation games that have a wholesale price of $34 / €33 / 4,000 yen or higher are now required to create time-limited game trials at least two hours long to include in the upcoming PlayStation Plus Premium tier, according to a Game Developer report citing an update to the PlayStation developer portal. (Update 4:35 p.m.: GameDeveloper has updated its story to clarify that the pricing referred to is wholesale, not retail.)
This requirement does not apply to games with a wholesale price of less than $34 or PlayStation VR games.
Developers will reportedly have up to three months after their games launch to release a timed trial, and timed trials are only required to be available on the service for at least 12 months.
Sony Interactive Entertainment is also open to releasing custom game demos instead of time-limited game trials, as approved on a case-by-case basis.
Publishers will still be also free to publish free game weekends, game trials, and custom demos for all PlayStation users.
Update 04/27/22 at 1:10 p.m.: GameKult writer Gauthier Andres and Kotaku writer Ethan Gach have reported that Sony Interactive Entertainment will handle generating the two-hour trial, requiring no additional work from developers.