Essentials

Essentials is a PlayStation software budget range associated with Sony Interactive Entertainment's PAL-region business. The label covers selected games sold at reduced prices after they have achieved substantial commercial performance, helping publishers and retailers extend the sales life of established titles while making popular games more accessible to consumers. Its geographic scope has included Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and South Asia. The range originated as Platinum in March 1997. The first Platinum releases included Air Combat, Battle Arena Toshinden, Destruction Derby, Ridge Racer, Tekken and Wipeout. At launch, a title generally needed to have been available for at least one year and to have sold at least 100,000 copies across the PAL region. Sony later revised the qualification rules, reducing the minimum period on sale to nine months while increasing the sales requirement to 250,000 units, and subsequently raising the threshold to 400,000 units. By 2006, the published benchmark was more than 400,000 PAL-region sales after six months on the market. Sales achieved solely in Japan or North America did not automatically qualify a game for the PAL budget range. The label was extended across PlayStation platforms. Sony introduced Platinum releases for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3, while the Essentials name was used from 2010 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 products in relevant markets. The range therefore functioned less as a separate game publisher than as a retail and packaging designation applied to qualifying first-party and third-party titles. Essentials releases were distinguished through redesigned packaging, usually featuring a prominent silver, platinum or platform-specific budget-label treatment and modified cover presentation. Earlier PlayStation and PlayStation 2 editions used silver bands and reduced versions of the original artwork. Later designs introduced black or grey framing and platform-specific label elements. Disc presentation also varied by system: some PlayStation and PlayStation 2 releases used simplified silver discs, while PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 editions more often retained elements of the original disc artwork alongside the budget branding. The first PlayStation 3 Platinum titles were released on 1 August 2008 and included Assassin's Creed, Heavenly Sword, MotorStorm, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Virtua Tennis 3. From 2010, the Essentials identity was applied to several newer PlayStation formats. For PlayStation 4 games, Sony later replaced the European budget label with PlayStation Hits; the first PlayStation Hits products were announced for digital and physical release on 18 July 2018 at prices of €19.99 and £15.99 in the cited markets. Essentials is therefore best understood as a historical and platform-specific PlayStation value label, closely related to Sony's Greatest Hits and The Best ranges used in North America and Japan.

Essentials developed from Sony's Platinum range, which began in March 1997 for the PAL PlayStation market. The original concept was to reissue games that had achieved strong sales at a substantially lower price, often around half the original retail level. This allowed retailers to clear or refresh inventory while giving successful games a longer commercial life. The initial eligibility standard required a game to have been on sale for at least twelve months and to have sold 100,000 copies across the PAL region. Sony subsequently changed the rules: the minimum time on sale was reduced to nine months, while the sales threshold increased to 250,000 units and later to 400,000. By 2006, the stated requirement was more than 400,000 PAL sales after six months. A title's sales in another territory, such as Japan or the United States, did not by themselves guarantee qualification for the PAL range. The first Platinum group consisted of Air Combat, Battle Arena Toshinden, Destruction Derby, Ridge Racer, Tekken and Wipeout. The branding later expanded to PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. Packaging was deliberately differentiated from standard editions through silver or platinum-colored bands, altered cover layouts and platform-specific graphics. Some early designs preserved a reduced version of the original cover inside a silver border, while later PlayStation 2 editions used black framing and dedicated Platinum text. The packaging treatment could also appear on manuals and discs. Sony's first PlayStation 3 Platinum products were released on 1 August 2008. The initial group included Assassin's Creed, Heavenly Sword, MotorStorm, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Virtua Tennis 3. Around 2010, Sony began using Essentials as the budget branding for selected PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 releases. The specific presentation differed by hardware generation: PlayStation Portable editions generally retained more of the original UMD design, whereas PlayStation 3 editions combined original disc artwork with Platinum-style visual treatment. The PlayStation 4 phase ultimately transitioned to PlayStation Hits. The first PlayStation Hits games were announced for 18 July 2018 in digital and retail channels, with cited prices of €19.99 and £15.99. Across its lifespan, the label served as the PAL-market counterpart to Sony's Greatest Hits branding in North America and The Best branding in Japan. It was a commercial merchandising system rather than an independent game-development studio or standalone publisher.

• 2018

  PlayStation Hits replaces Essentials for PlayStation 4

  [1]Essentials (PlayStation)en.wikipedia.org

  Sony shifted the PlayStation 4 budget designation to PlayStation Hits, with initial releases announced for 18 July.

• 2010

  Essentials branding adopted for newer platforms

  [1]Essentials (PlayStation)en.wikipedia.org

  The Essentials name was used for selected PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 products.

• 2008

  First PlayStation 3 Platinum releases

  [1]Essentials (PlayStation)en.wikipedia.org

  The first PlayStation 3 titles under the Platinum treatment were released on 1 August.

• 2006

  Sales qualification benchmark reaches more than 400,000 units

  [1]Essentials (PlayStation)en.wikipedia.org

  The reported standard became more than 400,000 PAL-region sales after six months on the market.

• 1997

  Platinum introduced

  [1]Essentials (PlayStation)en.wikipedia.org

  Sony launched the Platinum budget range in March for PlayStation games in PAL markets. Initial eligibility required at least one year on sale and 100,000 regional sales.

A mass-market budget label for commercially successful PlayStation games, combining lower retail pricing with distinctive packaging.

• PlayStation budget reissue range · 1997

  Platinum

  The original PAL-region Sony budget range, launched in 1997 for commercially successful PlayStation games. Platinum editions typically used silver or platinum packaging elements and were sold at reduced prices after meeting sales and availability criteria. The range later covered PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 software.

• PlayStation budget reissue range · 2010

  Essentials

  The successor or continuation of the Platinum identity for selected PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 games in PAL markets. It combined reduced pricing with a standardized label and redesigned packaging intended to identify established, value-oriented releases.

• PlayStation 4 budget reissue range · 2018

  PlayStation Hits

  The successor label used for PlayStation 4 budget products in place of Essentials. Its first cited releases were scheduled for July 2018 in digital and retail channels in PAL markets.

• 2018

  Replace the PlayStation 4 Essentials identity with PlayStation HitsStrategy

  Background

  Sony continued to offer reduced-price editions of successful PlayStation 4 games but changed the branding used for that generation.

  Action taken

  PlayStation 4 budget releases moved to the PlayStation Hits label, with initial products announced for digital and retail sale.

  Aftermath

  Essentials remained associated primarily with earlier PlayStation platform generations and PAL-market budget releases.

  Source

• 2010

  Rename the budget range as Essentials on newer platformsStrategy

  Background

  Sony had used Platinum for the PAL-market budget treatment since 1997 and extended the concept across additional PlayStation hardware.

  Action taken

  The company used Essentials for selected PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 releases.

  Aftermath

  The label continued the established value-range model while differentiating newer platform products from earlier Platinum editions.

  Source

1. 1Essentials (PlayStation)en.wikipedia.org