Although Sony has long been relatively cold to various subscription services, see for example the initial unnecessary resistance to EA Play, and with the partial exception of PS Now, it offers no alternative to the Game Pass, there could be a big turnaround in this regard. This is suggested by Jason Schreier in an article on Bloombergu, where he claims that PlayStation is planning a new subscription service similar to Game Pass, which would combine the benefits of PS Now and PS Plus. He refers classically to unnamed sources and documents.
All the benefits so far together and more on top
The service, codenamed Spartacus, should give players on PlayStation access to a catalog of modern and older games for a monthly fee. The subscription should work on PS4 and PS5. The service is said to be able to start operating in the spring and, as already mentioned, will connect PlayStation Plus and Now. A separate PS Plus program would probably remain. The details are still being fine-tuned at the moment, but all the benefits of PS Plus would be a matter of course. That means multiplayer, free games every month and some discounts. A large catalog of PS4 games would be added to them, and the list of titles for PS5 would gradually grow. The third advantage would be the extended demos, streaming versions and catalog of classics from PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP.
Sony has not yet commented on these speculations, not even the questions of other media. Bloomberg notes that although the PlayStation is doing well in the field of consoles, it may have fallen asleep behind the competition with a subscription. The Game Pass is gaining more and more popularity on both Xbox and PC, constantly expanding its offer thanks to numerous studio acquisitions and attracting more subscribers. In addition, the Ultimate version also offers cloud streaming and EA Play games.
Game Pass is celebrating such success, among other things, because it offers all the new attractive games from Microsoft, including exclusivity, and often features titles from other developers and publishers on Day 1. Sony may not plan this and the catalog of the new service could more closely match the composition of PS Now.
Sony, on the other hand, has repeatedly stated in the past that such a program does not make sense to them given their first party production and cost. Jim Ryan literally called it unsustainable because their exclusivity costs over $ 100 million. Former senior PlayStation manager Shawn Layden also questioned the Game Pass. Microsoft, on the other hand, has argued several times that the program is completely viable and worthwhile.
The problem is certainly the fact that, for example, the PlayStation Now service is not officially supported in our country, so a possible upgrade would have to go hand in hand with the expansion of the regions where the service is available. But access to first party games would also play an equally important role. Game Pass is celebrating such success, among other things, because it offers all the new attractive games from Microsoft, including exclusivity, and often features titles from other developers and publishers on Day 1. Sony may not plan this and the catalog of the new service could more closely match the composition of PS Now. Then it would make sense why, for example, the Japanese giant changed its mind about the subscription. And therefore, they do not necessarily see the same risks.
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