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On Monday, Sony announced their plans to revitalize their PlayStation Plus program, which will include tiers that are similar to Microsoft's Game Pass system; for the length of their subscription, users get access to a catalog of games to stream or download. One of the most notable aspects of Game Pass is Microsoft's policy of releasing first-party titles to the service on their release date. In a recent interview with GameIndustry.biz, however, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan says that Sony will not be adopting the same policy, believing that their games would suffer as a result.

We feel like we are in a good virtuous cycle with the studios where the investment delivers success, which enables yet more investment, which delivers yet more success. We like that cycle and we think our gamers like that cycle.

[In terms of] putting our own games into this service, or any of our services, upon their release... as you well know, this is not a road that we've gone down in the past. And it's not a road that we're going to go down with this new service. We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want.

Ryan also talks about the pricing structure of the three new tiers for PlayStation Plus. There will be the Essential, which is the same PS Plus there is now at $10/month; Extra, which gives access to a library of PS4 and PS5 games for $15/month; and Premium, which adds on game streaming, timed trials, and access to PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games for $18/month. While the monthly cost is higher than Xbox's Game Pass, Jim Ryan has mentioned that more than two thirds of subscribers do so at the annual rate, so Sony has emphasized putting value on that option. "What we are delivering is that, for a 12-month subscriber, and that is the great majority of people, the monthly subscription rate for PlayStation Plus Extra will be $8.33. And for PlayStation Plus Premium it will be $9.99. We think, for what people are going to get, this is a terrific value proposition. And one that simply wouldn't be possible if we were to put our studios' games into the service upon their release."

While Ryan believes games subscription services are important, he doesn't think they are everything. "With platforms, it is seldom just one single thing that makes a platform really attractive. It's a combination of many things. And having a really strong service proposition definitely helps." He continued, "Subscription has certainly grown in importance over the course of the last few years. Our PlayStation Plus subscriber number has grown from zero in 2010, to 48 million now. And we anticipate, for our services, that we will see further growth for the subscriber number. But the medium of gaming is so very different to music and to linear entertainment, that I don't think we'll see it go to the levels that we see with Spotify and Netflix."

Finally, Ryan touched on the topic of live service games as an alternative form of games subscription, believing that they will ultimately be more important and lucrative. "Some of the live service [games] that are proving very successful these days, and I'm not restricting this comment to console, they're effectively subscription services in themselves. And they're very much tailored to the needs of the gamer who loves whatever game that they spend hours and hours with, month after month after month. That phenomenon of the live service game... that has, in a very large part, fuelled the enormous growth in the gaming industry that we've seen over the last ten years. I think that trend towards live services will continue, and if you look for a model in our category of entertainment, which supports sustained engagement over a long period of time, live services games arguably fit that bill better than a subscription service."

As Eurogamer reported last month, transcribing an investor meeting, Sony plans to release ten live service games by March 2026. According to Sony exec Hiroki Totoki, this was a big reason for their purchase of Destiny developer Bungie in January. "The strategic significance of this acquisition lies not only in obtaining the highly successful Destiny franchise, as well as major new IP Bungie is currently developing, but also incorporating into the Sony group the expertise and technologies Bungie has developed in the live game services space. We intend to utilise these strengths when developing game IP at PlayStation Studios as we expand into the live game services area."

Source

 

[Chary]

Jim Ryan really just got on an interview and said PS+ is more expensive, has less features than Game Pass, anyway, please subscribe.

 

[Valwinz]

wow il be missing out on those amazing games like generic cinematic game

 

[eyeliner]

What he said is nothing new.
But still better than Nintendo's service.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

They will not put $70 games on release date, they rather put the $70 dollar PlayStation games 3 months later when they worth $2.

 

[nikeymikey]

Basically another win in this gen for Microsoft. With day 1 AAA releases on GP and the ability to play those same games on both PC and console while sharing the same save data (which is something else missing from Sony's offer) I don't really see MS being threatened by this.

 

[Dimensional]

It's interesting that he believes putting a First Party game, aka a Sony game, on their subscription would hurt the game and the investment into the game. That's entirely BS. They don't want to Risk investing the game. sure how Microsoft does it because whether you buy the game or get GamePass, they still get money from you, and it's an investment because you don't pay $60-70 for the game, possibly the only game you'd normally get for a whole year, but end up paying close to $150 a year for a subscription.

That's what they are betting on, and MS is winning this. Sony doesn't understand it seems, and that's going to hurt them. Hope they change the decision there, otherwise it will look like they can't handle the pressure, or worse, make it appear that they very little confidence in their own product. I like their products, at least the PS1 and PS2, which are still working for me. I haven't had a chance to get a PS4 or 5, and I've had 4 PS3s that all broke as a result of badly designed cooling. If I had the opportunity to use a PS4 or 5, I'm sure I would enjoy it, but Sony isn't giving me any reason to get a subscription along with a console.

 

[djpannda]

Translation:: Alot of users won't be coming to new Playstation Plus on release day

 

[CoolMe]

and I've had 4 PS3s that all broke as a result of badly designed cooling

Exactly, PS3 emulation is the only one i'm concerned about, not PS1/2, as i had a Slim that died on me for no reason so i understand your frustration, Fats are completely unreliable, and even newer models are at risk of crapping out on you regardless if you took good care of them or not, and that's now, makes you question how the situation will be +10 years now (and PS3 emulation on PC still needs alot of work)..

 

[nikeymikey]

Exactly, PS3 emulation is the only one i'm concerned about, not PS1/2, as i had a Slim that died on me for no reason so i understand your frustration, Fats are completely unreliable, and even newer models are at risk of crapping out on you regardless if you took good care of them or not, and that's now, makes you question how the situation will be +10 years now (and PS3 emulation on PC still needs alot of work)..

I still have my original fat non-bc console from way back when and it works perfectly!!!"

 

[Scott-105]

I was super excited for this service. I was expecting something at least on par with Game Pass or slightly better. But really, it’s not great, and I don’t see myself subscribing past essential unless there’s a lot of games I haven’t played on there, which isn’t likely. But we shall see I guess. I kinda knew I was being overly optimistic.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

Exactly, PS3 emulation is the only one i'm concerned about, not PS1/2, as i had a Slim that died on me for no reason so i understand your frustration, Fats are completely unreliable, and even newer models are at risk of crapping out on you regardless if you took good care of them or not, and that's now, makes you question how the situation will be +10 years now (and PS3 emulation on PC still needs alot of work)..

PS3 will run on cloud, it will be way inferior than PS3 emulation on PC.

Sony is not exactly famous for having the best servers.

 

[yoyoyo69]

Jim Ryan really just got on an interview and said PS+ is more expensive, has less features than Game Pass, anyway, please subscribe.

And follows behind much later too. Not surprised one little bit though, it is Sony

 

[Stone_Wings]

Amusing to me that some people are still acting like $120 a year ($10/month) for the highest tier, with a 700+ title library of games, is somehow drastically inferior to Game Pass.

 

[CoolMe]

I still have my original fat non-bc console from way back when and it works perfectly!!!"

Well, good for you.. But the real question is: will it work 10 years from now? And the same goes for all the other PS3s in the world..

PS3 will run on cloud, it will be way inferior than PS3 emulation on PC.

Sony is not exactly famous for having the best servers.

That wasn't what i was talking about, and i know about it being Cloud only.. I was referring to the state of PS3 emulation in general, Sony is not bringing any solution to this (and i don't think they really care..), and while RPCS3 on PC has improved very much recently but it's far from perfect. It's concerning cause many exclusive games are locked on that system, you can't play them elsewhere, both retail & PSN titles. .And what happens when all PS3 hardware become scarce, and with all the failing/unreliable hardware that it is? That's the main point of my 1st comment..
I just hope RPCS3 (or other emulators in the future?) improves to the point of where it can play most of the popular titles..

 

[Stone_Wings]

I've had 4 PS3s that all broke as a result of badly designed cooling

I don't really believe that.

Well, good for you.. But the real question is: will it work 10 years from now? And the same goes for all the other PS3s in the world..

Most likely. I still have a perfectly functioning fat PS2 and slim PS3. Never had an issue with the fat PS3 either before selling it.

 

[the_randomizer]

Wow, that'll sure get people to enroll on day one!

 

[ecesar]

This is not good.

Vote with your wallets.

I will.

 

[Stone_Wings]

Wow, that'll sure get people to enroll on day one!

Vote with your wallets.

I will.

You're both 100% right! I'm already paid up through March 2024 so I'll just be upgrading what I have to the higher tier. $10 a month for 700+ games is too good of a deal for me to not vote "YES!" with my wallet. Gamepass Ultimate + PS Plus Premium is a win win for me. Either some people are more poor than I am or as I've stated before, they for some odd reason think $10 a month for a library twice the size of Game Pass is a drastically inferior deal. Someone open the windows in here. It reeks of fanboys and banddwagons.

 

[ChibiMofo]

What he said is nothing new.
But still better than Nintendo's service.

So you think Nintendo's handheld is the real competition for the PS5, huh? Back here on planet Earth, Sony's efforts at matching GamePass are laughable and don't even impress Sony fanboys.