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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

 

[Stone_Wings]

Sony's efforts at matching GamePass are laughable and don't even impress Sony fanboys.

GamePass = $120 annually w/ 450+ games.
PS Plus Premium = $120 annually w/ 700+ games.

Yup. Such huge, huge, HUGE differences. Even the "Day One With GamePass!!!" thing is overblown. Coming from someone who pays for both GamePass Ultimate and PS Plus. It's not like MS are pumping out AAA first party day one games left and right on a regular basis. I mean.... https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass/play-day-one. The new PS tiers may not have day one first party AAA releases, but Xbox barely has any themselves.The majority are 3rd party/indies. Bloodborne alone rivals any first party game on game pass, let alone the rest of the PS exclusive catalog people will have access to.

How long are some of you going to chime on with this entire inferior thing? The only ones rightfully complaining, imo, are those who had or want PS Now without the PS Plus part. Both services offer basically the same thing. You pay to rent a library of games. One has some MS exclusives, the other has some PS exclusives. Both are generally the exact same price. I'll be over here with both. Only thing I'm not upgrading is my N online. I'll pay for the expansion pack when there's a library similar to the sizes of GamePass and PS Plus. So most likely never.

 

[the_randomizer]

GamePass = $120 annually w/ 450+ games.
PS Plus Premium = $120 annually w/ 700+ games.

Yup. Such huge, huge, HUGE differences. Even the "Day One With GamePass!!!" thing is overblown. Coming from someone who pays for both GamePass Ultimate and PS Plus. It's not like MS are pumping out AAA first party day one games left and right on a regular basis. I mean.... https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass/play-day-one. The new PS tiers may not have day one first party AAA releases, but Xbox barely has any themselves.The majority are 3rd party/indies. Bloodborne alone rivals any first party game on game pass, let alone the rest of the PS exclusive catalog people will have access to.

How long are some of you going to chime on with this entire inferior thing? The only ones rightfully complaining, imo, are those who had or want PS Now without the PS Plus part. Both services offer basically the same thing. You pay to rent a library of games. One has some MS exclusives, the other has some PS exclusives. Both are generally the exact same price. I'll be over here with both. Only thing I'm not upgrading is my N online. I'll pay for the expansion pack when there's a library similar to the sizes of GamePass and PS Plus. So most likely never.

Sure is nice knowing what games will be available on day one. Probably all shovelware too. Also PS3 being cloud is a copout.

 

[Stone_Wings]

Sure is nice knowing what games will be available on day one. Probably all shovelware too. Also PS3 being cloud is a copout.

With 700+ titles, I'm not too concerned. Half of what's on GamePass is shovelware to me too. I will 100% agree with you on the PS3 end.

 

[the_randomizer]

With 700+ titles, I'm not too concerned. Half of what's on GamePass is shovelware to me too. I will 100% agree with you on the PS3 end.

We don't even have a list of what games they are, not even first party games, that's not really a compelling reason to sign up day one.

 

[Xzi]

Honestly I wouldn't even bother subscribing to the base PS+ at this point if it weren't for the fact that it's regularly available for half off. Maybe I'll consider upgrading to one of the two new tiers if they do the same thing and put them on sale consistently.

 

[Stone_Wings]

Honestly I wouldn't even bother subscribing to the base PS+ at this point if it weren't for the fact that it's regularly available for half off. Maybe I'll consider upgrading to one of the two new tiers if they do the same thing and put them on sale consistently.

This. Absolutely. I'd pay the $10 a month for a 12 month sub, but GamePass & PS Plus are always available outside of MS/Sony themselves for less. And there are sales several times a year. This makes it more than worth it for me, for both services.

 

[Dimensional]

I don't really believe that.

YLODs on all of them. First one that broke was a BC version. It even had a disc of Skyrim stuck in the drive when it froze on me.

 

[HarveyHouston]

(claps) Mr. Ryan is a smart man, someone who progresses cautiously yet with plenty of respect for his consumer base. For this, I'm more likely to subscribe to the new PlayStation Plus.

 

[godreborn]

It's a nice try, but it does seem to be worse than game pass.

 

[Satellizer]

Jim Ryan needs to get his pos into gear or else game pass will fuck him up

 

[Stone_Wings]

It's a nice try, but it does seem to be worse than game pass.

Oh. You mean "WORSE"! As in worse, by being the same price and offering nearly double the amount of games. Gotcha.

 

[godreborn]

Oh. You mean "WORSE"! As in worse, by being the same price and offering nearly double the amount of games. Gotcha.

but aren't a lot of those games streamed?

 

[LightBeam]

More expensive but worse : exactly what I expected from Sony, ain't disappointed nor surprised.

 

[Stone_Wings]

but aren't a lot of those games streamed?

I would say the majority offer the option to download. From what I understood it's just PS3 games that are streaming only, while PS1, PS2, Vita, PS4 and PS5 titles will have the option to download.

More expensive but worse : exactly what I expected from Sony, ain't disappointed nor surprised.

Lmfao. Another one. I'll put this here again.

GamePass - 12 months for $120 and 450+ games
PS+ Premium - 12 months for $120 and 700+ games

 

[eyeliner]

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.

Nope. I compared services. This is what this piece of writing is about, amirite?

 

[LightBeam]

I would say the majority offer the option to download. From what I understood it's just PS3 games that are streaming only, while PS1, PS2, Vita, PS4 and PS5 titles will have the option to download.



Lmfao. Another one. I'll put this here again.

GamePass - 12 months for $120 and 450+ games
PS+ Premium - 12 months for $120 and 700+ games

I already read it, still don't give a flying fuck, you can shill all you want I still don't care lol.
You spend so much time and effort to defend this, feels like you're not trying to convince anyone but yourself.

 

[Stone_Wings]

I already read it, still don't give a flying fuck, you can shill all you want I still don't care lol.
You spend so much time and effort to defend this, feels like you're not trying to convince anyone but yourself.

Shill? Ohhhh, look everyone! The good old "If you support them, you must be working for them!!!" line. Seriously? LOL! Okay. I can play along with that line of grade school thinking. I mean, since you're obviously employed by the Xbox marketing team. Right? Because no one else would say something that costs the same but offers nearly double the number of titles is a shittier deal. So yeah, you can shill all you want. It's funny how you can take the time and effort to oppose the service and my post, yet here you are criticizing me for defending it. If I'm a shill, so are you. See how that works? Or you didn't think about that before you posted?

 

[the_randomizer]

More games!= all good games

 

[LightBeam]

Shill? Ohhhh, look everyone! The good old "If you support them, you must be working for them!!!" line. Seriously? LOL! Okay. I can play along with that line of grade school thinking. I mean, since you're obviously employed by the Xbox marketing team. Right? Because no one else would say something that costs the same but offers nearly double the number of titles is a shittier deal. So yeah, you can shill all you want. It's funny how you can take the time and effort to oppose the service and my post, yet here you are criticizing me for defending it. If I'm a shill, so are you. See how that works? Or you didn't think about that before you posted?

Sorry I just read the first sentence and already got tired, I'm not reading through all that shit

I'm not saying that supporting them makes you a shill, I called you a shill because you're basically posting the same stuff over and over, people already answered and you're still saying the same stuff people already disagreed on. Just stop wasting that much energy and time, we got it you think that's better because there are more games, cool, now move on.

 

[the_randomizer]

No first party games day one, fail