Late last year, Bloomberg reported that they had insider information on a new service that Sony was working on. Code-named Project Spartacus, it would merge both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services and have multiple subscription tiers, with the most expensive one offering classic PlayStation games. A new report has come in, from VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb, as he discussed what he knew about Project Spartacus in a recent episode of the Giantbomb podcast.

He added on to previously teased information, and claimed that there will be three tiers to Spartacus: Essential, Extra, and Premium. Essential would pretty much be the existing PlayStation Plus offering, while Extra would add on a downloadable game catalog, similar to PlayStation Now. Lastly, the Premium tier would have the most features, such as cloud streaming, timed game trials, and "access to classic games", though Grubb was not certain what exactly those classic games would be, or what systems they would be from. According to his knowledge, that would be a major draw for the Premium tier.

These tiers would be $10, $13, and $16, respectively. Grubb also said that Project Spartacus is "probably getting pretty close to launching", with a possible announcement coming sometime in March.

Again, all of these prices and names could change. But this is the general outline of what to expect from Spartacus. And these features should make PS Plus look much stronger in comparison to Xbox Game Pass. While Sony will not include full versions of its blockbuster games in PS Plus on day one, game trials will at least give a bigger audience a chance to sample those games.

Sony is moving into a testing phase for Spartacus in the next few weeks. And it could announce the details of its new membership program in March — although that’ll depend on whether it is ready to roll out the service.

Source

 

[Fugelmir]

Wow, even the rumor is rumored. My dear lord... Sony seems to really be keeping this under lock-and-key.

 

[64bitmodels]

gamepass about to get some real competition and i'm all for it baby!!! more choice for me!!!! Don't actually lock the emulated games behind spartacus though like Nintentard did

 

[BraveDragonWolf]

Let's be honest here. We all hate to pay for online multiplayer no matter how much it costs.
They should just leave that out...

 

[Bladexdsl]

Don't actually lock the emulated games behind spartacus though like Nintentard did

and make an emulator that actually fucking works properly

 

[Marc_LFD]

I'm still hoping they'll unveil "PlayStation Plus Ultimate" like Xbox does.

And "classic" games? MGS Legacy Collection would be awesome if it was there.

 

[Stone_Wings]

$16 per month is a lot to pay for ps1 games IMHO, but I guess they're just taking cues from Nintendo on overcharging for a subscription service for fifth generation games.

PS Now has a catalog of like 800 titles. Game Pass has 1/4 that number and people praise it at $15 a month.

 

[HarveyHouston]

Does this mean I can essentially have a PlayStation Plus subscription without a PlayStation? ...But what else does this mean? Are we about to lose certain perks by having Plus and Now merged? Will it be cheaper (current pricing suggests a yearly price of $120 for a subscription to both services) or be near impossible to afford? Will we not be able to watch movies? Are games still going to be available for a long time (some are near indefinite on the current Now service)?

Questions, questions, and more questions! Time will tell if Now and Plus are going to be truly merged. It's possible that nothing will truly change on the services software side - just the branding will be the same, and you'll automatically be subscribed for both services (now merged as one) if you decide to subscribe.

Got some potential names on my mind... PlayStation Everywhere, PS Club, Sony Gamers, the Xbox Haters Formation, the Disgruntled Nintendo Fans, PS Live, YesPayStation. My vote's on either Club or Everywhere.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

I hope it's not streaming only, because I have a data cap on my internet.

They’re not going to let you actually download these. You need to pay for the privilege to temporarily rent these /s

 

[Stone_Wings]

They’re not going to let you actually download these. You need to pay for the privilege to temporarily rent these /s

I believe you will be able to download certain PS Now titles on a PS4 or PS5, but only streaming on PC. Exactly the same as it is now.

 

[godreborn]

I believe you will be able to download certain PS Now titles on a PS4 or PS5, but only streaming on PC. Exactly the same as it is now.

I'm hoping for some more titles than what they have now. I looked over the list, and one game that's absent right now is tales of graces f. that's one of the games I bought the ps3 for. my save was lost though, and I don't want to risk pirating the game, then getting banned with the account I use on the ps5. I also agree with @Chary about tales of the abyss. one of my favorite games ever. I beat it on both the ps2 and the 3ds. I didn't appreciate it as much until I went through it on the 3ds though.

 

[Moon164]

I just want the PS5 to have as robust backwards compatibility as the Xbox, it would be awesome to put the PS2 or PS3 disc and be able to play on the PS5 without any problems.

Honestly, that's the biggest reason I prefer an Xbox Series X to a PS5 these days.

 

[godreborn]

I just want the PS5 to have as robust backwards compatibility as the Xbox, it would be awesome to put the PS2 or PS3 disc and be able to play on the PS5 without any problems.

Honestly, that's the biggest reason I prefer an Xbox Series X to a PS5 these days.

I feel the same way. I love the ps5, but the series x does have more going for it for the same price. I own both. I think if the ps6 has full bc, it will shatter the competition.

 

[torrent_get]

Will PSnow redux be a leader or a fellow traveller.

A few words from the journeymen.

I am spartacus - OnLive.

I am spartacus - Stadia.

I am spartacus - luna.

 

[64bitmodels]

I just want the PS5 to have as robust backwards compatibility as the Xbox, it would be awesome to put the PS2 or PS3 disc and be able to play on the PS5 without any problems.

Honestly, that's the biggest reason I prefer an Xbox Series X to a PS5 these days.

they have no excuse either- PS1-PS4 hardware is dirt cheap and they did the same thing from PS2-PS3. if they included full BC i would have gotten PS5

 

[Bladexdsl]

i would have gotten PS5

no you wouldn't because you can't buy them

 

[lokomelo]

Why the name Spartacus?

A leader of a slave rebellion can't be less "Sonysh" or even "vide-gameish"

Anyway, I can't wait for the Microsoft's Gaius Gracchus online services

 

[Bobsy]

This is only interesting to me if you can temporarily download and install games on your local system.
Streaming quality on psnow was not always good for me. I was able to stream The Last of Us, but for a fast game like Sonic Generations, it was unplayable.
Also, talking of retro Games, I want a version of Guardian Heroes.

 

[Stone_Wings]

no you wouldn't because you can't buy them

Oh? I got one from Sony on the 17th and two from Walmart on the 24th. There have been over 17 million PS5s sold.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

I just want the PS5 to have as robust backwards compatibility as the Xbox, it would be awesome to put the PS2 or PS3 disc and be able to play on the PS5 without any problems.

Honestly, that's the biggest reason I prefer an Xbox Series X to a PS5 these days.

This is definitely the preferred option, but Sony wants your money and would rather have you rent your content you already physically own or just make you pay for it again. Remember the shit they did with PS2 classics on the PS4? (if you bought PS2 classics on the PS3, you had to buy them again)

 

[Bladexdsl]

Oh? I got one from Sony on the 17th and two from Walmart on the 24th. There have been over 17 million PS5s sold.

because scalpers like YOU bought them all and ruined it for everyone else