The division PlayStation Sony is planning a new subscription service to compete with the popular Xbox Game Pass from rival Microsoft. The information came from people familiar with Sony's plans and documents reviewed by Bloomberg.
The service, code-named Spartacus, will allow PlayStation owners to pay a monthly fee for access to a catalog of modern and classic games, said the people, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press about the plans.
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The offer will likely be available on the PlayStation 4, which has sold over 116 million units, and its successor. elusive PlayStation 5, which was released over a year ago but is still difficult to buy due to supply chain issues supply.
When it launches, the service will tie together Sony's two existing subscription plans, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. Currently, PlayStation Plus is required for most online multiplayer games and offers titles free monthly subscriptions, while PlayStation Now allows users to stream or download older games. Documents reviewed by Bloomberg suggest Sony plans to retain the PlayStation Plus brand but discontinue PlayStation Now.
Details on Spartacus are yet to be finalized, but documentation reviewed by Bloomberg describes a three-tiered service. The first would include existing PlayStation Plus benefits. The second would offer a large catalog of PlayStation 4 and eventually PlayStation 5 games.
The third tier would add extended demos, game streaming and a library of classic PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games. A PlayStation representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the PlayStation has outsold the Xbox in recent years, Sony has lagged behind Microsoft in the subscription segment. With this new structure, Sony will look to compete with an Xbox feature that has become popular and profitable.
Spartacus
Details on Spartacus are yet to be finalized, but documentation reviewed by Bloomberg describes a three-tiered service. The first would include existing PlayStation Plus benefits. The second would offer a large catalog of PlayStation 4 and eventually PlayStation 5 games.
The third tier would add extended demos, game streaming and a library of classic PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games. A PlayStation representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the PlayStation has outsold the Xbox in recent years, Sony has lagged behind Microsoft in the subscription segment. With this new structure, Sony will look to compete with an Xbox feature that has become popular and profitable.
Microsoft's Game Pass, often referred to as the Netflix of video games, has more than 18 million subscribers. It allows users to pay $10 to $15 a month for unlimited access to several hundred games.
Xbox has built its overall strategy around the service over the past few years, putting all of its internally published games on Game Pass as soon as they launch. Xbox has also made big acquisitions, like Bethesda Softworks last year for $7.5 billion, with the aim of bolstering the Game Pass library.
Sony is also investing resources to expand its cloud gaming efforts, people familiar with the plans said. Microsoft's xCloud game streaming service became widely available earlier this year.
