According to new reports, Sony is planning to roll out its own version of the Xbox Game Pass, accessible to PlayStation gamers, possibly in 2022.
Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s video game subscription service, has been up and running for over four years by now, but in all that time Sony has not offered its own alternative — but finally, its rival product is finally in the works according to a report from Bloomberg.
This new service, expected in the spring, will likely retain the "PlayStation Plus" branding. Don't expect Sony to include its big new games day one like Game Pass does, but the expectation is a stronger offering than PlayStation Now
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) December 3, 2021
According to journalist Jason Schreier, the service (which is currently code-named ‘Spartacus’) could go live as soon as 2022. It’s appaently likely to take the form of a triple-tier system, with the bottom level consisting of what is currently PS Plus; the middle-tier adding some PS4 and PS5 titles; and the top tier including retro PS1, PS2, PS3 and even PSP games, along with some demos.
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However, the disappointing news relayed in the Twitter post above is that PlayStation’s new streaming service is unlikely to offer “big new games” on day one, as is currently the case with Xbox Games Pass. This could compromise the success of ‘Spartacus’, because even though it may offer plenty of excellent features, in this regard it could pale in comparison to Microsoft’s well-established competitor.
As part of this new era, it seems likely that the PlayStation Now cloud gaming system will be phased out in favour of the new service.
So far Sony has not confirmed any of the details mentioned above, and we still have no clue as to the pricing of the different subscriptions, but we’ll hope to hear more and more about it in the early parts of next year as it gears up for launch.
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