Sony says it’s planning a new PlayStation subscription service codenamed ‘Spartacus’ that will compete with Xbox Game Pass
Sony Group Corp’s PlayStation division is planning to offer a new subscription service to compete with rival Microsoft Corp’s popular Xbox Game Pass.
Service codenamed Spartacus will allow PlayStation These people said they pay a monthly fee to access the catalog of modern and classic games, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press about the plan. The offer will probably be available on hit smash Playstation 4, which has sold more than 116 million units and its elusive successor, PlayStation 5, launched over a year ago but is still difficult to buy due to supply chain issues.
At launch, slated for spring, the service will merge two existing Sony subscriptions, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. Currently, PlayStation Plus is required for most online multiplayer games and offers free monthly titles, while PlayStation Now allows users to stream or download older games. . Documents reviewed by Bloomberg show that Sony plans to retain the PlayStation Plus brand but phase out PlayStation Now.
Details about Spartacus may not be finalized yet, but the document reviewed by Bloomberg outlines a three-tiered service. The first will include existing PlayStation Plus benefits. The second tier will offer a large catalog of PlayStation 4 games, and finally PlayStation 5 games. The third tier will add extended demos, game streaming, and a library of PS1, PS2 games. Classic PS3 and PSP. A PlayStation representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While PlayStation has outsold Xbox in recent years, Sony lags behind Microsoft in terms of subscriptions. With this new structure, Sony will be looking to compete with an already popular and lucrative Xbox feature.
Microsoft’s Game Pass, often dubbed 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 hundreds of games. Xbox has built up its overall strategy on the service in recent years, bringing all internally published games to Game Pass as soon as they’re released. Xbox has also made major acquisitions, such as Bethesda Softworks last year for $7.5 billion, with the goal of bolstering the Game Pass library.
Sony is also pouring resources into expanding its efforts in cloud gaming, people familiar with the plans said. Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming service gained massive popularity earlier this year.
