Sony Officially Turns PlayStation Plus Into Games Subscription Service to Rival Xbox Game Pass
A new games subscription service with more than 700 titles at launch.
After months of rumors, Sony and PlayStation have finally officially announced their new games subscription service to rival the Xbox Game Pass.
Retaining its PlayStation Plus name, the new service will combine the previous version of the subscription with PlayStation Now and offer three different tiers of memberships, confirming previous leaks. The lowest Essentials tier will cost $10 USD per month and give you access to two downloadable games, exclusive discounts, cloud storage for saved games, and online multiplayer access. Essentially, it’s the current PlayStation Plus program.
In the middle will be the Extra tier, which will set you back $15 USD a month. You’ll get all the perks of the previous tier, but with added access to a catalog of up to 400 downloadable PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games “including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners.”
Finally, at the top end of the new service is the Premium tier. As you’d expect, the plan includes all the benefits of the previous two levels but on top of the 400 titles, you’ll gain access to an extra 340 or so games, including titles from the original PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP that can all be streamed or downloaded. If you’re looking to try out new content, the tier also gives you access to time-limited game trials.
“The new Extra and Premium tiers represent a major evolution for PlayStation Plus,” said Sony CEO Jim Ryan in a blog post. “With these tiers, our key focus is to ensure that the hundreds of games we offer will include the best quality content that sets us apart. At launch, we plan to include titles such as Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11, and Returnal. We’re working closely with our imaginative developers from PlayStation Studios and third-party partners to include some of the best gaming experiences available with a library that will be regularly refreshed. More details to come on the games we’ll have on our new PlayStation Plus service.”
For those interested, the new services will be offered starting this June.
Elsewhere in gaming, Nintendo has now delayed the launch of its sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild to 2023.
