The new PS Plus subscription service will launch in June with three tiers of service. The “PS Plus Essential” basic package will replace the original PS Plus package. Players can download two games per month and compete with multiplayer online. The fee remains unchanged, but the monthly fee is HK$48. Two new premium services have been added, such as the “PS Plus Extra” upgrade package, which enjoys all the rights of the basic package and has up to 400 PS4 and PS5 games to choose from, with a monthly fee of HK$75.
Premium plans are limited to existing PS Now service regions
Another newly added “PS Plus Premium” top-level package has 240 more games to choose from than Extra. However, the cloud streaming service of this package is limited to the existing “PS Now” service area. There is no streaming function in Hong Kong, so the monthly fee is HK$85.
Industry insiders believe that SONY’s strengthening of game subscription services is to deal with Microsoft’s “Xbox Game Pass” known as “Netflix in the gaming industry”. This service allows gamers to play video games on mobile phones, PCs or Xbox consoles through cloud services without the need for Add expensive hardware.
Microsoft also poured money into “Game Pass”, buying video game developers Activision Blizzard (US: ATVI) and Bethesda (B) parent company ZeniMax for a total of $76 billion to introduce their popular games.
It is worth noting that Activision Blizzard has more than 370 million monthly active users, allowing Microsoft to reverse the competition with SONY at any time. Facing challenges such as the supply chain, game console sales have been limited in the past year, but SONY’s game revenue is still overwhelming Microsoft for the time being.
However, SONY only has about one-tenth of Microsoft’s free cash flow, and does not have enough resources to acquire more popular games like Microsoft. Therefore, SONY chose to strengthen its development strength. Earlier, it purchased game developer Bungie for $3.6 billion and acquired game studio Haven Studios for an undisclosed amount. This practice of living within one’s means echoes SONY’s decision not to join its peers in the field of streaming media to burn silver paper.
The “Wall Street Journal” pointed out that another difference between SONY and Microsoft’s game services is that SONY chooses to distribute the latest in-house games in retail channels for traditional game players to buy. Microsoft has embraced the practice of introducing subscription services on the fly for new games to lure players to subscription-based gaming offerings.
Games can be streamed to PC, PS5 and more
SONY’s upcoming upgrade subscription service is an attempt to step up its competition with Microsoft in streaming gaming. The new service will allow users to stream games to PC, PS4 and PS5. Players can try more games before deciding to buy.
PS chief executive Jim Ryan said that by introducing upgraded services, SONY will ensure that SONY provides the highest quality content. The new subscription service will include games such as Death Stranding and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.