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New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Printable Version

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New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Moonface - Dec 3rd, 2021

Bloomberg Wrote:
Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation division is planning a new subscription service to compete with rival Microsoft Corp.’s popular Xbox Game Pass, according to 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 asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak to the press about the plans. The offering will likely be available on the smash hit PlayStation 4, which has sold more than 116 million units, and its elusive successor, the PlayStation 5, which launched more than a year ago but is still difficult to buy due to supply chain issues.

When it launches, expected in the spring, the service will merge Sony’s two existing subscription plans, 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 suggest that Sony plans to retain the PlayStation Plus branding but phase out PlayStation Now.

Details on Spartacus may still not be finalized, but documentation reviewed by Bloomberg outlines a service with three tiers. 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 representative for PlayStation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/playstation-plans-new-service-to-take-on-xbox-game-pass-1.1690849

I doubt it'll manage to compete with Game Pass due to the lack of day one titles, but I think the merging of PS+ and PS Now is a good idea since there's really no point to have them detached from one another. The backwards compatibility stuff intrigues me, but I won't hold my breath for a good lineup that's worth the money considering how lackluster the lineup was for the PlayStation Classic. If this comes to fruition though I think that leaves Xbox as the only system that offers backwards compatibility across their entire library without charging an extra fee. Hmm

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Dragon Lord - Dec 3rd, 2021

While Sony won't offer new titles day 1 on this, it could still easily curb stomp gamepass if Sony is smart and puts the right PS1 and PS2 games on the service. Sony's legacy titles can completely destroy anything Microsoft can counter with, and people will go nuts for being able to play PS1/PS2 games on their PS4s and PS5s. Add in the fact that this will (if the leaks are true) have PS3 AND PSP games as well drastically increases the quality of this service.

There are still a lot of PS1 and PS2 games that aren't accessible any more, and people will gladly jump at this service to get them. Sony is going to give a service that people will jump all over for nostalgia, while keeping their day 1 hit sales, while Xbox sacrifices so many of those sales by putting games on Game Pass day 1.

I would gladly subscribe to the third tier of this service to the ability to play PSP games on my PS4/PS5. Especially since so many of them are impossible to find any more. Persona 3 Portable on my PS5? Yes pleeeeeeeease.

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Moonface - Dec 3rd, 2021

I just realised that I could actually try some games from the PSP I never had the chance to provided they end up in the service. I'm surprised Vita isn't being put in the service too since Sony stopped supporting it ages ago and I don't think they even produce those systems anymore do they?

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Karo - Dec 3rd, 2021

I think its a good idea by them, but I'm honestly not too interested in a gaming streaming service mainly becuse if I'm honest with you Netflix had it appeals but as more and more of these things pop up the more I groan at the sight of another one.  Errm

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Moonface - Jan 13th, 2022

Sony is currently pulling all PS Now subscription cards from stores in the UK, and had actually already been doing this in the US at the end of last year (yet somehow only the former made the news), so it looks like this new service is definitely happening. I wonder when they'll announce it though? Hmm

Also thinking on it I guess Vita games can't come over because of the back touch pad, since that can't be replicated on a controller. It's a shame because there's probably a lot of great games on there that just never got huge traction because of how poorly Sony supported the system. Eh

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Moonface - Mar 26th, 2022

Current rumour is that Sony will announce "Spartacus" officially next week. It also won't have games available on their release day like Game Pass does, according to an insider close to the project.

Honestly I don't care about getting new games day one as much as having a way to finally play older games without having to set up an old system to do it all the time. Especially since I would rather still own my games than just have them all attached to a service that would take them to the grave if it ever died.

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Mr EliteL - Mar 26th, 2022

I don't think I'll be interested in a Game Pass equivalent for PlayStation. Just want to stick with my current games really also don't want other stuff locked behind a bigger/alternate pay wall or be completely digital. Don't care as much for PS+ anymore, but that's still the most I'm willing to invest into.

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - ShiraNoMai - Mar 26th, 2022

The day one stuff kinda stinks; I'm unsure why they would offer a lesser service than their competitor. You'd think they'd want to hard compete with that by offering all what their competitor offers, PLUS more. Errm

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Moonface - Mar 27th, 2022

(Mar 26th, 2022, 09:05 PM)ShiraNoMai Wrote:
The day one stuff kinda stinks; I'm unsure why they would offer a lesser service than their competitor. You'd think they'd want to hard compete with that by offering all what their competitor offers, PLUS more. Errm
Maybe because Game Pass is across console and PC whereas Spartacus would be purely for console, where the former is using a platform where everything is digital (PC) and so Game Pass doesn't remove a physical choice because it doesn't even exist in the first place. Although I know at the most recent GDC Microsoft showed a very in-depth breakdown of how Game Pass performs and everything was higher numbers and profit across the board compared to a time before Game Pass. 

Xbox is also way more associated with online gaming than PlayStation is and has always been big in that realm so offering a service combining that with hit single player games probably gets people subscribed to it who don't actually touch online gaming and it gets those who really like online gaming to try out single player stuff they might not otherwise because of finding it poor value for money compared to their online long-life games. I feel Sony is more about trying to strengthen their online side because their single player stuff already does gangbusters and has been their bread and butter for a long time.

RE: PlayStation Plans New Service to Take On Xbox Game Pass - Moonface - Mar 29th, 2022

New Three-Tier PlayStation Plus Service Announced
Sony have officially revealed a new three-tier subscription service which merges the features of that PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into a single entity.

PlayStation Plus Essential

Benefits
  • Provides the same benefits that PlayStation Plus members are getting today, such as:
    • Two monthly downloadable games
    • Exclusive discounts
    • Cloud storage for saved games
    • Online multiplayer access
  • There are no changes for existing PlayStation Plus members in this tier.
Price* for PlayStation Plus Essential remains the same as the current price for PlayStation Plus.
  • United States
    • $9.99 monthly / $24.99 quarterly / $59.99 yearly
  • Europe
    • €8.99 monthly / €24.99 quarterly / €59.99 yearly
  • United Kingdom
    • £6.99 monthly / £19.99 quarterly / £49.99 yearly
  • Japan
    • ¥850 monthly / ¥2,150 quarterly / ¥5,143 yearly

PlayStation Plus Extra

Benefits
  • Provides all the benefits from the Essential tier
  • Adds a catalog of up to 400* of the most enjoyable PS4 and PS5 games – including blockbuster hits from our PlayStation Studios catalog and third-party partners. Games in the Extra tier are downloadable for play.
Price*
  • United States
    • $14.99 monthly / $39.99 quarterly / $99.99 yearly
  • Europe
    • €13.99 monthly / €39.99 quarterly / €99.99 yearly
  • United Kingdom
    • £10.99 monthly / £31.99 quarterly / £83.99 yearly
  • Japan
    • ¥1,300 monthly / ¥3,600 quarterly / ¥8,600 yearly

PlayStation Plus Premium**

Benefits
  • Provides all the benefits from Essential and Extra tiers
  • Adds up to 340* additional games, including:
    • PS3 games available via cloud streaming
    • A catalog of beloved classic games available in both streaming and download options from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations
  • Offers cloud streaming access for original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 games offered in the Extra and Premium tiers in markets** where PlayStation Now is currently available. Customers can stream games using PS4 and PS5 consoles, and PC.***
  • Time-limited game trials will also be offered in this tier, so customers can try select games before they buy.
Price*
  • United States
    • $17.99 monthly / $49.99 quarterly / $119.99 yearly
  • Europe
    • €16.99 monthly / €49.99 quarterly / €119.99 yearly
  • United Kingdom
    • £13.49 monthly / £39.99 quarterly / £99.99 yearly
  • Japan
    • ¥1,550 monthly / ¥4,300 quarterly / ¥10,250 yearly
  • PlayStation Plus Deluxe (Select Markets) For markets without cloud streaming, PlayStation Plus Deluxe will be offered at a lower price compared to Premium, and includes a catalog of beloved classic games from the original PlayStation, PS2 and PSP generations to download and play, along with time-limited game trials. Benefits from Essential and Extra tiers are also included. Local pricing will vary by market.

*Local pricing may vary by market. PlayStation Plus catalog titles may also vary by market and tier, and may change over time. PlayStation Plus is an ongoing subscription subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically until cancellation. Age restrictions apply.  Terms apply: play.st/psplus-usageterms

**Current markets where PlayStation Now is available: US, Canada, Japan, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

***PC streaming is not available in Japan at launch and will be supported in a future update.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Nothing as great as all the talk around Spartacus made it seem like it would be. Whether I care for the higher tiers is going to depend on what the games are, and even then I'd likely just use a month of the higher tier to play the stuff I want and then downgrade again after when I'm done.

RE: New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Mr EliteL - Mar 30th, 2022

Essential tier only for me, well for a year price anyway I'd be OK to get. If I somehow really wanted to try one of the other two I'd do the same and get a single month, but I highly doubt that'll happen unless a PS3 game that has Co-Op becomes accessible again, but even that might not entice me. *shrugs*

RE: New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Moonface - Mar 30th, 2022

(Mar 30th, 2022, 08:35 PM)Mr EliteL Wrote:
. . . I highly doubt that'll happen unless a PS3 game that has Co-Op becomes accessible again, but even that might not entice me. *shrugs*
I doubt any of the games that are added to the service will feature a working online component since that would require servers, and I don't think any PS3 game still has them running for their multiplayer elements. I also doubt it would work out very well trying to stream a PS3 game while also playing it online with others because your internet would need to be streaming your game, delivering your inputs, and doing everything that a regular online mode would require of your connection. The only co-op I think we'll see would be local because that doesn't need a server.

Impossibilities aside though, did you have any PS3 games in mind you'd want to have on the service with their co-op intact?

RE: New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Mr EliteL - Mar 31st, 2022

Yeah that's why I thought Co-Op games won't be likely, but if they were it's UC3 on PS4/PS5 Co-Op I'd be interested in, however also probably won't be enough to make me buy PS+ Premium.

RE: New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Moonface - Mar 31st, 2022

(Mar 31st, 2022, 02:44 PM)Mr EliteL Wrote:
Yeah that's why I thought Co-Op games won't be likely, but if they were it's UC3 on PS4/PS5 Co-Op I'd be interested in, however also probably won't be enough to make me buy PS+ Premium.
I feel like if Sony cared to have kept the multiplayer of UC3 going still they would've had it included in the Nathan Drake Collection on PS4 like how TLOU Remastered had its multiplayer component ported over. That collection also basically kills any reason to bring Uncharted games onto the service from PS3 since I'm sure the Nathan Drake Collection is part of the PS+ Collection on PS5.

I expect any game that uses a license or licensed music is also not coming over due to the cost and complications that brings.

I also wonder if the PS3 games will have trophy support still or not. I don't know if PS Now has trophies or not. Unsure

RE: New PlayStation Plus Tiers Announced - Dragon Lord - Apr 4th, 2022

Absolutely nothing wrong with this. People who just want the normal PS+ still get it for no additional cost, and people who want the extras can choose one of the other two tiers.

Depending on what PSP games they offer on the service, I am definitely down to pay the $120/year for the highest tier. Would be nice to have access to some of my favorite PSP games on my PS5 instead of having to find and charge up my PSP every time I'd want to play a game exclusive to it. Give me Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Star Ocean 2 and.... a couple of others that I'm forgetting, and I'd be happy with it.

Look forward to seeing what PS1/PS2 games they offer as well. There's a good chunk of those I'd be very happy to play on my PS5 as well.