Lewis Ward, global video game industry analyst and director of research at market information firm IDC, shared his thoughts on the new PS Plus with TechRadar. He describes the renewal as a welcome change that is long overdue, but a change that deliberately limits what Microsoft’s service itself offers. For starters, the mid-range PS Plus – which will cost the same as the Game Pass Ultimate – will only include 400 games. They are less than the more than 450 titles currently included in the Xbox Game Pass. “We read that it serves a dual purpose,” says Ward. “Most subscribers do not want a huge list with a large share of clunkers, but rather an improved list with better overall quality and fewer list options means that the games included should generate more play time and higher revenue per title for third-party studios. . “It is interesting that Meta’s Quest Store also has about 400 titles and Oculus executives have advertised the benefits of maintaining strict diligence in its store. “Sometimes less is more.”
(Image: Miguel Lagoa / Shutterstock) The Game Pass was a huge success, adding top Xbox games, such as Halo Infinite, to service on the same day they went retail. Sony will not follow suit. The tech giant has already confirmed that it will not add premium versions to PS Plus the day they are released, which Ward says will prevent the service from being adopted. “[Sony] “He believes that adding first-party AAA games to platform-based subscriptions from the release is not economically prudent and reduces the share of revenue from services that end up going to third-party studios.” “Subscribers should not expect any new PS5 games from PlayStation Studios to be available before the end of [the second quarter of] 2023. “ A major difference between the new PS Plus and the Xbox Game Pass is Sony’s limited push to PC and mobile gaming. While Xbox Cloud Gaming lets you stream more than a hundred titles to your mobile phone and PC, PlayStation Now has not been very popular with PC gamers since its release in 2014. In addition, Sony’s interest in cloud streaming for mobile phones will disappear completely with the release of this new PS Plus. “The flow of computers is still there, but we don’t see much in the way of heavy use or significant promotion,” says Ward. “It’s clear from this perspective that Microsoft has much higher goals for what Game Pass Ultimate can achieve in terms of mobile subscriptions, especially in emerging markets, in the coming years than [Sony’s] PlayStation goals. “
(Image credit: Sony) If nothing else, this new and improved PS Plus is Sony’s first true recognition of the importance of pay-per-view gaming services. But it is not a revolutionary move. “This is [Sony] “Continuing with the Joneses, with the Joneses being the Xbox team,” Ward added. “[Sony] has left money on the table and this new approach should lead them at least halfway to bridge this gap in the next year or two at most. “ For now, fans remain separated in the service. While some are excited about the opportunity to play retro PlayStation games on their PS5, others see this new PS Plus as a half step that does not go far enough.
