According to a report from Bloomberg today, PlayStation is working on a direct competitor to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Code-named "Spartacus", this service is expected to launch in spring for the PS4 and PS5, and it will merge PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now plans. According to the report, Sony might phase out the PlayStation Now branding in favor of the PlayStation Plus one.

With a monthly "Spartacus" subscription, PlayStation console owners will be able to access a range of new and classic games. Bloomberg found that there might be three tiers of subscription. Tier 1 would be similar to the offerings of PlayStation Plus. With Tier 2, subscribers would have further access to PS4 titles and "eventually" PS5 games. Tier 3 would add more options like demos, game streaming and "a library of classic PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games".

While the report cites the news come from "people familiar with Sony’s plans and documents reviewed by Bloomberg", you might want to take this information with a grain of salt until an official announcement is made public. Nevertheless, would you be interested in such a subscription service from Sony?

SOURCE

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Too late. Already got 3 years worth of Gamepass and got a series S

 

[CeeDee]

Hell yeah! Game Pass rules, so it'd be awesome to see Sony get a similar offering. Might even get me to get a PlayStation at some point.
Including a backlog of older PS titles sounds great too, so long as they're not strictly cloud-streamed.

 

[AaronUzumaki]

The thing that makes game pass so great is that we get brand new games day 1, no way will Sony do that. If they do, they'll get a ton of subscriptions instantly.

 

[Rob Blou]

If Sony could just make the free 5 hours demo for every game, that would be even better IMHO. I had Gamepass for 20 months and I only used it to try games. I buy the games I like and It stresses me to know that a game I'm playing might get removed from the streaming platform midway through. It happened to me a couple of times on Netflix. Also, owning things > paying for not owning anything.

 

[Rob Blou]

If Sony could just make the free 5 hours demo for every game, that would be even better IMHO. I had Gamepass for 20 months and I only used it to try games. I buy the games I like and It stresses me to know that a game I'm playing might get removed from the streaming platform midway through. It happened to me a couple of times on Netflix. Also, owning things > paying for not owning anything.

 

[WG481]

People like you who are drooling over Nintendo stuff is the reason why they offer shitty and overpriced games/subscription, no offense, but NSO is FAR from being good.

Thank you, Console Gamer. Please touch some grass.

What I meant is Nintendo did us the favor of bundling an online service with some free nostalgia, Save Data Backup, exclusive things like Game Trials, and the ability to get a good deal by splitting a subscription with other people*.

* I split a Basic subscription with 4 other people which comes out to $35/4 = 8.75 a year per person. I don't remember anyone else doing something like that for such a cheap price. (Excluding Jones BIG A*S Truck Rental and Storage)

Fun fact: when someone says no offense, they're about to/they've said something offensive.

Also, who said I was drooling over Nintendo? I've criticized their business model before on other platforms (and on this one too!) and I know that they could be doing better, but considering the points here, NSO is actually good. That's why I'm expecting a lot from Sony here. They have some competition which they can really easily beat out.

 

[Moon164]

I really hope this is real, if Sony doesn't want Microsoft to win this fight it will have to work hard to create something like the Xbox GamePass (which is Microsoft's main advantage)

But I really have my doubts if this is real, Sony has been trying very little with PS Now, it's hard to believe that it will try something better.

PS: I would also like to see Nintendo try something like this, but given the horrible quality of Switch Online I really doubt it will ever happen.

 

[raxadian]

Hope they don't pull another Godfall stunt...

 

[JaNDeRPeiCH]

Nah, it's now+plus, and barely would compete with gamepass, cause soony's pockets not as deep.

Maybe cant compete but its the only service with full library games streaming thats not attached to Windows 10. Yo can use windows 8.1 and thats good for me.

 

[Spider_Man]

If next gen console are able to play last gen games, id rather they show appreciation to their customers/fans and actually let us play the games we already own.

But no, lets force it as digital only and make our customers/fan rebuy the games they already own.

Then you wonder why hackers expose exploits and open up console to homebrew and tools so we can convert our games ourselves and play them without having to pay for them again.

 

[Aheago]

Lmao at the fact that demos are a feature for a higher priced plan.

That defeats the whole purpose of a demo…

 

[Marc_LFD]

Just make an "Ultimate PlayStation Plus" sub, Sony.

They already have PS Now which is Sony's GP.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Lmao at the fact that demos are a feature for a higher priced plan.

That defeats the whole purpose of a demo…

That is moronic, yeah. There was a time when demos were paid ("free" with a magazine), but are we going back to it? No.

 

[CathyRina]

This service, if real, won't be better than XGPU simply because it's Sony. Their PS2 offerings on the PS4 were a joke. PS3 had some gems like Persona 3, 4 And Grandia 3 but it wasn't as expansive as it could've been. PS1 emulation was pretty spot on with the PS3, PSP and PSV but... why not just make an emulator as a *feature* like it was on the PS3. I already own the disc, that should be enough for a DRM check. Xbox seems to get it. Sony used to too.

 

[Deleted member 534570]

*Laughs in 4K upscaled PS1/PS2/PSP emulation*

Let's hope it's better than PSNow...

 

[Marc_LFD]

The thing that makes game pass so great is that we get brand new games day 1, no way will Sony do that. If they do, they'll get a ton of subscriptions instantly.

They won't let users use PS2/PS3 game discs to play the games for free like Microsoft does, so I doubt they'd do that.

Sony is being greedy when compared to Microsoft. Nintendo gives their fans even less and they [Nintendo] demand more money.

 

[Goku1992A]

I don’t see Sony putting up GT7 as a feee game they might merge the services and charge $15 but don’t forget gamepass also have EA Play

But gamepass delist games also

 

[sroemr]

I buy the games I like and It stresses me to know that a game I'm playing might get removed from the streaming platform midway through.

So, let me get this straight. You use Gamepass to test the games before buying. You do this because you're worried about it being removed.

So instead of playing the game on Gamepass, then buying it if it leaves, you just buy it before it leaves. So for each and every game you complete, before it leaves, you've wasted that money buying the game. Even if you replay it in the future, it could still be on game pass OR might have had a price drop.

Dumbest thing I've read all day.

 

[Jacklack3]

People like you who are drooling over Nintendo stuff is the reason why they offer shitty and overpriced games/subscription, no offense, but NSO is FAR from being good.

lol i think they just meant the idea of nso providing a library of retro games is good.

 

[Marc_LFD]

I don’t see Sony putting up GT7 as a feee game they might merge the services and charge $15 but don’t forget gamepass also have EA Play

But gamepass delist games also

It's like the Netflix of games. As it changes games, some are removed.

And Netflix itself allows to download movies/shows, but it's DRM'd so it needs the Netflix app to watch.