PlayStation Spartacus Will Rival Xbox Game Pass

PlayStation owners, listen up! There’s a new service coming to consoles in 2022. Code-named Spartacus, the brand-new Sony service directly competes with Microsoft’s ever-popular Xbox Game Pass. In addition, leaked information points toward a release date in the spring. So, what exactly is Spartacus?

Right now, Spartacus looks set to replace Sony’s existing PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services. With that, it’ll likely grant PlayStation owners access to a catalog of new and existing games in much the same way that Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass does.

As is the case with Xbox Game Pass, users will reportedly access Sony’s new and improved PlayStation-focused gaming service exclusively by paying a regular monthly subscription fee. As yet officially unnamed, the Spartacus project could inherit or combine elements of the naming of either PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Now.

PlayStation Plus, also known as PS Plus, is necessary to access most online multiplayer titles for both the Sony PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. While PlayStation Plus offers free monthly games, it has limited benefits beyond that. As it stands, a one-month PS Plus subscription costs $9.99. However, twelve-month PS Plus packages are available, costing the equivalent of just $5 per month.

Meanwhile, PlayStation Now or PS Now grants subscribers access to older games. Players can access PS Now from compatible Windows PCs, in addition to PS4 and PS5 consoles, via Sony’s free PlayStation Now app. Like PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now costs $9.99 per month or $59.99 per year.

Although Spartacus is just a code name, the new service looks set to combine the benefits of both PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. Pricing, however, remains a mystery.

With that, access to the new service could feasibly cost anywhere from the equivalent of just $5 per month to $120 or more annually. But, that depends on how and when subscribers choose to pay, based purely on existing PS Plus and PS Now pricing.

Spartacus could simply replace PS Plus, swallowing up PS Now in the process. Accordingly, the PlayStation Plus name could potentially still stand, living on when the new service launches next year.

Thankfully, all of the information leaked so far points toward the new service on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles. This cross-console availability, in fact, could itself have an impact on pricing. If that were to be the case, PlayStation 5 owners might have to pay a premium for newer PS5-exclusive titles.

While PlayStation-branded consoles continue to outsell Microsoft’s various Xboxes, Sony hasn’t been able to compete with Xbox Game Pass. Earlier this year, Xbox Game Pass surpassed 18 million subscribers, putting it six times ahead of Sony and its roughly three million paying PlayStation Now customers.

Expected to launch before next summer, Sony’s apparent replacement for PS Plus and PS Now has no doubt been envisioned to attempt to level the playing field as far as paying subscribers versus Xbox Game Pass. Whether Sony will successfully steal a degree of today’s market share from Microsoft, though, remains to be seen.

Xbox Game Pass currently costs $9.99 to $14.99 per month. However, unlike with PS Plus and PS Now, discounts aren’t available for longer plans. This means that Xbox Game Pass can set Xbox owners back close to $180 annually. Still, Xbox Game Pass customers get unlimited access to hundreds of games, including all of Microsoft’s internally published titles as soon as they’re released.

It stands to reason, then, that Sony will look to offer the same or similar provisions, both in terms of what’s on offer, as well as what that offering will cost.

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