What to Know About the New PlayStation Plus

Every generation of electronics features an all-out battle between two main manufacturers. One of the most notable face-offs is the console war between Sony and Microsoft.

For the past several decades, consumers have largely benefited from this heated competition between two tech titans. However, these battles have evolved. Recently, services such as Xbox’s Game Pass have provided new opportunities for Sony and Microsoft to battle it out.

As more players subscribe to Game Pass, Sony has discovered a new take on the “Netflix for games” concept. The company didn’t have to look far to find a name for this opportunity. By re-branding the already existing PlayStation Plus, Sony hopes to capitalize on a familiar name while eating into Xbox’s market share at the same time.

Now, the question remains: how different will PlayStation Plus look in a few short months? Keep reading to find out.

For years, Sony offered two separate subscription services for PlayStation fans. First, PlayStation Plus allowed users to play online games with friends while also receiving a few “free” titles. Next up is PlayStation Now. It is a cloud gaming service featuring an expanding library of games conducive to remote play.

PlayStation Plus has been well regarded since its inception, although players have been somewhat disappointed by the lackluster free games given away these last few years. PlayStation Now works as advertised but has never reached the level of success and popularity that Sony desired. However, all that is about to change as Sony releases its new take on PlayStation Plus.

The new PlayStation Plus will be available in three different tiers. The basic tier — deemed “Essential” — resembles the previous PlayStation Plus, with no major changes. Things start to get interesting with the second and third tiers.

PlayStation Plus Extra will include access to, as Sony puts it, “up to 400” games from both first and third-party publishers on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. PlayStation Plus Premium brings PlayStation Now cloud gaming into the fold, as well as the ability to play classic PSOne, PS2, and PSP games.

Prices for the three PlayStation Plus tiers are as follows:

By comparison, Microsoft offers Xbox Game Pass for $9.99/month on either PC or Console. Additionally, Microsoft provides the opportunity to pay $14.99/month for the Ultimate plan, which includes access on both platforms and cloud gaming capabilities. While these services look similar, there’s one huge caveat that could be working in Xbox’s favor: day one.

One of the major selling points for Xbox Game Pass is the inclusion of Microsoft first-party games as day one titles on Xbox Game Pass. This means that every new Halo, Forza, DOOM, and Gears of War game from Microsoft is available on Game Pass — the same day it debuts in stores.

This feature will become even more useful once Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is complete, giving the tech giant the rights to Call of Duty, Diablo, and a host of other blockbuster franchises.

Interestingly, Sony has decided against imitating this strategy. Speaking to gamesindustry.biz, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan made it clear that Sony fans shouldn’t expect to see their favorite franchises on the new PlayStation Plus come release day. “This is not a road that we’ve gone down in the past. And it’s not a road that we’re going to go down with this new service.”

This is a heartbreaking statement for those eagerly anticipating the latest God of War game and any future big releases in the Ratchet and Clank, Gran Turismo, or Marvel’s Spider-Man franchises.

Many are also disappointed because Sony made waves when announcing its acquisition of Bungie — the makers of the hugely successful Destiny franchise. It’s a shame that the latest entry in the series won’t be playable on day one via PlayStation Plus.

PlayStation Plus Premium makes it possible to play hundreds of classic games from previous PlayStation generations. Unfortunately, due to the complicated nature of the PlayStation 3 hardware, those games are only playable via the cloud. For older games, certain titles can be downloaded to the console, while others must be played via the cloud.

This news is a head-scratcher since there should be no technical reason why both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 can’t play older games. Instead, the answer most likely comes down to licensing. Sony’s first-party titles will almost certainly be downloadable, while more obscure games from lesser-known publishers may suffer the indignity of being cloud-only.

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