PS Plus is not a Game Pass competitor, nor does it need to be | Opinion

gamesindustry.biz:

Danielle Partis

News Editor

Thursday 31st March 2022

This week, Sony confirmed the existence of the widely-speculated Project Spartacus, unveiling a restructuring of its PS Plus service into three new tiers, with some fresh perks from the publisher.

The revamped PS Plus rolls the existing service and its current streaming offering PS Now into one package, under the brand of the former.

From that, users can choose from either PS Plus Essentials, which offers the same service, PS Plus Extra, which adds 400 PS4 and PS5 games to the mix, or PS Plus Premium, which includes all of the above, plus a library of classic games from previous PlayStation platforms.

While it's not Sony's first foray into the streaming space, it is naturally being pitted against Xbox; fans and analysts alike are drawing comparisons between the new PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass. The questions are flowing in: Which one offers the best value for money? Which has the more varied library? Where are the newest games going to end up?

All of these queries imply that Sony has set out to build a similar offering to Xbox, but it hasn't. At least not yet. This new version of PS Plus is not about coaxing users away from competing platforms, it's about pushing existing users into an upgrade, or reeling lapsed users back in.

"PS Plus is not about coaxing users away from competing platforms, it's about pushing existing users into an upgrade, or reeling lapsed users back in "

Countless television and movie streaming services have popped up in recent years owing to the sway into digital ownership, but their battle is different. Netflix, Amazon Prime, NOWTV, HBO Max, to newer offerings like Disney+, entertainment platforms are all providing the same medium. Netflix can hold a