With new PS Plus, Sony is just ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ says expert analyst

techradar.com:

Reactions to Sony’s revamped PlayStation Plus subscription service have been mixed. The newly unveiled Xbox Game Pass competitor will combine the publisher’s old PS Plus service with its PlayStation Now cloud gaming platform into a new, single subscription model. Across three price tiers, it’ll offer access to a library of games, a slate of retro titles, and streaming options.

Lewis Ward, global video game industry analyst and research director at market intelligence firm IDC, shared his thoughts on the new PS Plus with TechRadar. He describes the revamp as a welcome change that’s long overdue, but one that deliberately cuts back on what Microsoft’s own service offers.

For starters, PS Plus’s middle-tier – which will be priced at the same cost as Game Pass Ultimate – will include only 400 games. That’s fewer than the over 450 titles currently included on Xbox Game Pass.

“We read this as serving a twofold purpose,” Ward says. “Most subscribers don't want a massive catalog with a large share of clunkers but rather a streamlined catalog with better overall quality, and fewer catalog options means that the included games should generate more playtime and drive higher per-title revenue for third-party studios. 

“Interestingly, Meta's Quest Store has about 400 titles in it also, and Oculus execs have touted the upsides of maintaining tight curation in its store. Sometimes less is more.”

Game Pass has seen great success by adding flagship Xbox games, such as Halo Infinite, onto the service the same day they hit retail. Sony won’t be following suit. The tech giant has already confirmed that it won’t be adding first-party releases to PS Plus the day they launch, which Ward says will hinder the adoption of the service.

“[Sony] believes