Xbox boss expects PlayStation’s ‘inevitable’ Game Pass rival to include new games on day 1
Microsoft’s head of gaming has said he expects PlayStation to follow in Xbox’s footsteps when it comes to launching an anticipated Game Pass rival.
Details on an Xbox Game Pass competitor service reportedly being planned by PlayStation emerged in December and picked up steam last week.
According to documents seen by Bloomberg, the new service is codenamed ‘Spartacus’ and will combine the current PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services, phasing out the branding of the latter. It’s expected to launch for PS4 and PS5 this spring and to be structured across three payment tiers.
The first tier will reportedly include existing PlayStation Plus benefits, such as online play and free monthly titles. The second will offer a large catalogue of games like Xbox Game Pass (although not first-party titles at launch). The third tier will add extended demos, game streaming and a library of classic PlayStation games.
Asked about the rumours by IGN, Xbox boss Spencer said he thought a Game Pass-like service from Sony was inevitable and that he expects it to make new releases available day one in the subscription.
“I don’t mean it to sound like we’ve got it all figured out, but I think the right answer is allowing your customers to play the games they want to play, where they want to play them, and giving them choice about how they build their library, and being transparent with them about what our plans are in terms of our PC initiatives and our cross-gen initiatives and other things,” he said.
“So when I hear others doing things like Game Pass or coming to PC, it makes sense to me because I think that’s the right answer.”
Spencer continued: “I don’t really look at it as validation. I actually, when I’m talking to our teams, I talk about
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