Sony Interactive Entertainment has been heavily reported to be preparing its own Xbox Game Pass-like subscription service as part of a complete rebranding of PlayStation Plus, which Xbox believes was a long time coming.
Speaking with IGN in a recent interview, Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, stated that it would be the right move for PlayStation to have its own Game Pass-like service. That would not only be beneficial for PlayStation players but also for Xbox as the competition will help Game Pass grow with new and better ideas.
“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 wanna play, where they wanna 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.
“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.”
Sony was reported last December to be working on something called Project Spartacus, a three-tier subscription service which will see PlayStation Plus absorb PlayStation Now to become a more resourceful service. Those tiers will reportedly mirror Xbox Game Pass to not only offer a large catalog of games at a reasonably cheap subscription price but also offer new releases on day one.
Xbox Game Pass will be entering its fourth year this summer and has become pivotal to the way Microsoft envisions its gaming future. The subscription-based platform registered more than 18 million subscribers by January 2021 and has likely gained a lot more since then. For just $10 a month, subscribers can access more than a hundred games, including recent and day-one releases.
As Spencer stated, it was only inevitable for Sony to follow through with its own Game Pass-like service.
Incidentally, Shawn Layden, former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, shared his concerns last year of Game Pass-like services recouping balooning development costs in the long run.
