If you compare the Xbox Series X/S and the PlayStation 5, one of the advantages Microsoft is keen to tout is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Sony has no real equivalent to it, but it looks as though that won’t last for much longer.
Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO, Jim Ryan, gave an interview to the Tass Russian News Agency where he was asked how Sony will respond to Microsoft’s Game Pass. Nobody was really expecting Sony to do anything were they? So Ryan’s answer is surprising, “There is actually news to come, but just not today. We have PlayStation Now which is our subscription service, and that is available in a number of markets.”
Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service costing $14.99 per month in return for access to over 100 games for console, PC, and Android via cloud gaming, as well as EA Play’s catalog of games. It also includes all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold. PlayStation Now is similar, offering streamed access to over 800 PS4, PS3, and PS2 games on PS4 and Windows PCs. However, Ryan’s answer suggests there’s something new in the works.
Sony also offers PlayStation Plus, which opens up access to online multiplayer, free games every month, and exclusive discounts. PS5 owners get the PlayStation Plus Collection, which includes 20 hit PS4 games to play. In order to compete with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Sony would need to combine PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus into one subscription and expand the incentives somehow. We’ll have to wait and see exactly what Sony is planning, but the Game Pass advantage Microsoft has could be about to disappear.
