New PS Plus Service Won’t Have Day-One Launch Games From Sony Studios

As more news gets unveiled regarding Sony’s new Game Pass competitor on PlayStation, company CEO Jim Ryan has noted that the revamped PS Plus subscription service will not include day-one access to first-party titles. Sony only just announced its new PlayStation Plus service, which will launch as a three-tier model with varying features and perks.

It has long been rumored that Sony would be responding to Xbox’s smash-hit Game Pass service. Game Pass has served to revitalize the Xbox ecosystem, as gamers have been using it to enjoy affordable and easy access to a huge selection of high-quality games from both independent and AAA developers. Sony hasn’t been completely absent from this arena, as PlayStation Plus serves subscribers a small number of games a month alongside other services like PS Plus Collection, which offers year-round access to beloved titles like Bloodborne and Uncharted 4. PlayStation Now is a separate service, allowing players to stream a number of PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 games and download a selection of PS4 and PS5 titles. The catalog of PS4 and PS5 games continues to expand as PlayStation acquires new studios, which in turn makes these subscription services even more robust.

Unlike Xbox Game Pass, the new PS Plus service won’t offer first-party games from day one, according to Jim Ryan. As reported by gamesindustry.biz, Ryan commented on what he called the “virtuous cycle” of PlayStation games, where Sony invests heavily in select studios and essentially lets them create the products they want to create. He went on to say that this cycle could be at risk if the company were to make its exclusive titles available on day one through this new subscription service in a manner similar to how some Xbox games join Game Pass on day one. Specifically, Ryan stated that it would not be possible to make the investments needed to produce high-quality exclusives if the company were to take this path. He told the publication:

“[In terms of] putting our own games into this service, or any of our services, upon their release… as you well know, this is not a road that we’ve gone down in the past. And it’s not a road that we’re going to go down with this new service. We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want.”

PlayStation regularly delivers massive games like Horizon Forbidden West, so Ryan’s comments about the level of investment required do seem to ring true; the company has been at the forefront of graphical and technical innovation in gaming for years, and that level of polish surely doesn’t come cheap. However, a lack of day-one releases, even with the higher tiers of the new PlayStation Plus, will likely be a disappointment to many.

Some may wonder why Sony would leave out a feature as appealing for PlayStation players as day-one release games. If the new PS Plus tiers are meant to compete with Xbox Game Pass, it would arguably be wise to provide day-one access, as this is considered one of the best perks offered by Microsoft. The new PS Plus service won’t launch until June, so it’s possible that PlayStation will continue to introduce new selling points to compensate.

Source: gamesindustry.biz

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Nick Rodriguez
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Nick Rodriguez is a Senior Writer for Screen Rant. While vigorously passionate about books, movies, and music, he was particularly drawn to video games since he first laid eyes on Spyro the Dragon and (much to his mother’s distaste) Silent Hill. More recently, his favorites have included Disco Elysium, Red Dead Redemption II, Kentucky Route Zero, and the Mass Effect series. Presently, he spends most of his time typing away in the chilly state of Wisconsin.

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