Having entered open beta on the PlayStation 4 at the end of July in North America – and adding new games regularly – Sony Entertainment Network VP Eric Lempel tells Game Informer that over 80% of users are enjoying PlayStation Now (note: this interview appears to have been conducted around August 8-9):
The beta’s going tremendously well. We went wide last week and we’ve got a lot of users engaging with the service. One of the big metrics for us is the experience the users are having because this is a really unique proposition. And the feedback that we’re getting is overwhelmingly positive. More than 80 percent of our consumers are saying they’re having a really good experience with the games on the service so we’re off to a really strong start from my perspective.
There have been hiccups with the PlayStation Now open beta though, with most of the attention directed towards the somewhat high rental prices, with a Sony email at the time saying, “These prices are ultimately decided on by the participating developers and publishers.”
Lempel addressed the pricing model of PlayStation Now, where he revealed that Sony works with publisher to choose the right price:
So we’ve got the different tiers, and then beyond that the publisher does have some flexibility on how they’d like to price their titles. They are looking to us to work with them to help them figure out what will work best. And we’re all kind of working through this together right now. There are a different variety of prices out there depending on the title, duration, and – in some cases – publisher. But this could all change.
Back when the PlayStation Now open beta went live, PlayStation Now Senior Director Jack Buser was vague about games from other PlayStation systems coming to the service, saying, “We are currently considering measures to offer original PlayStation, PS2 and PS4 titles in the future, but at this time, only PS3 titles are being offered.”
In the Game Informer interview, Lempel gave a similar answer, but revealed that it’s in their plans to add PS1, PS2, and PS4 games:
Yeah, in fact in our plans going forward we’re looking at everything so there’s the real possibility that you’ll see PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 4 titles available. Right now it’s just PlayStation 3, but these are all options for the future.
As for getting PS3 games on PS Now, Lempel couldn’t get into specifics, “But I will say it’s not terribly difficult if a publisher chooses to put their title up on the service. The real heavy lifting comes with setting up the service itself for the platform. For example, today we’re doing PS3 so we’re all set there. So if a publisher wanted to put up a PS3 title on PlayStation Now it’s not a lot of work for them.”
Have you been using PlayStation Now regularly? Or are you waiting for more games/regions to be added?
[Source: Game Informer]
