PlayStation Plus subscribers may be getting an added monthly benefit with free movies being added to its lineup. A since removed logo and page for “PlayStation Plus Video Pass” were briefly visible on PlayStation’s Polish website, though you can still find the Video Pass logo key art uploaded to PlayStation’s media archives.
What is PlayStation Plus Video Pass?
The leaked description, as translated from Polish, says: “A new benefit available for a limited time on PlayStation Plus… PS Plus Video Pass is a trial service active 22.04.21 – 22.04.22. The subscription benefit is available to PS Plus users in Poland.” It also showed a banner image featuring Venom, Zombieland: Double Tap, and Bloodshot. All three movies are Sony-produced films.
Apparently set to launch tomorrow, April 22, the description seems to indicate the service may be undergoing a a trial run for a year to see how subscribers react to the added value. What’s unclear is if this trial run is limited to Poland only, or if it will make its way to other regions as well. The description seems to indicate that this is a new benefit for Plus subscribers, and not some kind of add-on service that will cost extra.
If the leaked dates are correct, it’s expected that Sony will announce PlayStation Plus Video Pass sometime today or tomorrow. PS Plus Video Pass would be one of the first major changes Sony has made to the PlayStation Plus service in a while. The last major content addition outside of new monthly games offerings was the permanent PS Plus Collection that gives PS5 owners a number of PS4 essentials free.
The addition of video content to the PS Plus value proposition is curious given Sony stepping away from PlayStation Video and will cease letting people buy or rent film and TV content on the PlayStation Store later this year. However, Sony itself has an immense archive films that it could utilize to bring value to the PlayStation Plus service without approaching outside vendors. It’s not clear how the recent Netflix streaming deal for Sony produced films would impact PS Plus Video Pass and what could come to that.
While Video Pass certainly isn’t the “counter punch to Game Pass” that’s being speculated about, it does add some value to one of Sony’s subscription services and is a much needed update for PlayStation Plus to make it feel fresh and new.
Expect to hear more from Sony on PlayStation Plus Video Pass soon, either to announce it in full, or to clear up misconceptions that have arisen due to the leak.
[Source: VGC]
