Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has claimed in a new report that Sony’s rival to Xbox Game Pass is expected to launch in Spring 2022.
Reports of Sony actively working on a Game Pass rival first cropped up earlier this year, when former God of War creator David Jaffe claimed that he had heard about the company’s “counterpunch” to Microsoft’s popular subscription service. Although Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Chief Executive Officer, Jim Ryan, has previously said that a Game Pass-like subscription model wouldn’t work for PlayStation, he did say that Sony was working on some kind of a response, and there’s “news to come.”
According to Bloomberg, PlayStation’s service is code named Spartacus, and will charge a monthly fee for access to a library full of classic as well as modern video games. The service will be available on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Bloomberg has seen documents as well as spoken to sources familiar with the matter, who have also revealed to the publication that when Spartacus launches, Sony will “merge” PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now with it. Apparently, Sony wants to retain PlayStation Plus but “phase out” PlayStation Now.
While nothing is set in stone yet, the aforementioned documents suggest three tiers for Spartacus: one that’ll include existing PlayStation Plus benefits with games, one that simply offers a big library of PS4 and PS5 games, and one that adds “extended demos, game streaming, and a library of classic PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games” to the mix on top of an extensive game library.
Last but not least, Sony is reportedly making an effort to expand cloud gaming.
The company declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report.
[Source: Bloomberg]
