![]() Microsoft, which has seen Xbox One hardware sales suffer on a relative basis, probably has more interest in using first-party titles (and even console hardware itself) as a kind of loss leader to attract more regular revenue through subscriptions.īut as Microsoft and Sony both prepare to launch new consoles next year, the relative value of their competing game subscriptions could play a big role in consumers' purchasing decisions. With over 100 million PS4 systems sold worldwide, Sony is probably still seeing decent "legacy" sales even for older first-party titles. ![]() In a sense, the disparity between Microsoft and Sony in terms of subscription exclusives shows nothing more than the vast gulf in market position between the two companies. When asked about adding more first-party titles to PlayStation Now, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan told that "the nature and scale of some of the first-party games that we are making leads us to think that, right now, it's better to spend energy on making sure that the launch of those games is a massive entertainment event." Ryan added that " The Last of Us 2 next year will fall into that category." AdvertisementĮnlarge / Spider-Man may not have set sales records if it was available for free with a PlayStation Now subscription last year. It doesn't look like Sony will be following Microsoft's lead in this regard any time soon. Since then, subscribing to Game Pass has meant day-one access to Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, Forza Horizon 4, Crackdown 3, and Gears of War 5, in addition to hundreds of older first- and third-party titles across all three Xbox consoles. The vast majority of PlayStation Now subscribers who had any interest probably bought and played through these games months ago, and their addition at this late date might be too little, too late to serve as a major subscription incentive.Ĭompare that to Microsoft, which pledged in early 2018 that every first-party Microsoft Game Studios release would be available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers from the first day of their original release. At this point, though, those games are 1.5, 3.5, and 5.5 years old, respectively, and are available for an MSRP $20 or less as "PlayStation Hits" as well. PlayStation Now members who want to play Spider-Man, Detroit: Become Human, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Ratchet & Clank (2016), The Tetris Effect, or any MLB: The Show titles still have to buy them a la carte, to name just a few.įurther Reading Sony slashes PlayStation Now streaming prices ahead of Google Stadia launchSony is beginning to show small signs of change in this regard, announcing last month that it was adding God of War (2018), Uncharted 4, and Infamous: Second Son to the PlayStation Now lineup for a limited time. But a good chunk of the games Sony uses to set the PS4 apart still aren't offered to subscribers. ![]() Sure, Sony-produced console exclusives like The Last of Us and Bloodborne have been on PlayStation Now for a while. The service has also suffered because Sony, unlike Microsoft, has proved unwilling to use high-demand, first-run, first-party exclusives as an incentive for players to subscribe. Public perception is only part of the problem for PlayStation Now. Turning a brand with that kind of baggage into an Xbox Game Pass competitor is an uphill battle to say the least. That's not a scientific result, of course, but it suggests a large part of the potential audience still sees PlayStation Now primarily as an expensive streaming service for legacy PlayStation titles, as it was when it launched.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |