Update: Sony has now officially announced its new PS5 subscription service, including over 700 games at launch – such as God of War and Spider-Man – as well as the expected three tiers and pricing for the US, UK and Europe.
Original Story: Sony is imminently set to announce its new PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 subscription service that it will hope to challenge Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass with, according to a new report.
The findings from Bloomberg point to a reveal for the new subscription service – codenamed 'Spartacus' – sometime this week. A "splashy new lineup of hit games" are expected to be included to help entice people to the new model. Spartacus is said to combined Sony's current offerings of PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now into one bundle with additional perks via different paid tiers.
Since a report of the subscription's existence surfaced in December, details believe that tier one will offer the same online play and free monthly titles Sony currency does, while tier two would then add a sizable collection of games and tier three would include demos, the ability to stream games and classic PlayStation titles on top of all former benefit
The biggest difference is that Xbox Game Pass gives subscribers access to all Microsoft studio games, like Halo Infinite and the upcoming Fable 4, day-and-date with release for no extra cost. Sony's subscription programme will not offer that with its blockbuster titles, like God of War Ragnarok and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, still being sold separately.
PlayStation Plus currently enables subscribers to play games online, get a couple of titles for free on a monthly basis, gain access to discounts and use the PS Plus Collection on PS5. This is made up of 20 top games from last generation, such as Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, The Last of Us, Resident Evil 7, Uncharted 4, and more.
PS Plus is priced at $59.99 / £49.99 / A$79.95 a year, while Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (the top tier) is available for $14.99 / £10.99 / A$15.95 per month. This, however, offers access to over 100 curated games, the benefits of Xbox Live Gold (basically PS Plus), access to EA Play, the ability to play across mobile and PC and the aforementioned perk of playing all-new Xbox Game Studio releases the day they launch.
With Xbox Game Pass offering substantially more benefits (it also has a cheaper tier – $9.99 / £7.99 / A$10.95), the service is often referred to online as "the best deal in gaming", something Sony obviously wants to contend for.
Spartacus has been doing the rounds for some time now with word of the service incoming beginning in January when Sony began removing all PS Now retail cards. More recently, Sony announced a major free PS5 update, including VRR support to help improve graphics.
