The Xbox Game Pass is a huge game-changer for Microsoft’s ecosystem, so much so that the entire vision of the latest generation of Xbox seems to have made a dramatic shift. While Sony has PlayStation Now, its own subscription service, it doesn’t offer what the Xbox Game Pass does but it looks like that could be changing according to a recent interview with CEO Jim Ryan.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan recently opened up to TASS about PlayStation’s plans for the future and when the question came up about what the company is doing to compete with the Xbox Game Pass, he mentioned “there is actually news to come” on that very topic. That being said, he did pull attention back to the fact that Sony already does have a membership service with PlayStation Now, a solid subscription feature in itself.
The main different between the PlayStation Now service and the Xbox Game Pass services is that PS Now is rooted in the past, whereas the Xbox Game Pass library is a blend of previous games and new titles on the horizon, especially with no-cost day-on launch title releases.
Could Sony make an exact replica of the Xbox Game Pass? Sure, they absolutely could, but should they? Personally, I would love to see them make that move but practically? It wouldn’t make sense. PlayStation has a much meatier first-party lineup and while it looks like Microsoft is doing an amazing job at bridging that gap for the future, it’s not quite there yet. While the Xbox camp continues to grow into new strengths, Sony is in a position where they don’t need a digital ecosystem to that level, they have the first-party lineup that players will buy at full-cost, there is no real benefit to the company itself to mimic what Microsoft is doing.
We go into much more detail about the differing ecosystems and marketing strategies for both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 generation with our deep dive here, for those that may be interested.
It will be interesting to see how the next generation continues to grow and evolve. Both companies are in a great position of growth, whereas last year Microsoft was at a clear disadvantage with previous leadership and a muddled marketing road towards launch. Pairing that with its distance as a gaming console, Microsoft has had a long climb back up, but Phil Spencer has been effectively leading that charge and bringing Team Green back to where it belongs: to gamers.