A new rumor has surfaced suggesting Sony is planning a Game Pass competitor to help drive more hardware sales, and its currently codenamed Spartacus.
While the new rumor that Sony is planning a Game Pass competitor comes based on people familiar “Sony’s plans and documents” via Bloomberg, it lines up with a previous rumor from industry veteran developer David Jaffe (Twisted Metal, God of War, etc) who said Sony was working on a “counter-punch” to Microsoft’s successful game library subscription.
The codenamed Spartacus subscription service is coming in three different subscription tiers:
- Tier 1: Includes PlayStation Plus benefits and the ability to stream or download older games (like PlayStation Now used to)
- Tier 2: Includes the above benefits plus a “large catalog” of PlayStation 4 and eventually PlayStation 5 games
- Tier 3: Includes the above benefits plus extended game demos, game streaming, and a library of classic PS1, PS2, PSP, and PS3 games
As the above suggests, Sony’s mostly forgotten PlayStation Now service will be sunset while this new subscription offering is rolled out, which will include the titles and streaming features PlayStation Now currently includes. Despite the phasing out of PlayStation Now with this new service, Sony is reportedly keeping the PlayStation Plus branding.
Details on pricing weren’t shared but the new Spartacus subscription platform is expected to launch sometime in Spring 2022. Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has been a success for the company, with new additions to the service coming monthly and new features like Cloud Streaming and Remote Play also being added into the subscription plan.
As with any rumor – take this with a grain of salt. If this comes to fruition, expect our immediate coverage to include the first details.
