PlayStation boss says Xbox Game Pass subscription model isn’t sustainable for the PS5 platform
In a new interview with Jim Ryan, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has expanded upon this week’s PS5 Showcase and its plans for the platform heading into launch this November.
Last night saw the console’s price, release date and selection of launch games being unveiled, letting consumers know exactly what they can expect from the next-gen machine this November.
One of the more interesting reveals was PlayStation Plus Collection, a new benefit coming to the subscription service which will introduce a number of beloved exclusives to play at no extra cost on PS4 and PS5.
Related: How to pre-order PS5
It’s similar to Xbox Game Pass in a way, but Jim Ryan has confirmed the company won’t be pursuing such a model in the future: “For us, having a catalogue of games is not something that defines a platform” Ryan tells Gamesindustry.biz.
“Our pitch, as you’ve heard, is ‘new games, great games.’ We have had this conversation before – we are not going to go down the road of putting new release titles into a subscription model. These games cost many millions of dollars, well over $100 million to develop. We just don’t see that as sustainable.”
This is a fairly blunt assessment of Xbox Game Pass from PlayStation, with the service giving away all of Microsoft’s major exclusives to subscribers on the day of release. It’s incredibly good value, but Sony likely fears the potential lack of return for such a strategy.
It’s first-party portfolio is certainly more ambitious, and it doesn’t have the deep pockets of Microsoft, so we can see the concern. Speaking of, Sony confirmed that Marvel’s Spider Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls will be acting as flagship launch titles for PS5.
“We want to make the games bigger and better, and hopefully at some stage more persistent. So putting those into a subscription model on day one, for us, just doesn’t make any sense. For others in a different situation, it might well make sense, but for us it doesn’t. We want to expand and grow our existing ecosystem, and putting new games into a subscription model just doesn’t sit with that.”
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
