Sony has doubled down on its belief that first-party PlayStation games shouldn't be available on PlayStation Plus on day one. The company's head of subscriptions stated that making the first-party games available on PlayStation Plus later benefits the service more.
The PlayStation service was restructured on June 2022, giving players access to a tier system that lets players experience classic games alongside access to online multiplayer, exclusive discounts, and a few other benefits. While the service has been popular, some dislike that it doesn't include access to Sony's first-party titles on day one, unlike its competitor Xbox Game Pass.
In a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Nick Maguire, the head of subscriptions for PlayStation, has revealed that Sony has no intention of changing its policies. Maguire stated that PS Plus had gained more interest in the long term after its first-party offerings were added to the service several months after they were first released. “Putting games in a bit later in the life cycle has meant that we can reach more customers 12, 18, 24 months after they have released. We’re seeing customers still get excited about those games and jumping in. For us, that’s working."
Still, Maguire has pointed out that occasionally there will sometimes be a title that will skirt around this policy on PS Plus, bringing up the release of indie platformer Stray as an example. "Stray has brought in the highest number of players that have accessed that title over the first 12 months Occasionally, there will be an opportunity to invest in a day-and-date like Stray, and we will jump on those when they come in. But for us, letting those [first-party] games go out to the platform outside the service first… that's working, and that will continue to be our strategy moving forward." When asked about whether this policy will apply to Sony's upcoming live-service games, Maguire stated that he couldn't say much on the subject at the moment, but the company will keep a close eye on future developments and adapt PS Plus accordingly.
Maguire has also stated that PS Plus will let Premium subscribers stream their games through the cloud. This will let players play PlayStation 5 games and game trials without downloading them. Moreover, the head of subscriptions also confirmed that the service had become a hit, with users engaging with this new iteration of the service seven times more than they did with PlayStation Now. He believes that the reason behind the popularity of the new PS Plus comes down to the diversity offered by the service when it comes to the service's game variety, which will be expanded this month with games such as Killzone Liberation and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz