The Xbox Game Pass has been a boon for Xbox fans. It offers over 100 video games for a subscription fee, and we’re starting to see day one releases hit the service. That’s nothing to scoff at, as it’s about time players are given more options to game. Of course, It’s only natural that others would want to compete. Sony intends to do just that, according to God of War creator David Jaffe. Allegedly, he has spoken to numerous sources at Playstation, and they will respond to Game Pass. VGC reported it after watching a YouTube stream on April 8th, 2021.

At the moment, Playstation has a service called PlayStation Now that offers a selection of older games for gamers to stream. Absent from that library, for now, are newly-released titles. Anything is better than nothing, and Sony isn’t on the verge of ‘defeat.’ The so-called “counterpunch” to Xbox Game Pass would not hurt, either.

Mind you, Jaffe hasn’t been with Sony since 2007, and he notes that he isn’t sure when any formal announcement will come. Nor does he know what the new Playstation service may look like. He states, “What I can tell you is I know they are doing some stuff because I know people at Sony who have told me that they are doing some stuff.” As long as there’s something in the pipeline, fans may be happy.

Sony once thought a subscription service wouldn’t work Playstation

Once upon a time in September 2020, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and President Jim Ryan did not sound interested in a similar service. He said it doesn’t make any sense for the company’s PS5 strategy. “For us, having a catalog of games is not something that defines a platform,” Jim Ryan said to gameindustry.biz. He also mentioned that Sony’s first-party games cost “millions of dollars” to make. Therefore, Sony found a subscription model to be unsustainable.

Currently, PlayStation Now is a service that gives players access to more than 800 games across the PS4, PS3, and PS2. We’re also able to play those games on PC. While Sony did add Marvel’s Avengers and Borderlands 3 to PS Now, they are the Playstation 4 versions. There are no PS5 games included with the service. So, we’re required to pay the $70 price tag for newer video games if we want to play. Note that Playstation Plus does offer certain games for free when they launch on rare occasions. In a world without Xbox Game Pass, that strategy makes sense.

Playstation - Borderlands 3 — Borderlands 3 – Credit: Gearbox

It’s not known if the new service will be an expansion of PS Now. It also is not fair to say that Jim Ryan is backpedaling until we see what Sony creates. “There is actually news to come, but just not today,” he told Russian news agency TASS, implying they have their own ideas for a valuable service.

My Final Thoughts

Fans have a lot to say about Sony lately, and that includes me. Some of their decisions strike us as odd, sure, but Playstation is one of ‘the big three’ for a reason. With or without the service, the PS5 will be a successful machine. However, something that offers another way for gamers to access PS5 titles will add to their staying power.

Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox always push the envelope, whether we agree with their direction or not. Rather than a full-on copy of Game Pass, I expect Sony to give their new plan that Playstation touch that all fans can appreciate. Until then, I have to say that the Xbox Game Pass is an incredible package, and Xbox isn’t going to slow down with it.