Sony Could 'Respond' To ActiBlizz Deal By Improving PS Plus, Suggests Microsoft

Well plus premium absolutely sucks as it is now, Extra is worth its current price but I fully believe that once that Activision deals goes through and gamepass becomes bigger than playstation plus, Sony will then start adding their new titles day one. Which is great for some but for me it's just another step to an all digital subscription based future for gaming, which would suck.

I mean…they aren’t wrong.

I do have both services, and I’ll grant there are great games on PS+, been playing Returnal with it, but Gamepass is the better service between the two and Sony could do more to beef up their catalog, even with more ps1 and ps2 games.

The funny thing is if you look at Nintendo's efforts with Switch online it's apparent Sony could be doing a lot worse. That said, Sony has an incredible library at their fingertips — both from in-house development and strong third-party relationships — and they absolutely could be doing more with that.

I really can't stand this arrogant attitude to be honest. MS know damn well that Sony wouldn't be able to afford to mimic their day 1 policy while keeping up the quality of their first party output. And frankly, I wouldn't want them to. Gamepass is great and all but MS acting like they are the all knowing saviors of the industry really sticks in my craw

I've had all PlayStation from 1 to 4, quite honestly I don't think this should be such a big thing. As a guy living in the UK I've shared my opinion with the competition organisation looking into this, one of the points I've made was this. Myself, having paid psplus (and read about premium etc ) for years, I now see gamepass and there's a world of difference between both. I think Sony should actually take this onboard and improve their offering (in general, not necessarily only the subscription, although this seems to be a thing nowadays) rather than focus so much on blocking gamepass. I mean I had a 360 too, pc Switch etc, I'm not in the console wars team for any side, but the fact that I moved from PS to Xbox after 20+ years as my main going platform says a lot in favour of MS in this gen. This is my view of course.

@ThatFilbo oh I'm in complete agreement, neither giant mega corporation is our friend, they both just see us as sentient cash machines, which is why it irritates me when people get suckered into the supposed PR of "we're in it for the consumers"

And you're probably right that Sony almost certainly could continue making the games they are while putting them on PSPlus, but again, they won't because they will take a financial hit, and if its a choice between them maintaining their quality or making them available day 1, I would choose for the former.

I just dislike the the suggestion here that subscription models are the right, consumer way to go. It works for Xbox and good for them, I myself am a fully paid up GPU member, but it isn't the be all and end all, and frankly not wanting to play by Microsoft's rules don't make Sony's concerns about the acquisition necessarily invalid. MS have the finance bouyancy to swing their d*** around the industry and I think its only fair that that's a little concerning. Much as I would like to not have to pay for an occasional dalliance with COD.

I actually agree here, I feel this is something Sony could do but they won't.

@Stamnoso I too have only recently come aboard the XBox train (well, 2 years ago), having never had one even during the 360 era when they were dominant. MS are undeniably building momentum. Although I still have a PS5 too. And a Switch, and recently a Steam Deck. So maybe I just have more money than sense these days!

We might be looking at one of the first dominos that leads us into some pseudo-cyberpunk distopia, but the petty sass is entertaining.

I dislike this public argument, it shows no one in a good light.
Microsoft are not making money and are happy to run at a loss on GP to buy install base, so to suggest Sony should also do the same is diengenuous. Sony are not sitting on a mountain of free cash and they know it. If anything this looks worse for xbox as it shows they have money to burn in a way others cant...
As usual MS think they can bulldoze through anything and if they state it enough they will get their way.
No big company is our friend, but Microsoft in particular have never been the consumers friend and their schemes should be transparent by now. Fortunately, xbox have been given a certain autonomy and therefore have shown more consumer awareness and care for the clients, but never think that the corp wont pull that choke chain sooner or later.
Buy it, dont buy it, im just sick of hearing about it, and press releases like this do not give me any sympathy for ms at all.

I had the free week trial for PlayStation plus extra and used it to play returnal for 3 weeks. I removed my credit card details so couldn't be charged at the end of the free period. Returnal has a suspend state that allowed me to continue playing beyond the initial week despite not having an active subscription. There's exclusive games on PlayStation plus extra that I've yet to play, but gamepass has kept me busy and I'm signed up until the end of next year thanks to stacking Xbox gold and using the £1 upgrade trick.

PlayStation plus extra is a response to gamepass and competition. Microsoft only started to become "pro-consumer" when Sony began to dominate the last generation. Sony could pretty much do and charge whatever they wanted due to their market share. A more competitive Microsoft makes for a more consumer friendly Sony.

As things stand Sony still has significantly greater market share than Microsoft and I really don't think cod will reverse that trend overnight. I also remember back when the "medal of honour" series was the premier military shooter experience - obviously that is no longer the case today. If Sony are willing to invest the same time and resources as their third person open world RPGs into reinventing either the killzone or resistance franchises who's to say that they don't become the next cod killer on PlayStation and pc?

If this acquisition goes through it could well end up being beneficial to PlayStation. Sony will be forced to invest in a more diversified lineup of exclusive content rather than the staple single player open world trope that every game they make is becoming. They have also recently acquired bungie, who retain publishing independence, but who, I'm sure, could also be persuaded to produce something for the PlayStation and pc market.

Potentially beneficial times for everyone ahead, due to significantly more competition for the dominant Sony. I really don't see this acquisition making Microsoft anything like a monopoly - and if it goes through it also spells the end to any future publisher takeovers which would almost certainly be blocked.

@UltimateOtaku91 It's strange isn't it? Sony offers you more and the best with Extra than Premium, how does that work? It's backwards to be honest. You would think they would offer you more and the best for Premium since its "Premium" and you're paying a "Premium" price.

@Titntin MS isn't making these public statements for the CMA, they're making them for all the other governing bodies that are following this closely, like the FTC. They're making the points the CMA should be making so that when this is done and they move on to the next phase, those points are already inserted into the minds of the other committees they have to go through. The last thing MS wants is to deliberate with the CMA in private, so that the CMA can decide whatever they want. IF the CMA tries to block this, they're going to look like biased and "corrupt" (i say corrupt in the sense that they're not being objective like they're supposed to) to all the other governing bodies in the world. Essentially, MS is trying to make the CMA look bad by doing their job for them. This is obviously just speculation by me, but it's the way I'm seeing it.

@PapaGlitch haha well...that's a good point. I'm probably on the same boat as you here having a ps4 (ps5 at some point hopefully), pc, switch, Series X and older consoles too. I guess for people who feel they can't or won't spend more money on more platforms, the discussion could be a bit different from their perspective. Although, I feel the entry barrier is lower than ever, at least for people willing to make certain "performance" sacrifices.

@Snake_V5 I think new releases should go onto premium and that would make it a great deal along with the ability to stream on pc, then put the ps1, ps2, ps3 and psp games into the Extra tier, I would definitely subscribe to the premium tier then, hell I'd even pay a bit more if I had to.

Sony has the ability to respond competitively to Xbox adding new content to Game Pass by including more of its exclusive content into PS+ and/or making its newer content available in PS+

That is very much stating the obvious, question is why would Sony do this?

They are comfortably outselling the competition (Xbox) and the demand for the PS5 far outstrips supply at the moment and likely for the foreseeable future.

My take is that Sony will keep riding this high wave until Xbox seriously threatens their sales dominance. Meanwhile they will vociferously advocate against any mention of improving their subscription service via day one releases and with their fans are already invested into the false narrative, its all good.

Over the drama at this point. Deal will go through, the posturing gets old.

MS arent wrong in what they are saying but they overcharge in their other business areas themselves because they have a monopoly there. All the big corps do it in some areas so it is a little bit pot and kettle.

More of a PlayStation fan, but I'm also happily subscribed to game pass and must say, XB has a good point. I don't need AAA day 1… brand new indie games like stray on a monthly basis would make extra a lot more attractive though. I find titles under 10 hours perfect for a subscription service, rather then games that require a massive time commitment.

"Almost double the numbers of subscribers to Game Pass." False. Playstation Plus is NOT Playstation Premium, which is the equivalent of Game Pass. Game Pass has FAR more subscribers than Playstation Premium. About a month ago, a good friend of mine who is employed by Sony said that PS Premium had "about two million subscribers." Not PS Plus, Premium. That's not even in the same stratosphere as Game Pass' 30 million + subscribers. I think it's time that we all stop stroking Sony and realize that they are not the industry leaders that they have all told us they are. I like how my buddy put it - "If Sony was that much in the lead, they would not be putting up such a fuss over this whole Activision deal." God, websites should educate themselves before posting false facts. I understand Sony is in everyone's pocket but they are not in mine. I'm so sick of the Sony stroking crap. I haven't touched my PS5 in months because there is nothing to play, especially with all the games I'm playing on Game Pass. I tried selling my PS5 through numerous ways, no one wants it. I live in CT and my local Walmart has "a whole shipment of PS5's that are sitting in their back room." A Walmart employee's words, not mine. They had three Series S' and no Series X models because he said those go quick. Microsoft is doing better than everyone thinks and Sony is not doing as well as everyone thinks. Nintendo is on their own planet laughing at everyone.

@Sol4ris Come to Walmart here in CT, they always have PS5's in stock. So, the demand must be different here.

I bet Nintendo are enjoying.
Sitting back watching with the best selling console week after week worldwide
Best selling exclusive games in UK charts each week and 5/10 games in the charts being their games.
And probably overall having the best exclusives releasing for 2022 out of all 3 companies 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

I'm pretty sure they just cannot. Sony will just continue to throw money away to disrupt Xbox's growth. Microsoft is becoming a crapshow but Sony's practices are just straight up evil.

@Dezzy70 the switch is starting to lose some ground in the weekly sales though, the last 3-4 weeks ps5 has outsold them in Europe and USA, whilst the switch still continues to dominate in Japan and rest of world (just about).

In terms of them having more games this year, it always the same, they have more exclusives than Sony and Microsoft but you have to consider that it costs them way less to develop their games compared to playstation and xbox, also they are using less demanding hardware, less graphical challenges, pretty much borderline mobile games given the machine they are being created for. Imagine releasing games like God of war and Halo at the speed Nintendo release pokemon games. Starfield more than likely cost more to make than all of their first party games the last two years together.

But I do give them credit, their games are just pure fun to play and their games sell like crazy.

@UltimateOtaku91
Yes have noticed Switch has dropped a little ground in some areas but it’s getting in a bit old now. Not sure at what point Nintendo will release Switch 2?
Yes their games don’t always require the resources some Xbox and PlayStation games require, but at the same time their studios and size are a lot less and smaller. But yes they could improve in some ways with game development.

As for the games, apart from some other games from other developers, Nintendo seem to get the control and fun just spot on, they still have the magic when they put the effort in.

@Titntin so the fact that Microsoft has money to provide better services is somehow bad for Microsoft to do? Should Google and Apple build their Phones and services to be worse to keep in line with what Motorola can afford to produce? Thats not how the tech space and entertainment space work. Microsoft is burning cash to get players into it’s ecosystem the same way a Spotify or Netflix or any other subscription service before it did. It’s the cost of building a Competent service. Sony is clearly sitting on enough cash to compete and thats all that should matter in the industry. I own all 3 consoles and Xbox could have any developer they want, but i am still going buy a PS to play God of War and a Nintendo to play Zelda. All 3 have their core strengths and if having money and building better services is one of MS’s then i will buy into that. Not to mention Sony will still be getting Call of Duty for bare minimum 3 years , not to mention MS knows taking that game off Sony platforms would do them more negative PR harm then to have it on there and collect the money. Europe is kinda in bed with Sony on this one and are ignoring Sony’s moves that hurt other platforms to make their platform the best place to play and to me that was fair game for Sony to do so, even if i think they got little on their return with say Deathloop and Ghostwire. But now that MS wants to buy a company that not only is for sale but publicly admitted Microsoft was not the first buyer they called, it’s MS using their money to bully the industry. Sorry i don‘t into that logic.

Of course Sony could make the effort and invest the money and do these things, but co soldering it has the CMA under its spell of BS why would they bother too? Remember Sony are for the players......
And as Grant Schapps is now the business secretary as of today, I hold even less hope of the deal going through.

I love how they are just throwing light on how Sony has failed to create a GamePass competitor.

While I agree they could definitely improve ps plus , as could Microsoft with Xbox live gold , they'd never be able to compete with Microsoft as far as gamepass is concerned because Microsoft can afford to lose money on it for a long time where as Sonys entire bread & butter is playstation

@Dezzy70 They (Nintendo) would be foolish not to. They are killing it right now even tho I would love a Switch 2 in 2023 or early 2024!

@Clankylad They have done it with Stray, but that's it so far. Maybe now that a lot of games are coming starting now and going well into the first quarter of next year they can do more. Who knows, but yeah, they should definitely do more Day 1 drops on there like they did with Stray, even if they stick with indies more than anything else. We'll see how it goes I guess.

PS Plus Extra has been fairly solid so far regardless though. It's Premium that's been an absolute joke. The new PS Plus would probably be getting more positive feedback from everybody if Premium didn't exist.

@Green-Bandit
I think probably March 2024. Though that seems a long time away. But things have changed, I mean waiting for a new car in the UK was about 2 month’s maximum, now the norm is 6 months at least for the spec you want.
So things have slowed down new wise and people are slowly learning it be patient.

@Dezzy70 i could be ok with 2024, however Nintendo is known to release new hardware around Zelda titles and the new Zelda game is in 2023. So i am hoping something happens around that.

@Green-Bandit
If it is, it is a very close guarded secret at the minute.

@Dezzy70 thats the Nintendo way. However there are a lot of Nvidia chipset leaks and dev’s saying they have 4K switch dev kits and nintendo stocking up on parts. Every time those shed light YouTubers make a Switch Pro video and then look silly when it don’t arrive. Have to wait and see but Nintendo and Nvidia are cooking up that chipset with RLSS and that is known at the moment, the date and hardware it’s going in is the mystery.

@Titntin Game pass is profitable. Microsoft has said so, and nothing has ever said otherwise. Saying MS is running at a loss is a false narrative pushed by the SDF to make people think it's not sustainable. It'd be nice to not hear this nonsense on an Xbox focused website when we know it's false.

@Jenkinss Its funny you should correct me, I just read the published figures yesterday, and whilst its income and not profit, it became clear to me that the income was such that you could claim a profit if you did not count all the dev studios and wages microsoft pay.
If you were to include the headcount and running costs of the teams making day one releases for gp, then im sure my statement would be correct. However, with a such a high income if you creatively put those costs elsewhere in your accounting im sure you could show a profit.
To me gps reason for being is 1st party day and date releases, so you should obviously include those dev costs, but I will concede you could argue otherwise and therefore claim a different result.
Its never as easy as I want to be....

I really think the new PS+ extra/premium is superior to Game Pass. It has far more games and covers more gens. I have extra at the mo as there aren’t really many PS1 an PS2 games i’m fussed about but it is new so i’ll give it time. If you look at the games available on extra there are way more better quality games than there are on Game Pass. Game Pass main selling point is day one exclusives yet in the last 2 years there’s been like 2 or 3. To be honest i wouldn’t want PS+ to feature day 1 exclusives. Imo if Sonyy did this the quality of their exclusives would drop an they would no longer make the best games in the industry. I’m fine paying £50 to £60 a few times a year for games that are on another level an blow my mind.