Topic: PlayStation Plus | OT |

Any thoughts about Spartacus before the possible announcement next week?

The article says “splashy lineup of titles from recent years” (or something like that) which will be on offer on the higher tier options.

I’m wondering if “recent years” means things like Kena Bridge of Spirits, Sackboy, Demon’s Souls, Returnal, and Miles Morales, or does it mean Dreams, MediEvil, and Knack 2?

Is “recent” 2 years or 5 years? 😅

And I wonder if they are expanding the collection, then how many third party partners do they have?

And I also wonder if they will have recent titles like Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding that have PS5 versions, but they will only include the PS4 version on the service (a la what they did with FF7R on PS+)

@Th3solution My only thought is that it would kinda make sense to announce the new version of PS Plus (I imagine the name stays) when they’d normally announce the next month’s games - and launch it the following week.

I wouldn’t expect too much in terms of relatively new PS5 games - it probably won’t be primarily targeted at PS5 users just yet.

I said this a few weeks back, I suspect it will be a disappointment and have some bizarre things behind it which will have us all scratching our heads.

And I don't have much interest in it tbh. I will probably stick to whatever the basic plus subscription is. I have zero interest in paying extra for most of the stuff I've seen rumoured.

@velio84 I sub to PS Now too currently but have been thinking of not renewing when it ends as I hardly use it these days. The odd game I have been interested in they don't offer the ps5 version and I'd rather play the best version available to me.

@JohnnyShoulder @velio84 I’m subbed to Plus and Now as well and most likely won’t resub to Now. It’s a good service for trying stuff out you’d normally not play but I think I just prefer to have demos like they are doing and then I can decide if I want to pay good money for the game.

I still think that Sony will not be putting their AAA single player $70 games - like Horizon, God of War, Last of Us, Spider-Man etc into a Subscription service Day and Date. They will want to maximise the profit margin by selling the game at its highest price, want to hit the 'best selling' charts, hopefully be the #1 selling game etc and then maybe 6+ months later, offer it in Spartacus.

That doesn't mean that I think Spartacus won't offer 'any' games Day and Date. It makes more sense for 'online' based games and live service games to be offered as these games are 'much' better with higher player numbers. It makes matchmaking, ping, lobbies etc much better. No-one wants to be in lobbies with 'poor' ping, wants to sat waiting for lobbies to fill (some less popular modes can be unplayable due to low player count) etc. Also, most of these have 'additional' transactions too and having 5x the player count looking at the 'store', not having already invested $70 to play, maybe more willing to buy 'extras' to support the game they are 'enjoying' free*...

(* - free as in no 'additional' cost on top of the Subscription and that relatively small 'subscription' charge is allowing to access 'hundreds' of games, not 'just' that 1 new game added)

As Sony have announced they have quite a few Live Service online games and even their 'newly' acquired Studio, Haven, are making a Live Service game that may well be the 'type' of game that Sony would offer Day and Date - along with perhaps 2nd/3rd Party studio games that would also of benefited more by 'higher' player numbers over sales numbers. MLB21 was obviously a success for Sony on Xbox Game Pass, hence MLB22 is Free* on Game Pass this year too. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony announce Spartacus with MLB22 as coming Day and Date to 'launch' their new service...

@BAMozzy I agree. I think whatever concoction Spartacus is, it won’t have the big-budget games day 1, with one exception being MLB The Show. I think it would be optically really bad PR if the XBox service get The Show and the PlayStation service doesn’t. The other day 1 games for the service will be the multiplayer service games they keep harping about making, and the small budget games like Concrete Genie and Erica. I’m not sure about Factions. Yes, it will be centered around an online multiplayer core and might be live-service based, but I just feel like Naughty Dog’s IP is too big to put on a streaming service. I think it will sell well at retail.

Not sure If this was shown in any leaks beforehand, as I didn't read the latest news article on it, but here you go. Obviously take this with a pinch of salt as it nothing official. EDIT: And also obviously a fake! 😂

@JohnnyShoulder So these tiers make it sound like there’s two streaming services on offer with only the one that comes with Platinum being equivalent to that Now is now. Hard to say what the lower level streaming service is without more details.

If this is true though I think I’d rather have the streaming swapped out for the free monthly games on the silver tier which would make it more like Plus is now.

They would have to make those exclusive offers on the PS Store mighty for me to go near that Platinum level, something like a big discount on PS Studio games.

@render I've always gotten Plus and Now subs when they are discounted, but I think the platinum level is comparable them both combined.

I've kinda not bought much in PS store sales over the last couple of years due to the amount of games I've already got in my library, so I wouldn't be totally gutted about missing out on those.

And I'm not too keen on streaming stuff either as I feel there too many things that can go wrong which effects your experience.

First of all, there's no way they're gating monthly games behind a premium tier. They will not make the same features that PS Plus has now significantly more expensive. Calling the revamped service a "game pass competitor" is most likely a bit of a stretch anyway but what they don't want is to make GP seem like an even better deal

@Voltan Not saying it will happen, but some people said there was no way Sony would start putting microtransactions in a 70 quid game... yet here we are and Gran Turismo 7 says "Hello".

@JohnnyShoulder I think a lot of armchair analysts will have to take stock after the Gran Turismo stuff. That game has more egregious MTX than Forza Horizon 5 despite being £70 and Forza being included with Game Pass.

@nessisonett With Spartacus apparently being revealed in a few days the timing of Spartacus, the GT7 microtransactions and the sudden ramp up of live service games (10 by March 2026) are suspicious such that perhaps they're connected. Monetization in general for XGS games have worsened since Game Pass existed, Infinite being the worst of the bunch.

@Grumblevolcano Halo Infinite is Free to Play - at least the MP part is. The campaign was sold and doesn't have any MTX in and was 'free' with Game Pass. Certainly no worse than a LOT of FPS games - including those that come with a AAA price tag too...

I'm not saying that MTX content isn't 'better/worse' under 'Game Pass' - I just see 'more and more' Publishers having more and more 'additional' content. There are more and more games releasing with 'additional' content to purchase. The devs may see it as giving gamers a reason to keep playing games they love - whether its additional game-play content (DLC stories, missions etc), cosmetics or 'boosters' (like currency packs to buy things quicker than 'earning' the currency in game or waiting for RNG gods to favour you).

It seems a LOT more games in general have additional purchases and that was a trend that was in place before Game Pass. Go back to CoD Black Ops 2 on the 360 - 4 DLC map packs, countless cosmetic MTX's (before 'loot' boxes) and was a 'full price AAA' game - not free to play. Assassins Creed has DLC, MTX, Helix credits etc too.

I wouldn't say Game Pass itself has had an impact on 'additional' content being offered in games. Its a trend in the industry and most, if not all,especially 'online' based games, regardless of platform, regardless of publisher has 'extra' content. Arguably, none of it is 'compulsory' and all optional.

Time will tell of course and with Sony looking to add more 'live service' online games, I can see them wanting to get some of that lucrative income for themselves. With a Subscription service, someone maybe more willing to spend $20 on 'extras' having not just spent $70 to get the game in the first place. Its not as if the games will (or should) have much more MTX's in the 'Subscription' version of the 'same' game so even if you 'don't' subscribe and buy the game instead, you'll still get all those MTX's. MLB21 doesn't have 'more' MTX's on Xbox Game Pass vs buying on Xbox/PS.

Game Pass doesn't change the games to a 'Free to play' version, those exact same games are 'sold' and you get the exact same 'experience' without the upfront costs. You can still buy the games to 'keep'.

As I said above, Online games tend to be the ones that have most MTX (probably because people want to customise their 'online' character/base etc) and these too are the ones that 'benefit' most by having high player counts. If there is no barrier to 'trying', not having to spend $60+, then you have more players in your 'store' and, if they enjoy the game, more likely to buy extras. Its more likely to be enjoyable because the lobbies are full, most friends are playing or able to play with you etc but its still the 'same' game non-subscribers had to pay for and still has the same MTX options too...

@JohnnyShoulder That latest GT7 thing did not go down well - bad enough that they seem to be turning it around asap.
I imagine ruining PS Plus at its current price point would be much worse. Imagine making most of those millions of subscribers massively disappointed.
I’m no expert but they’re supposed to make the service better and that wouldn’t be it

@Voltan Like I said, I don't think what I posted will be what the final service turns out to be. But is is not entirely unbelievable that Sony does some sort of an own goal with the service either. And it will probably something that is nothing major but will still manage to upset the most vocal of Sony fans. Which is not that hard recently.

@JohnnyShoulder I think the most likely scenario is that the service will be better than it currently is, but it won't be enough to meet some expectations - and the media doesn't help with making those expectations realistic, tbh

@Voltan

Btw - most reports mention combining PS Plus and PS Now. I'm still curious how that works for territories where PS Now is not available (aka most of the world). I have not seen a single outlet mention it.