Sony Removing PS Now Subscription Cards in UK Ahead of Supposed PS Plus Overhaul

Spartacus announcement incoming

If this is what they intend to do and potentially launch other services alongside Plus and Now then I hope it's tiered or at least give us the option of pick and mix.

I have no interest in the Now service personally and I think Sony would do well not to chase the "success" of the Xbox Gamepass.

The Gamepass method costs the Devs in lost revenue and will be less inclined to invest in their games. It's only viable as Microsoft have enough money to keep it solvent but I think the drawback shows in the lack of quality titles/series on the Xbox.

Sony should keep growing and encouraging their own series (Halo Killers and Bethesda clones) and not throw them onto the PS Now service at release. It's short term gratification at the cost of longevity.

@The_Moose Not sure what you are talking about. Most devs in interviews have been really happy with GamePass and their earnings. Also end up with some more sales in the long run.

There are also plenty of quality games on it. Some of the highest rated games of 2021. Psychonauts 2, Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon 5 as well as very highly rated indies. Heck, even Sony’s The Show was on it!

Not every game is going to be great but it also exposed great indies that may not have been noticed. That’s a win-win for many devs.

@Milt I don't think this PS Spartacus is something that would be announced at a State of Play event, that's more for games than anything else.

About dang time.

I still wonder what this means for regions with no PS Now access. Interesting times ahead regardless.

@awp69 An independent 3rd party Dev runs a risk with going onto Gamepass on day of release. Obviously Microsoft must give them money as initial sales will be important for any game release in order to turn a profit. If they could have made more money by keeping it off Gamepass then it would arguably discourage Dev's going forward.

Also the likes of Forza and Halo will naturally be day one releases on Gamepass as they are owned or published directly by Microsoft/Xbox so it makes sense for them to do it.

@get2sammyb 100%. I'm not opposed to them updating it to remain competitive but I think it'll be a mistake if they try to make PS Now as important a factor to PS users as Gamepass is to Xbox.

So which one will they honour? I have stacked PSPlus and PSNow with different end dates. Which one will my combined sub run to I wonder.

@The_Moose this will only be a problem if it meant Sony lessened up on its stream of 1st party games, as MS clearly did all last gen in favour of GP. And I don't see Sony doing that. They know its their greatest strength and differentiator.

@The_Moose That's why Sony won't put there exclusives on a subscription service day one, because they know they can make more money by selling them full price. I think part of it too is that Sony see there exclusives too good for that in a way, kind of like there better than that to go on a subscription service.

@Snake_V5 Yes!

@Integrity Let's hope so as Xbox once had a strong series of first party titles which have either disappeared or shadows of their former selves.

@The_Moose This guy explained the issues with Game Pass,

https://youtu.be/tq09Cfygew0

I agree with the issue being that it will cause games to be all about quantity instead of quality.

Later this month / 21st felt a few weeks away. Then I looked at the calendar. Only 9 days 😅

I haven't decided when I'll jump into next gen or which system I'll get, if not both. I love most of the PS exclusives, first party titles and have a fair amount of PS4 games. Xbox has GamePass, their own exclusives and lots of backwards compatible 360 games, plus I love Fable. Curious to see what Sony announces and it may help me decide.

@Snake_V5 Cheers I will check it out.

@The_Moose "halo killers" 🤣🤣
Those have never faired will. Killzone and resistance are but a few "halo killers". Don't try to be a game killer, be your own thing. Like naughty dog. Find a niche, and excel the hell out of it.

THE ONLY reason I’d subscribe to NOW is to play the silent hills and metal gear solids on my PS5. I’m sure there are a few others too but that’d be it. I realized it was “cloud gaming” real quick and shot my own hopes down. I won’t do cloud gaming.

I’m one of “those people” on Switch that will not be playing Kingdom Hearts Cloud Version for that reason. My internet is just not up to what it should be for worry-free gaming on cloud stuff.
Anyway, if they bundle Now in, I’d be okay with paying for Plus and having Now as a cool little add-on for a few bucks more.

Im excited for this change. Plus and PSNow have kind of grown stale. PSNow is a decent service, but when you have Gamepass on the other end of the rope it doesn't even compete. I think Plus needs the overhaul more than Now, but combining them or having different tiers will give both these services the face-lift they need.

@PhhhCough Haha yeah I know I wasn't being serious with the term but couldn't think of another way to word it. Should have given it the old ".." marks.

@B-I-G-DEVIL it'll soon be Christmas ☺️

@The_Moose What if Sony can more effectively compete with Gamepass PLUS keep their awesome game production at the top of the class?

@Bagwag82 😂

@get2sammyb I really hope they don't but I just can't shake image of some short term thinking Sony execs saying "look at the success of GP, let's just copy it exactly".

I was thinking they would offer some sort of retro service but wouldn't it make more sense just to put the PS classic games onto PSNow?

Maybe a more premium membership service as you say would be the way forward. Two monthly releases as usual for basic membership, access to an enhanced on demand service and further discounts of first party titles for those who want to pay more.

@The_Moose 😆😆my b, my b.

@KayOL77 If they did that then it wouldn't be as good as the GP fans claim GP to be as Sony wouldn't put their first party titles as day one releases. PS Now can certainly be enhanced and adding things like the classic games with improved graphics, controls and trophy support would be a huge winner.

As I say though they shouldn't be following the GP model religiously, just look at the lack of Xbox first party titles if you need to ask why.

@The_Moose I don't see just copying gamepass, but if it WAS just a copy of gamepass then it would pretty much neutralise the benefit of the competition. Maybe it will go towards that, but Sony have a tremendous financial safety cushion with all the current profits and ps5 demand. They can afford to be on cruise control and gently change the gears up when supported by awesome software.

@ChromaticDracula besides the people who use PS Now on PC, I bet the vast majority just download the games instead of streaming them.

Announcements must be imminent, surely. I wonder how long it actually takes to recall everything nationally, or do they just tell retailers to dump them?

I’ve heard some murmurings of a Sony event on 2nd Feb. If that is the case, then perhaps we will hear it there. I hope we get some clarity very soon!

@KayOL77 Whatever financial safety cushion Sony has, it's no wear near as padded as Microsoft's.

BRING BACK THE PLAYSTATION 3 CATALOG.
Sooooo many better games then the current generation.
PSX 2 The 3 Is The Ones For Me.
& Also the PSX & PSX 2 catalogues. Fun, fun, fun.

@The_Moose True, I don't think Sony could even afford to put there exclusives on a subscription service day one if they wanted to.

Its great for the netflix gen.
But it wont really affect people that like to hoard retail releases (ie me)
I dont even have enough time to go through what I buy (let alone plus titles)....so I wont be paying more for a combined sub.

I only have my Ps plus sub for multiplayer.......so if the do merge them together (for a higher annual fee)
I hope they introduce a new lower multiplayer only sub (or wishful thinking.....free again........for the players XD or whatever their slogan is)

@get2sammyb exactly my thoughts -> I believe there will be heavy discounts for exclusives. I will just make an educated guess and say it is better for them to get people subscribed, because retention % is probably high. Meaning they will get more money overall from subscribtions in a long run - even though if it would mean those heavy discounts…

> PS Now cards are being removed in favour of standard PlayStation gift cards

Does that even make sense? If you don't use a PS Now card then don't you need a credit card to buy the subscription on the PS Store, even if you have money in your wallet?

Edit: plus I believe you're taxed to buy PS Now through the store, but last time I picked up a card on cdkeys there was no additional tax. --if they're going to extend this to other regions.

So this Spartacus service is false then.

@awp69 I have game pass and it’s pretty decent to be fair. Almost too many games to choose from. It’s good value though

@The_Moose The succes they dont sell games anymore its all in subscription. And how many games can talk about besides the Halo, Forza plus Gears?

Im scared that Sony will go for the horrible thing value gaming instead of quality gaming. The only thing i hear about the gamepass is the value such a pity.

Also you can say so much about Sony but thank God (or whoever you want) the monetization is at a minimum.

No lootboxes, no microtransactions in every game, no bloody liveservice games just finished products with a full expansion that adds to storymode.

They all here where screaming about bloody murder when we had to pay a tenner more but also failed to mention all the things that stay away with this like the insane amount of monetization.

You tell which game you can buy from studio's like Ubisoft that are complete, not monetized beyond believe, all there games scream at you here you buy this like a free to play game. And the day their games release there already is a expansionpass.

@The_Moose Absolutely agree. They don't have to and shouldn't put their top tier games on the service. But if one of the subscriptions be like "Get 30% off first party new releases" that's gonna be helluva captivating.

@Milktastrophe Yeah there is no benefit from streaming a game. It changes the quality on so many levels visually and responsivity sucks.

@Flaming_Kaiser That's what I worry about too. I don't want Sony to do the same thing because it could cause Sony games to become quantity over quality.

I'd happily pay a pound a month to ensure my save games are safe in the cloud then continue to buy the games I want to play at full price at retail. Don't need any streaming, subscription game pass clone thanks

@The_Moose I have seen countless interviews with devs who love Game Pass for the exposure and follow up sales it leads to. Forza Horizon 5 had 15 million players playing within its first week which is amazing for the online community.

So many indie devs have spoken about how much they've benefitted from it. Personally I've actually bought loads of games that I've tried first on Game Pass and the stats show that others do too.

There's also a reason that people keep asking how Sony will respond to Game Pass. Because Game Pass works and is a viable model alongside traditional ways of selling games.

Sony wouldn't try to compete with an idea that didn't work. So despite your negativity, it seems that Sony think it's worth paying attention to.

And in a world where Sony is charging £70 for a brand new 1st party title, I can't see anything negative for gamers being able to access AAA games via Game Pass.

This pretty much confirms Spartacus is impending. Still curious what type of form it will finally take?

@KayOL77 "Yeah there is no benefit from streaming a game. It changes the quality on so many levels visually and responsivity sucks."

Agree 100%. I had a series S until recently and tried a few games via streaming and the quality was not great. More so on the quality level as opposed to a response level. Id certainly rather install than play it from the cloud despite me having a pretty solid internet package.

@Integrity Build it and they will come. Had Microsoft not canned most of its 1st party titles at the start of the Xbox One era out is doubtful we would even have Game Pass.

I think what attracts PlayStation gamers to a sub is access to classic titles. A much more robust selection of PS1-3 games together with trophy support would make it worth the money. This may even be how the tiers work: £3/m to play PS1, £5 for 1+2 and so on.

Sony and Nintendo prove that selling exclusives rather than perpetually renting them is not only better value for money but still very profitable.

@__jamiie If Sony ignore all of the drawbacks that myself and others here have listed then yeah I suppose GP is worth looking at.

If you think it's great, what other exclusive titles does Xbox have going for it apart from Halo and Forza? I'm sure indie Devs love GP as they get exposure through marketing and save a fortune. The medium to bigger third party Devs who's games are just put onto GP not so much.

@PhhhCough true words. Resistance got there in the end (with part 3) but by then it was too late.

So if they're removing the cards 'in favour of regular PlayStation Network voucher cards', surely they'll be doing the same for PS+ then? I just renewed my PS Now as I got a 12-month card as a Christmas gift - not worried as they'll do what Xbox did and add x amount of time onto the 'new' subscription in exchange.

@The_Moose Good stuff.. see not many people realise that and it’s creating huge change in the industry. Think the focus is definitely quality and fairness to developers and not necessarily trying to be ahead pf competitors because in the long run you can see the differences.

@Sunzy98 Yep. I know it's anecdotal but the people I know who use GP are almost religious about how great it is. They seem to think they're getting one over on the Devs because they're not paying full price for a game yet at the same time complain about the lack of quality in games or lack of innovation. Whenever I link GP to this it's met with real hostility. Strange indeed.

@The_Moose
Sony Doesn't have to make ps now so important. Playstation sells and the facts show that too. I dare say that if gamepass hadn't been there, Xbox wouldn't have existed anymore. And the fact that there is a glitch of 3 years of game pass for € 1 also adds to that of course. But still, I'm curious what Sony will do.

… if this merge does happen, will AUSTRALIA FINALLY GET THE STREAMING COMPONENT???

@The_Moose Back4Blood, Gears Tactics, Ori, Psychonaughts 2, MS Flight Simulator, The Medium, Sea of Thieves, Cyber Shadow, Octopath Traveller, MLB The Show, Forgotten City, Quake, Art of Rally, Age of Empires 4, Flynn: Son of Crimson.

Those are just some of my personal favourites. Not all exclusives of course but an amazing and varied line up. And the fact that MLB The Show launched day one on Game Pass and was £70 on PlayStation speaks volumes.

@__jamiie But you can't guarantee that MLB will still be there after x months. Look how quickly GTA V and RDR 2 disappeared from the service. Don't get me wrong, I love Game Pass (I get Ultimate free with work) but it's a rental service.

@__jamiie Well hardly any of those are Triple A and in a line up against PS exclusive quality, they fall short in comparison.

Xbox have thrown everything at GP and the lack of quality content shows as a result of this. It's short term thinking on a massive scale.

@The_Moose Not really short term thinking. Every game under the Bethesda umbrella will be on Game Pass day one moving forward.

@PlayNation5 No of course you can't guarantee how long games will be there. But for fans of MLB, the option to play it day one without a full purchase and then download it cheaper than it is on PlayStation is massive.

@__jamiie In that case the Bethesda games won't be profitable, they'll survive based on Microsoft cash injections which is never a good thing for a company. If Bethesda was still selling to both PS and Xbox, where would it make more money? PS would sell it probably around £70 initially, if it went onto GP where people are paying £1 for membership and can play it Day One, do you not reckon Bethesda (had they not been bought out) or every other Dev would rather tap into the PS market?

@The_Moose But then by that reasoning, every first party studio that Sony has bought would also want access to the Xbox and Nintendo. They would make more money that way. This gen is going to be far closer than the previous gen as Microsoft's strategy is very different to Sony's.

Very true, every Dev would want as broad a consumer base as possible. That being said for reasons I've outlined above, the PS exclusives are going to make a lot more money than the Xbox ones

@__jamiie I bet all of those games that are cross platform made more money for the Devs than the gamepass version. All those games have sold very well on playstation.

Hope it's not overpriced. And hope it adds funimation and crunchyroll to it.

@__jamiie I can look at the kind of games that are released on Gamepass they are all monetized i rather pay full price then get that crap. Also every game seems a liveservice mess another thing i hate.

@Flaming_Kaiser Agreed. They've even said that they're 'overhauling' the new Forza Motorsport game to be more of a live service and they've kind of gone that way too with Halo Infinite. Still a great game, mind, at least on the single-player.

Nah, I worked at GAME and people want a direct card/code for a service. Once you explain they can have it through wallet top up, the just get so confused.
Doesn't seem as a streamlining to me.