Recently, in Sony's recent official release, we were surprised to see that the former membership service PlayStation Now is about to usher in major changes, and Sony will start to launch a new membership system PlayStation+ in June.
Although Sony emphasized in the announcement that the new PS+ service is not a competitor to Microsoft XGP, nor does it call it a subscription-based service, players can see the similarity between PS+ and XGP.
First of all, the service is divided into three levels:
The basic version of PS+Essential is $10 per month, in line with the old PSN features, and includes networked battles, limited-time free games that rotate each month, and discount coupons for some older games.
The upgraded PS+Extra is $15 per month, adding to the lineup of 400 games on the PS4/PS5 platform, and can be played during the subscription period.
The deluxe version of PS+Premium, on the above basis to join the PS1, PS2, PSP, PS3 of the old game lineup, compatible with the form of cloud games to provide, of course, if you use cloud streaming, it means that you can not play after the subscription expires.
The main content of the last two files is a renewal lease game library, and the $15 subscription price is exactly the same as the original price of XGP. Of course, XGP will have a variety of promotions, but Sony also said that the annual subscription can have more than 60% discount, in general, PS+ is intended not to fall behind, with the advantages of the game lineup to make up for the disadvantages of the market.
However, in the appendix, it is also stated that the software library of 400 games will not include first-party newly released works, and PS+ aims to provide players with high-quality games to play.
Self-doubt
The next-generation competition initially focused on the performance competition between the PS5 and XSX consoles, and then gradually turned into a contest of premium and cost performance, and after several earth-shattering acquisitions last year, the next-generation war turned into the most primitive asset game. In fact, behind the various business operations, the core change depends on the transformation of the business model.
After Microsoft got involved in video game consoles, in fact, it has been led by Sony's nose, players pursue 3D graphics, so the first generation of Xbox strengthens screen expression, players pursue high cost performance, so the second generation of 360 has become a cheap solution; European and American players do not like to play CRPG on the host, so they poach Japanese developers to do JRPG for Xbox; old players need game generation compatibility, so Xbox One supports all old games... It seems to be the needs of players, but in fact, everything is the lower limit released by Sony. So no matter how well Xbox completes this assignment, it is always pinched to death in the old track.
During the period, Microsoft also planned several breakouts and game-breaking operations, such as trying to ban the second-hand sale of game CDs, as well as promoting Kinect somatosensory devices, but in the end, there were many problems in implementation, and it also shook the interests of many players, so it became a few stinky chess. Finally, before this next generation, borrowing the stone from the subscription service of the video website next door and applying it to the game industry, while investing huge costs to acquire game developers, has a great sense of the future business model of the game industry.
Sony's follow-up will be an important turning point in the history of video games, in fact representing the "bowing" of the old sales method and a series of supporting services to the new world - this is still happening under the premise that the number of players in the PS5 exceeds the XSX.
Jim Ryan said in an interview on April 1 that his PS+ will not reach the market share of Netflix
In the face of the digital version, subscription system such as the horn of the times, Sony's own change has been uncertain, PSN was originally to solve the player's online problems, and then slowly joined the number of small, time-sensitive will be exempted from the game, and now completely changed the door to PS+, still unwilling to log new games into it, including PS4 games to spend another $10 to upgrade to PS5 compatible version, in fact, are the embodiment of the tail can not be dropped. As the master of the discourse power of the old system, Sony does not have the courage not to break and stand, and there is no opportunity for late-starters. In the follow-up process, Sony will definitely observe the willingness to pay for PS+, if the response is not good, the probability will not be over, if the sales are good, it is not impossible for new games to land in the subscription service. We can even guess that now after the merger of PS Studio, PlayStation as a distribution brand, it is also feasible to log PS+ to the PC platform. But all these changes require Sony to look at the after-effects, and the full-body PS+ will come more slowly than we expected.
To see the after-effects
What the after-effect is, we can also find out one or two from the rules of this time.
First, new games will not join PS+, which naturally means that they will not be added in the short term after the release, at least after the best sales period of several months. We don't know about the library of 400 games, mentioning a relatively new game like Death Return that was released a year ago. Whether it is a game that has been released for one or two years, or a game that has been released for four or five years, but no matter when the PS4 game is, it is definitely a work that has been a big seller. These games have limited appeal to old players, most of them have already started to play, if they did not choose to start at that time, they must also be completely unimpressed with genre games. In other words, without new titles, there are no old players.
Second, user stickiness. The user stickiness of PS hosting is of course reliable, but PS+ is not necessarily, it depends on the type of game on the PS platform. Sony's main fist products are almost all one-time play experiences, that is, there is no "service game" or "online game" that we call in the broad sense. The general flow of the game is about 50 hours, and different people may exceed 200 hours, but it is enough to play in a month. This means that if a player comes to a game to "white prostitute", then he is likely to choose not to renew the service after it expires. In contrast, Microsoft's game lineup, whether it is flying an airplane (Microsoft flight simulation), driving (Forza Horizon), rowing (Sea of Thieves), or shooting a gun (COD, Halo), actually has a very complete continuous operation, online game nature. Even if consumers consider that there is no game that matches their appetite in the short term, there are enough reasons to subscribe to a long-term XGP.
Finally, the market margins. Sony's most classic Slogan in PS2 is "all the games are gathered here", when Sony did this, and many close developers under Nintendo have defected to the PS console to win a large number of new users to the PS console. Today, the market margin to be expanded by Sony PS+ members, in fact, there is not much room, and the developers who are in Microsoft's pocket will definitely form a blocking barrier to stifle the choice space of the PS+ software library. The only card that Sony can play in his hand is the Japanese factory, and now the daily life that can survive has long been the deployment strategy of the all-platform release, logging into the game of PS+, it will also log in to XGP, and finally PS+ members can only be a defensive move.