PlayStation Plus subscribers won’t be getting access to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 or other new first-party titles on day one any time soon. In a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nick Maguire, vice president and global head of subscriptions at Sony Interactive Entertainment, mentioned that PlayStation was currently “happy” with its strategy of not bringing first-party games to its subscription service until later in their life cycle, reasoning that PlayStation is able to reach more customers this way. “For us, that’s working,” Maguire said. Microsoft, on the other hand, has had no qualms with releasing its first-party games, including Starfield, on day one via Xbox and PC Game Pass.
“We’re happy with our strategy,” Maguire said. “Putting games in a bit later in the life cycle has meant that we can reach more customers 12, 18, 24 months after they have released. We’re seeing customers still get excited about those games and jumping in. For us, that’s working. Occasionally, there will be an opportunity to invest in a day-and-date like Stray and we will jump on those when they come in. But for us, letting those [first-party] games go out to the platform outside the service first…that’s working and that will continue to be our strategy moving forward.”
From a GamesIndustry.biz feature:
Maguire says that PS5 is the biggest platform for the Plus service, including its more expensive tiers, which bodes well as the console’s install base continues to widen.
Although first-party games are proving hugely popular in the service, Maguire says the company is resolute in its strategy of only putting its older games into the platform, and not launching its titles day and date.
Subscription services have been beneficial to service-based games. We’ve seen big publishers put service-based titles such as GTA Online and Rainbow Six: Siege into subscription platforms, attracting new players and increasing the audience for these games (which typically feature microtransactions or other forms of monetisation). Considering Sony’s recent investment in new service-based games, could we see some of these upcoming titles launching day-and-date into PS Plus? Or perhaps PS Plus members receiving extra benefits within these games?