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[megreotsugua]

Edit: Please ignore the thread title saying it's a gamepass competitor.

I just realized this is not a game pass competitor but a Netflix (300M subs) and Disney+ (80M subs in a year) competitor targeting the masses who like entertainment but occasionally play games as well.

This has larger potential market than what MS is doing. This will go after the Netflix crowd (300M subscribers) with game streaming added into the mix. This is the kind of combination of service that will really bring gaming to the masses as opposed to what MS is doing. And Sony won't have to compromise their $70 AAA business in order to pull this off.

Edit: Now that I have thought it through, I think the game streaming part should not be the PSNow as it is currently, but only selected games (could be hundreds), and not the entire BC line-up. If this is aimed towards casual gamers, I don't think PS1-PS3 games are a big deal. They should make 2 different services, one for casuals (this hypothetical Sony+) and one for gamers (a more robust PS+).

Sony Movies & Shows

• Sony has thousands of movies both vintage and new that they can shuffle in and out.
• Sony has a lot of successful shows they sell to TV and streaming apps. Sony+ will be a new customer except for shows paid for by a client to be exclusive.
• SIE paying Sony pictures will cost Sony $0. It's basically a matter of accounting adjustment.
• They can make a few exclusive original shows for this service. (This is where the majority of operating cost will come.)

Funimation/Crunchyroll

• Anime is not expensive.
• Funimation has 600 anime for $6 at only 3.2M subscribers.
• Crunchyroll is $8 with 3M paying subscribers. It has 1,200 anime and original live-action shows.

Playstation Games

• Old 1st party big blockbuster games. (Last of Us, Spider-man, Ghost of Tsushima, etc.)
• Casual-friendly titles.
• All-streaming, not available for download.

Sony will trickle down their games to the casuals through this. When game streaming becomes more prevalent, playstation games will add a lot of value even to non-console owners.



Edit: I thought a more gamer-centric service should be separate from this hypothetical Sony+. A more robust PS+, building on top of the 45 million subscribers, should be Sony's starting point.

PS+ Premium

• No Day and Date Release of first party AAA games.
• Day and Date Release of AA Games.
• Day and Date Release of first-party multiplayer games. (They did it with Destruction Allstars. They should continue with it.)
• PS1/PS2/PS3/PS4 BC games.
• Monthly games similar to how PSNow is currently.
• Remove streaming and make it available in all countries.
• Select few movies and shows here and there. (Additional value, like how games is an addition value to the Sony+)

The video (timestamp) talks about rumors of Sony's counterpunch. It seems, according to this rumor, there the two separate services planned:
1. "Sony Entertainment Pass" (made-up name) - Movies, Videos, Shows, Animes, and Games
2. More robust PS+

 

[CaptainConlock]

It's an interesting thought, but the anime streaming services cater to a niche demographic. I think a more realistic bundle would combine PlayStation Plus and Now or even merge them into a single service, where all Plus subscribers are also subscribed to PS Now.

 

[Bryank75]

It should already be a thing, I really don't know what is slowing them down.

PSNow is also not in every region, so they need to sort that out first.

They are also one of the biggest music companies, so for 15 dollars, they could probably get a deal to roll Spotify in there too.

They really could have a huge monopoly on entertainment subscription services but they just seem to be content to sell their shows, music and films to other services.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Anime Titties > The Entire Bethesda Collection

 

[bender]

It should already be a thing, I really don't know what is slowing them down.

It's a huge financial investment and Sony's pockets aren't nearly as deep as Microsoft's (kudos to them for leading the charge). Microsoft faltered last generation and needed to turn the perception around on the brand while Sony mostly enjoyed success. Sony's biggest first party games are massive financial successes so they're probably wrestling how they should integrate the likes of Uncharted, TLOU, God of War, etc. into the service.

 

[Blond]

Anime Titties > The Entire Bethesda Collection

 

[Sleepwalker]

No AAA games, no buy. Don't really give a shit about their movie/music content or AA games lol

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

No AAA games, no buy. Don't really give a shit about their movie/music content or AA games lol

What the heck happened to your Lily Avatar!?

 

[Bryank75]

It's a huge financial investment and Sony's pockets aren't nearly as deep as Microsoft's (kudos to them for leading the charge). Microsoft faltered last generation and needed to turn the perception around on the brand while Sony mostly enjoyed success. Sony's biggest first party games are massive financial successes so they're probably wrestling how they should integrate the likes of Uncharted, TLOU, God of War, etc. into the service.

I prefer to buy my games and have no interest in PSNow but the entertainment side...having music, films, tv and anime is the part that really interests me...

 

[Dlacy13g]

Day and date 1st party on their service. That is the gold standard and without that... they won't be a competitor.

 

[The Pleasure]

Anime Titties > The Entire Bethesda Collection

Ohio, onii chan!

 

[begotten]

Sony don't need to do this.

Meanwhile Gamepass needs to exist to keep Xbox on life support.

 

[bender]

I prefer to buy my games and have no interest in PSNow but the entertainment side...having music, films, tv and anime is the part that really interests me...

I have a hard time getting into to games that I don't purchase. Gamefly back in the day and now Gamepass has taught me this. I do think it's interesting for Sony's first party titles for me though as I've really fallen out of love with the majority of their blockbuster titles but always end up caving to the hype and buying them anyway.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Ohio, onii chan!

LMFAO!

Never seen anyone use that state as a way to say hi in Romanized Japanese.

 

[Sleepwalker]

I have a hard time getting into to games that I don't purchase. Gamefly back in the day and now Gamepass has taught me this. I do think it's interesting for Sony's first party titles for me though as I've really fallen out of love with the majority of their blockbuster titles but always end up caving to the hype and buying them anyway.

I feel that, it's really hard to get invested into some of these "rental" games knowing theres a huge library and you kinda become predisposed to dropping them fairly quickly if something bothers you. Whereas if you pay 60 bucks you kinda guilt trip yourself into playing it through

 

[The Pleasure]

LMFAO!

Never seen anyone use that state as a way to say hi in Romanized Japanese.

Bitches don't know bout my Romanji

 

[Bryank75]

I have a hard time getting into to games that I don't purchase. Gamefly back in the day and now Gamepass has taught me this. I do think it's interesting for Sony's first party titles for me though as I've really fallen out of love with the majority of their blockbuster titles but always end up caving to the hype and buying them anyway.

Yeah, I know there are many that don't like the overall style. I almost always enjoy them a lot but there have been one or two that didn't quite meet expectations for me too...

 

[e&e]

I would do if the AAA games come within months not years...

 

[Sota4077]

This place spent the entire damn summer talking about how GamePass is going to hinder game development and we would only get games as a service and it was going to destroy AAA gaming though. Now Sony is going to be doing the comparative program and folks are all about it. File that under "Shit we all saw coming a 6 months ago".

 

[bender]

I feel that, it's really hard to get invested into some of these "rental" games knowing theres a huge library and you kinda become predisposed to dropping them fairly quickly if something bothers you. Whereas if you pay 60 bucks you kinda guilt trip yourself into playing it through

Gamefly was a nightmare. I'd buy just as many games as before and then load up on rental bangers like Bujingai.

 

[Jtibh]

Anime Titties > The Entire Bethesda Collection

I feel obligated to phone up some chicks for you and show you real titties.
Did u ever felt titties?

 

[Bryank75]

This place spent the entire damn summer talking about how GamePass is going to hinder game development and we would only get games as a service and it was going to destroy AAA gaming though. Now Sony is going to be doing the comparative program and folks are all about it. File that under "Shit we all saw coming a 6 months ago".

Naaa, as I said above I don't want PSNow... just the TV, films, music and anime.

I think they should keep their exclusives off PSNow. If they need content, they can buy 3rd party games like Watchdogs, Dragon Age, Destiny and Far Cry on there Day 1 exclusively.... so they wont be on other streaming services. They have the biggest install base and can destroy a publisher if they want to deny access to the consumers.... so just use that muscle.

 

[megreotsugua]

It's an interesting thought, but the anime streaming services cater to a niche demographic. I think a more realistic bundle would combine PlayStation Plus and Now or even merge them into a single service, where all Plus subscribers are also subscribed to PS Now.

I just realized this service would actually cater more to casual than gamers. Gamepass is for gamers who play a lot games.

On the gaming side, combining PS+ and PSNow may be a good idea that could replace is free monthly games and PS+ collection.

 

[megreotsugua]

Naaa, as I said above I don't want PSNow... just the TV, films, music and anime.

This is perfect for you. It could also target the netflix crowd which has millions of subscribers.

Many netflix subscribers also like to play games ocassionally. Sony+ will be an attractive option for them.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Day and date 1st party on their service. That is the gold standard and without that... they won't be a competitor.

Their first party is world class. People will buy them at full price. They don't need to do day and date just to pump up a subscription service that would make them less money.

 

[megreotsugua]

Sony don't need to do this.

Meanwhile Gamepass needs to exist to keep Xbox on life support.

The thing is, Sony will not reinvent the wheel with this. Their current business model will work with this.

I edited the OP, I realized this is not actually a gamepass competitor but a Netflix competitor which has larger potential market.

 

[megreotsugua]

No AAA games, no buy. Don't really give a shit about their movie/music content or AA games lol

Yeah. I edited the OP. I realized this is not actually a gamepass competitor (which has smaller potential market) but a Netflix/Disney+ competitor.

This is for those who like movies, shows, and animes but also play games ocassionally.

The gaming part will only really be for the casual gamers who have good internet connection.

 

[LordCBH]

The individual divisions of Sony would have to play nice, and I don’t see Sony Pictures playing nice with Sony Interactive anymore than “hey we made an app the you can put on your playbox 5 thing. You’re welcome. M”

 

[megreotsugua]

The individual divisions of Sony would have to play nice, and I don’t see Sony Pictures playing nice with Sony Interactive anymore than “hey we made an app the you can put on your playbox 5 thing. You’re welcome. M”

Yeah it has to be the CEO of the CEOs of Sony to be one who will push this.

 

[Shrennin]

The individual divisions of Sony would have to play nice, and I don’t see Sony Pictures playing nice with Sony Interactive anymore than “hey we made an app the you can put on your playbox 5 thing. You’re welcome. M”

Yup. Sadly this would have to be a higher level effort.

PlayStation though is a crucial part of Sony's overall business, so I'd say never say never, but it's a long shot. It would be a great idea to incorporate value between not only games but the other services that Sony does own into one nice subscription package.

Even though you started comparing this more to Netflix, Microsoft themselves consider Game Pass the 'Netflix of gaming' and I do think the industry is shifting to the point that Sony will need an answer to it. The last piece of the puzzle for Microsoft is producing consistent quality games and we can kind of see when that's coming for them (likely starting in 2022).. that's when Sony will need to have an answer. Heck, just taking Game Pass into account, even Microsoft is starting to venture into other media benefits (Game Pass Ultimate perks extending to things like Disney+ and Spotify). The nice thing with Sony is that if they can get their divisions working together, they'll have a lot of that added value already just due to Sony's various media businesses.

 

[Dlacy13g]

Their first party is world class. People will buy them at full price. They don't need to do day and date just to pump up a subscription service that would make them less money.

I don't disagree they have fantastic 1st party. Sony clearly have some of the best, hands down, first party devs. However If Jim Ryan is trying to create an answer to Gamepass then that is the road though. The appeal of Gamepass is in the offer of first party along with a few timely day and date deals. Anything less is tantamount to what they have now which is doing OK.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I don't disagree they have fantastic 1st party. Sony clearly have some of the best, hands down, first party devs. However If Jim Ryan is trying to create an answer to Gamepass then that is the road though. The appeal of Gamepass is in the offer of first party along with a few timely day and date deals. Anything less is tantamount to what they have now which is doing OK.

I think they can create an alternative that's not day-and-date and still be a good service. I don't think that's a sustainable business model for the type of games they make.

Microsoft wants games that have more overall engagement (longer subs), thus they can spread the cost over time. Ambitious single player games don't fit that model.

 

[mikefrails]

Best idea I've seen on this whole site in some weeks.

 

[Shrennin]

I think they can create an alternative that's not day-and-date and still be a good service. I don't think that's a sustainable business model for the type of games they make.

Microsoft wants games that have more overall engagement (longer subs), thus they can spread the cost over time. Ambitious single player games don't fit that model.

I agree with this up to a point. I think Microsoft's focused on diversity that include games with longer engagement, but they didn't just buy ZeniMax for 7.5 billion for multiplayer focused games. We know Bethesda is working on two ambitious single player games (Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI), Ninja Theory is working on another one (Hellblade II), InXile is working on an ambitious single player RPG (supposedly Cyberpunk based, with the God of War combat director), Obsidian is working on Avowed, and PlayGround Games is working on Fable. They want to kind of cover the entire gamut to bring the greatest amount of players in, and that includes players who like those ambitious single player games. Perfect Dark is also supposedly a game that's more similar to Sony's cinematic narrative games given the pedigree of talent at Initiative and what the goal is for that game (but it will probably have a multiplayer aspect to it that does help with engagement).

I won't say that Sony needs to have an alternative that includes day-and-date in order to be successful with it though (like you said). It'll also ultimately depend on the quality of those games once they release.. but if they all are triple A home runs then that definitely puts some pressure on Sony to do just that.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I agree with this up to a point. I think Microsoft's focused on diversity that include games with longer engagement, but they didn't just buy ZeniMax for 7.5 billion for multiplayer focused games. We know Bethesda is working on two ambitious single player games (Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI), Ninja Theory is working on another one (Hellblade II), InXile is working on an ambitious single player RPG (supposedly Cyberpunk based, with the God of War combat director), and then Obsidian is working on Avowed. They want to kind of cover the entire gamut to bring the greatest amount of players in, and that includes players who like those ambitious single player games. Perfect Dark is also supposedly a game that's more similar to Sony's cinematic narrative games given the pedigree of talent at Initiative and what the goal is for that game (but it will probably have a multiplayer aspect to it that does help with engagement).

That's true, but I think Microsoft doesn't care about profitability, they care about subscribers. They are going to figure out the profitability aspect later, if they can ever get their service to pull in enormous numbers. Phil definitely has his work cut out for him after purchasing so many studios. 1) It's not cheap to buy them 2) it's not cheap to maintain them every year with their operating expenses.

There's also rumors that a lot of their single player games actually are more episodic in nature. I've heard that rumor about Fable and now Perfect Dark, and it makes sense when you think about their business model. We will see how that pans out, I think it could upset a lot of fans.

Sony doesn't have the luxury of calling up the CEO of Microsoft and opening up a huge war chest to subsidize a service that may never be profitable. They have to be profitable now.

 

[Shrennin]

That's true, but I think Microsoft doesn't care about profitability, they care about subscribers. They are going to figure out the profitability aspect later, if they can ever get their service to pull in enormous numbers. Phil definitely has his work cut out for him after purchasing so many studios. 1) It's not cheap to buy them 2) it's not cheap to maintain them every year with their operating expenses.

There's definitely a warchest aspect to it now and you're right in that Microsoft isn't looking at profitability right now. It does help that the CEO is basically saying "we want to buy more studios, even after ZeniMax" and Phil is on the executive team. They see it as a way to enhance their cloud business overall.

On the other hand, PlayStation is extremely important to Sony and I think Sony is capable of spending a great amount to combat some of this. They won't be able to spend as much as Microsoft, but Xbox has to fight to keep relevant at Microsoft whereas PlayStation doesn't have to worry about that so much. If Sony has to expand their first party, they will (I think Bluepoint will probably get purchased, and it makes sense... I just hope that means I'll get my Legend of Dragoon Remake).

There's also rumors that a lot of their single player games actually are more episodic in nature. I've heard that rumor about Fable and now Perfect Dark, and it makes sense when you think about their business model. We will see how that pans out, I think it could upset a lot of fans.

I didn't hear that rumor about Fable. I did hear that Fable could have multiplayer aspects to it, but the original Fables also did. The MMO rumor for Fable was debunked though so it's probably similar to how PlayGround does multiplayer for Forza Horizon (there are multiplayer ghosts, but you don't really interact with them unless you want to... and that's also kind of how Fable did it too).

As far as Perfect Dark... we'll see. I think there were some journalists that debunked those rumors. The original rumor I heard was that Perfect Dark was episode one, and episode two would be another IP based around Microsoft's franchises, but for now it appears that Initiative is just working on Perfect Dark. If Perfect Dark is episodic in nature, then I think Initiative's purpose was way fairly overhyped. I'm not *as* excited about Perfect Dark yet solely because we know so little about it and I wasn't really vested with that franchise in the first place. Heck, if Initiative was working on Kameo, I'd be more excited =P

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

This place spent the entire damn summer talking about how GamePass is going to hinder game development and we would only get games as a service and it was going to destroy AAA gaming though. Now Sony is going to be doing the comparative program and folks are all about it. File that under "Shit we all saw coming a 6 months ago".

Still warring I see.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

I feel obligated to phone up some chicks for you and show you real titties.
Did u ever felt titties?

Waiting for Greta to turn 18yo

 

[puffzor]

Do yall really think Sony is going to give up a 30% cut on every digital sale for 3rd party game and 100% profits for 1st party games to put those things on a sub service? None of those sub services are really that profitable.

 

[Jtibh]

Waiting for Greta to turn 18yo

Two more weeks and you got yourself a deal

 

[megreotsugua]

Do yall really think Sony is going to give up a 30% cut on every digital sale for 3rd party game and 100% profits for 1st party games to put those things on a sub service? None of those sub services are really that profitable.

You should read the OP. You are way off.

 

[Jtibh]

I am a proud psnow member till 2023.
Give me some of that upgrade.

 

[megreotsugua]

This place spent the entire damn summer talking about how GamePass is going to hinder game development and we would only get games as a service and it was going to destroy AAA gaming though. Now Sony is going to be doing the comparative program and folks are all about it. File that under "Shit we all saw coming a 6 months ago".

I was actually wrong to put gamepass competitor in the title. The 3-in-1 service I'm talking about should actually be a Netflix/Disney+ competitor.

It's for the netflix crowd who likes entertainment but also play games ocassionally.

This is the only real way they could tap into the casual market. Gamepass model of pure games is for a niche market of gamers who have a lot of time in their hands to play multiple games per month.

This model is for a larger market. The casuals. The 2 billion.

 

[Jethalal]

Seems a bit too messy. Advertising a streaming service for movies is tough as it is, bringing games into the mix would complicate it up and could complicate stuff up. They should just make 2 separate ones. I am actually not in favour of a Sony streaming service for their games, they make games which can be finished within a week and they can't keep pumping out new games. They should stick to their current model for now, if they make multiplayer games (ofc along with their current catalogue and output) then I can see it being successful.

 

[Jada]

It's a huge financial investment and Sony's pockets aren't nearly as deep as Microsoft's (kudos to them for leading the charge). Microsoft faltered last generation and needed to turn the perception around on the brand while Sony mostly enjoyed success. Sony's biggest first party games are massive financial successes so they're probably wrestling how they should integrate the likes of Uncharted, TLOU, God of War, etc. into the service.

Very few companies’ pockets are as big as Microsoft’s. It’s a meaningless statement when you realize Sony has spending reserves in the literal tens of billions.

 

[bender]

Very few companies’ pockets are as big as Microsoft’s. It’s a meaningless statement when you realize Sony has spending reserves in the literal tens of billions.

I wouldn't call it meaningless. Microsoft can afford to invest as much Sony's total spending power on their gaming division and walkaway on whim and still be fine. Sony doesn't have that luxury.

 

[Jada]

I wouldn't call it meaningless. Microsoft can afford to invest as much Sony's total spending power on their gaming division and walkaway on whim and still be fine. Sony doesn't have that luxury.

Ok, but Microsoft wouldn’t, since it would do nothing to bolster its position in the industry. Spending power doesn’t give you mindshare. The point is, that within practical confines, Sony can keep pace with Microsoft and not break a sweat.

 

[Allforce]

Believe me some intern group has already crunched all these numbers by now and passed them up the chain. It'll happen when there's evidence they can make more money bundling services than selling each service standalone.

 

[megreotsugua]

They should just make 2 separate ones.

PSNow and Funimation could still have a separate subscription.

Sony Movies & Shows won't have its own.

This is basically Sony's answer to Netflix bolstered by PSNow and Funimation.

I am actually not in favour of a Sony streaming service for their games, they make games which can be finished within a week and they can't keep pumping out new games.

I shouldn't have put gamepass competitor in the title. Gamepass has a smaller potential market.

This model is for the netflix crowd. Game streaming is added to add value. This is the way to target the casuals. Pure gaming content like gamepass is a hard sell to the casuals.

They should stick to their current model for now, if they make multiplayer games (ofc along with their current catalogue and output) then I can see it being successful.

The thing about this is that it won't shake Sony's current business model. This will work as is and it won't have to reinvent the wheel.

They can continue to release AAA games at $70. They can continue to release movies at theaters. They can continue to make shows for TV.

 

[bender]

Ok, but Microsoft wouldn’t, since it would do nothing to bolster its position in the industry. Spending power doesn’t give you mindshare. The point is, that within practical confines, Sony can keep pace with Microsoft and not break a sweat.

I'm not saying Microsoft is going to walk away from the industry, I'm saying they could and not falter as a company. Sony isn't in the same position. Yes, Sony can send billions of dollars but their buying power is still a fraction of Microsoft's. Of course spending money doesn't give you mindshare, but Sony already has the majority of mindshare in this market segment and Microsoft is trying to close the gap. Thus Sony being more risk averse and Microsoft being more aggressive.