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Gamepass Competitor: How about a Sony+? (PSNow+Funimation/Crunchyroll+Sony Movies&Shows)

All 3 services rolled into 1, at what price will you subscribe?

  • $9.99

    Votes: 57 39.6%
  • $14.99

    Votes: 46 31.9%
  • $8.99 (1 screen), $17.99 (4 screens)

    Votes: 41 28.5%

  • Total voters
    144
While intriguing I don't think your prices are realistic.

I updated the original post to justify why the pricing is not unrealistic.

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.
  • SCE paying Sony pictures will cost Sony $0. It's basically a matter of accounting adjustment.
  • They can make few exclusive original shows for their own 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.
PSNow
  • No Day and Date Release of first party AAA games. Only maybe after 2 years or so depending on the game. (Sony's $70 AAA business is not compromised.)
  • Day and Date Release of AA Games occasionally.
  • PS1/PS2/PS3/PS4 BC games.
  • Monthly games similar to how PSNow is currently.
  • PSNow still downloadable for compatible games to those who have PS4 or PS5.
 
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Just saw Mulan yesterday on Disney+. today might see Soul or Frozen Series, gotta say the IQ is bonkers and for me above Netflix but the App is mediocre at best, tons of bugs and erros.

Mandalorian is fucking GOAT & Disney with more content will seriously challenge Netflix to Top Contender, but it is years away.
I don't like Star Wars, but the quality of shows on Disney+ is second to none I agree in comparison to Netflix.
 
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This is not a gamepass competitor. Please read the original post to understand what I really mean.

I want to hear from Sony fans why this idea is a mistake.
 
I I don't watch enough anime for that portion of it to be worth it. I think their games would have to be day and date with no chance of being removed. Besides spiderman and The Interview, I don't know what movies they own. I think I'm more enticed by HBO Go based on the film portion of it. If they did this they should do something with music because I know they have a big publishing side of that. They could even add superior support with their hardware side like big camera accessory discounts or free printer ink or something. Sony+ could be a great service.
 

12Dannu123

Member
Sony Pictures doesn't have enough output to compete against Disney and Netflix and Sony doesn't own the anime output, so Netflix, Amazon can take the license of that anime series and put on their own service.

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.

That's not how it works. Sony can't force Unisoft, SE or anybody to release their games on a subscription service only.
 
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Sony Pictures doesn't have enough output to compete against Disney and Netflix

Netflix had 0 output prior.

Like Disney, Sony has thousand of movies and shows right off the bat.

Sony doesn't have to do 30 shows a month like Netflix. It can do a more modest output supported by anime and videogames.

and Sony doesn't own the anime output, so Netflix, Amazon can take the license of that anime series and put on their own service.

Sony still has an advantage of in-house anime studio Aniplex.
Sony has bought many anime streamings apps to consilidate them.

That's not how it works. Sony can't force Unisoft, SE or anybody to release their games on a subscription service only.

A newly released AAA is expensive. They shouldn't go that route. (And streaming of pure games is a niche anyway.)

Operate it the same way as PSNow today just improved a little bit with occasional AA day 1 release.
 
Still wouldn't sub. I prefer to buy my gaming content outright.

Yeah this is for casuals. The main hook are the movies and shows (and anime). The game streaming should be old games.

I was saying Sony shouldn't follow gamepass model. It has niche and narrow target audience.

Sony should go after the bigger crowd. Those who would subscribe to movie/show streaming apps. Gaming is just an added value.
 

NahaNago

Member
This is definitely something they should do. I do think they should have expanded the game studios in order to create games for a game pass subscription. A multimedia app that combines the music, tv, movies, and mv. I also think that they should expand more though in to more Asian stuff like Korean and Japanese live action shows since they know that they already have a large otaku fan base. They should have expanded a lot earlier in to the otaku stuff a long time ago back when they were exclusive king of Japanese games.
 
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If they don't give me new titles at launch on the service i would never sub. period
Good. You are a gamer. You like playing new games. This is not for you. You belong to the limited and narrow potential target audience of MS gamepass.

This service is for the casuals who won't mind playing the Last of Us and God War even though they're old games.

As I was saying this model will only really fly once game streaming becomes more accessible for the masses.

In the meantime, the gaming aspect (which is not the whole point of the Sony+ service) will only really appeal to PS4 and PS5 owners for now.

The amount of appreciative value will only be boosted by the games. The main hook are movies, shows, anime for the casuals. The 2 billion that MS said is the target.
 
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I'd sub for the anime alone. Including PS Now would simply be icing on the cake for me, as I have less interest in Netflix style gaming. I like to buy my games.

The Funimation + Crunchyroll part alone as a new service would have me empty my wallet to subscribe.
 
This is definitely something they should do. I do think they should have expanded the game studios in order to create games for a game pass subscription. A multimedia app that combines the music, tv, movies, and mv. I also think that they should expand more though in to more Asian stuff like Korean and Japanese live action shows since they know that they already have a large otaku fan base. They should have expanded a lot earlier in to the otaku stuff a long time ago back when they were exclusive king of Japanese games.

I really liked Alice in Borderland on Netflix. I think Sony should also consider making live action shows based on manga series.
 
i would easily drop 15 for that, it will never happen tho, too much value.

The only money pit really will be the few original shows. Anime should not be that expensive.

Games basically are crumbles from playstation department. The cost would actually come from the servers that would run the games.
 

Keihart

Member
The only money pit really will be the few original shows. Anime should not be that expensive.

Games basically are crumbles from playstation department. The cost would actually come from the servers that would run the games.
I'm not really saying that it would cost that much for Sony, i'm saying that it has too much perceived value, they can make more money not having the services merge....unless they want to shove PSnow in people houses, then yeah, it would be a logical move.
 
they can make more money not having the services merge....

And that's where we disagree.

PSNow is not exactly a run-away success for Sony. Sony has two options to grow the service:
1. They follow gamepass model that target a niche crowd and kill their AAA business.
2. They follow a more mainstream model and offer gaming as an added value.


Sony can't compete with Netflix or Disney unless they burn money to put out several shows a month like Netflix. Sony Pictures also doesn't have the mainstream appeal of Disney with their IPs.

Sony can't compete with them head-on unless they spend as much. It has to create its own flavor to stand-out. That's where anime (growing popularity by the day) and playstation gaming comes into the picture.

Having 20-30 million subs in a single subscription service is better than a few milion subs for 3 separate services.

Netflix has 200 million subscribers.
Disney+ has 80 million despite being fairly new.

Netflix spend a lot of money to produce 30 shows a month aside from buying old movies and shows in order to get to that "too much perceived value" category.

Sony+ needs to get to that "too much perceived value" level if it's meant to succeed.

I don't think it can get to that 200 million subscribers or even 80 million of Disney. But 20-30 million subs wouldn't be bad considering Sony wouldn't have to burn money to pull this off.
 

Keihart

Member
And that's where we disagree.

PSNow is not exactly a run-away success for Sony. Sony has two options to grow the service:
1. They follow gamepass model that target a niche crowd and kill their AAA business.
2. They follow a more mainstream model and offer gaming as an added value.


Sony can't compete with Netflix or Disney unless they burn money to put out several shows a month like Netflix. Sony Pictures also doesn't have the mainstream appeal of Disney with their IPs.

Sony can't compete with them head-on unless they spend as much. It has to create its own flavor to stand-out. That's where anime (growing popularity by the day) and playstation gaming comes into the picture.

Having 20-30 million subs in a single subscription service is better than a few milion subs for 3 separate services.

Netflix has 200 million subscribers.
Disney+ has 80 million despite being fairly new.

Netflix spend a lot of money to produce 30 shows a month aside from buying old movies and shows in order to get to that "too much perceived value" category.

Sony+ needs to get to that "too much perceived value" level if it's meant to succeed.

I don't think it can get to that 200 million subscribers or even 80 million of Disney. But 20-30 million subs wouldn't be bad considering Sony wouldn't have to burn money to pull this off.
That's asuming they care enough about PSnow, funimation and crunchy are basically almost all the anime in the western market.
 
That's asuming they care enough about PSnow, funimation and crunchy are basically almost all the anime in the western market.

They don't and they shouldn't continue with it unless they want to go the gamepass money-losing route.

Bundle it with a streaming service of movies, shows, and anime. Same old games, same few award-winning games. Trickle down the value of gaming to the casuals through this.

I wouldn't be surprised if one day (in the future when game streaming becomes more accessible) Netflix starts to buy old games from gaming publishers to offer them in their streaming service.The only downside of games is that the cost of servers would be higher.
 
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This could be a killer deal, but won't use the gaming side.

Anyway, Sony just released Bravia Core, hope the expand. As it seems now they rely on Sony Pictures and their own production:



As I understand it, it's not actually a streaming service you can sub on any device?

It's a free movie streaming for Bravia TV customers?
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
As I understand it, it's not actually a streaming service you can sub on any device?

It's a free movie streaming for Bravia TV customers?

1 year free with 5-15 movies you can redeem. So it's an IMAX-quality streaming at up to 80Mbps (near UHD bluray). It's only on XR Bravia tv's for now, and it's a mixture of buying/renting movies and streaming them/series etc. All in house, so minimal loss.
 

Derktron

Banned
How ironic that many people are opposed to this idea yet people are making threads asking if people would subscribe to a similar version of Gamepass.
 
How ironic that many people are opposed to this idea yet people are making threads asking if people would subscribe to a similar version of Gamepass.

The title was wrong actually.

This is not a gamepass competitor which has a limited and narrow target audience.

This is a Netlix/Disney+ competitor. This is where Sony should go. Netflix has 300 million subs. Disney+ has 80 million.

Gamepass model is a dead end in comparison. It won't attract the casuals. You are out of your mind if you think a casual would pay $10-$15 to play Doom or Elder Scrolls instead of playing Candy Crush or Pokemon Go or CS go or Fortnite or COD.
 

Derktron

Banned
The title was wrong actually.

This is not a gamepass competitor which has a limited and narrow target audience.

This is a Netlix/Disney+ competitor. This is where Sony should go. Netflix has 300 million subs. Disney+ has 80 million.

Gamepass model is a dead end in comparison. It won't attract the casuals. You are out of your mind if you think a casual would pay $10-$15 to play Doom or Elder Scrolls instead of playing Candy Crush or Pokemon Go or CS go or Fortnite or COD
Ohh boy where do I dissect this and this stupid idiotic comment, your like one of the old farts who still think kids use Facebook or Myspace. First off casuals don't play just play the usual Candy Crush or Pokemon Go or the other BS you mentioned. Another Gamepass is a competitor only if Sony did make a Gamepass Playstation version. Damn, the ignorance in this comment. Like OMG I'm just in shock at the ignorance in people like you still being out of date and out of touch.
 
First off casuals don't play just play the usual Candy Crush or Pokemon Go or the other BS you mentioned.

You can't make a casual pay $10-$15 a month when he can play free-to-play games and whatever the latest craze among the casuals.

MS is insane to think they can tap into the 2 billion casual gamers. The biggest competition of gamepass are F2P games I don't need to insult you to make that sound correct.

Gamepass is hard sell even among the hardcore gamers. Among the casuals - it's dead.
 
1 year free with 5-15 movies you can redeem. So it's an IMAX-quality streaming at up to 80Mbps (near UHD bluray). It's only on XR Bravia tv's for now, and it's a mixture of buying/renting movies and streaming them/series etc. All in house, so minimal loss.

I hope it's a start. Maybe it's also a prototype testing of their new streaming tech.
 
I have two extra threads related to this thread. What do you think Sony fans?


 
With cinemas on the way out they could start a subscription service where you pay to see their brand new movies.

Subscription-based with new release movies? I don't think Sony would go that route. Brand new shows perhaps but not movies on that subscription.

I don't think they'd include brand new movies in a subscription. Maybe something similar to Disney Mulan. It is sold as a seperate price on the day of release.

Sony Pictures has no intention of releasing its movies day and date in theaters and on home video/VOD platforms.
According to Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra, the studio is seeing “a bit of boom” in interest from filmmakers who want to work with the company because it prioritizes theatrical releases over streaming.
 
Good wish

It is. Sony should consider looking into it. They could start by creating original shows using they playstation IPs.

Sony could support something like what the former Sony animator wanted to create for his new company. Basically use the game assets to make suppletory stories (perhaps a series like Mandalorian) in between releases of major games.

You could listen to it here. Timestamped.

 

THEAP99

Banned
PlayStation Plus is the most successful subscription service so I think Sony aren't worried about gamepass.
 
PlayStation Plus is the most successful subscription service so I think Sony aren't worried about gamepass.

They are not worried about gamepass. Just ignore the thread title. It was too late I realized this service will not compete against gamepass which has a very narrow target audience.

Nonetheless, I hope Sony is looking into something like this. If Sony wants to grow, they need to do some business decisions that bold and daring. Their venture into Sony Vision Car, to me, is very reassuring that they are looking into future growth.
 
It’s not going to happen. Sony can’t afford it. They have to make as much as money with PlayStation as possible.

This will not make a single dent in the their Playstation business at all. It will continue what the PSNow has started but venture more into the casuals instead of the hardcore gamers. Hence, competing against Netflix (300M subs) and Disney+ (80M subs in a year), instead of the money pit that is Gamepass.
 

reksveks

Member
Don't Disney lose money when their parks are closed?

The irony of calling Gamepass a money pit. BTW that 80m also includes Star which accounts for a decent chunk of users and was a successful purchase into India a while ago.
 
Don't Disney lose money when their parks are closed?

The irony of calling Gamepass a money pit. BTW that 80m also includes Star which accounts for a decent chunk of users and was a successful purchase into India a while ago.


.
 
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reksveks

Member
Calculating Oh No GIF by MOODMAN
I like Disney plus but they lost money in FY2020. Their amusement parks are their money makers at the moment.

 
Don't Disney lose money when their parks are closed?

The irony of calling Gamepass a money pit. BTW that 80m also includes Star which accounts for a decent chunk of users and was a successful purchase into India a while ago.

That's like comparing it to Microsoft's Zenimax Acquisition since their games has a huge follower, which also includes the Bethesda Launcher for PC. Adding their existing and Day one games to Xbox Game Pass, subscribers will increase dramatically.

Also, Microsoft is aiming to support every Smartphones, TVs, Web Browsers etc...
 
If Jim Ryan is thinking about competing in the streaming market. This is how they should do it. IMO

Gamepass is a hard sell even to hardcore gamers. Among the casuals it's dead.

They should look away from what Uncle Phil is doing and concoct something unique that only a company like Sony is capable of pulling off.
 

Ten_Fold

Member
No, let Microsoft do their thing, gamepass is good for them. Let Sony keep doing what they’re doing. I keep seeing this question, it’s like people crying about ES6 might not be on the ps5.
 
No, let Microsoft do their thing, gamepass is good for them.

If you will read the first post though you'll see that the "gamepass competitor" title was a mistake.

This service will compete against Netflix (300M subs) or Disney+ (80M+ subs), or HBO Max.

This is the real way to the casuals. Read the opening post. I have some good arguments there. I bet you only saw the thread title and dismiss it as another sony fan asking for a gamepass service.

This is different. This will not affect Sony's business at all. But it will add to whatever is already existing.
 
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GeorgPrime

Banned
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 believe thats the own logical next step if they want to improve
 
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