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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
I believe thats the own logical next step if they want to improve
I don't agree. Business-wise it will be a wrong move. PS+ is already doing 50M the way it is without it being combined with PSNow. Combining them would be a lost opportunity for another business venture that could be big in the future - streaming. (clarification: big among the casuals)

As a consumer though, I wouldn't say no for a combined PS+ and PSNow for the same price.

But looking at it from a profit point of view, PSNow should be evolved into something that would cater to the casuals (not gamepass model that is dead among the casuals). Something more in the lines of Netflix and Disney+ but with Sony's own twist leveraging their forte.

It will be a unique proposition to the casuals until Netflix themselves start to offer game streaming in their service and Disney+ starts offering Marvel games in the platform.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
I don't agree. Business-wise it will be a wrong move. PS+ is already doing 50M the way it is without it being combined with PSNow. Combining them would be a lost opportunity for another business venture that could be big in the future - streaming. (clarification: big among the casuals)

As a consumer though, I wouldn't say no for a combined PS+ and PSNow for the same price.

But looking at it from a profit point of view, PSNow should be evolved into something that would cater to the casuals (not gamepass model that is dead among the casuals). Something more in the lines of Netflix and Disney+ but with Sony's own twist leveraging their forte.

It will be a unique proposition to the casuals until Netflix themselves start to offer game streaming in their service and Disney+ starts offering Marvel games in the platform.
maybe they can seperate it to two diff PS Plus bundle, the one we are using now, and the other one bundle with PS Now and other services, with higher price : )
 
No thanks. Why are people so eager to do Sony's homework? They don't even care about PS Now. When was the last time a game was added to that service? And what's the newest game they have there?
 
maybe they can seperate it to two diff PS Plus bundle, the one we are using now, and the other one bundle with PS Now and other services, with higher price : )
Bundles are easy. It's just like offering discounts. But yeah they could do it. Although I doubt the gain will be anything meaningful.

What I have in mind for a Sony+ is not bundle of services but a single service where all the movies, shows, animes, and games are in the same platform, probably separated by tabs per category.
 
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Games are added to PS Now every month. Next batch will come on April 6.

What if the next batch includes MLB The Show. That is the kind of game I think Sony could release on their PSNow day1 every now and then. It's not exactly the 10M hit seller or the AAA $100M budget game. And that game I heard is also riddled with microtransactions. I think it's high time for Sony to test the waters for a day and date release of a AA game on PSNow.
 
Waiting for Greta to turn 18yo 🤭
tzIUyD6.jpg
 

Kokoloko85

Member
As long as first party AAA stuff stays of PSnow for 2 years then it will be sustainable and not effect sales. 18 months - 2 yearss

Id be down mostly for the anime, PS1 and PS2 games. Give me the option to download the PS1/PS2 games
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
As long as first party AAA stuff stays of PSnow for 2 years then it will be sustainable and not effect sales. 18 months - 2 yearss

Id be down mostly for the anime, PS1 and PS2 games. Give me the option to download the PS1/PS2 games

I can Sony introducing Bravia Core into PS5 after Bravia XR TV's, slowly before they make the service available on other systems to avoid being overwhelmed and get bad press when they can't meet the promises and expectations of 80Mbps IMAX Enhanced experience.
 
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".
Sony isn’t going to offer a game pass like service (putting their games on a service day 1). They are too pig headed. They will be forced too in a couple of years but by that time they will have let Microsoft get a huge chunk of the market back,
 

sunnysideup

Banned
Fuck rentpass.

Fuck any fucking subscription service. Its fucking cancer.

I dont want to subscribe to 6 different services with ever changing backcatalogs, which all promote their low quality time wasters.
 
If you read the OP you'll know I wasn't suggesting for Sony to put their $70 AAA games on the service day and date.

I incorrectly put game pass competitor in the title. Later I realized this imaginary Sony+ will actually be a Netflix/Disney+ competitor with Anime and Video Gaming added into the mix to add value.
It’s a bad idea because most people don’t want force bundled games with their movie/tv streaming and vice versa. Add In the force bundling of anime, which is even more unpopular with the public, and this idea would fall flat on its face.
 
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tusharngf

Member
Sony isn’t going to offer a game pass like service (putting their games on a service day 1). They are too pig headed. They will be forced too in a couple of years but by that time they will have let Microsoft get a huge chunk of the market back,


i think doing gamepass needs a huge chunk of money which sony is not doing anytime soon. Microsoft is taking a gamble that will pay them after 5-6 years when actual first-party games will be released at regular intervals. Microsoft is much bigger when it comes to investments.
 

reksveks

Member
How many of Sony's movies do they actually distribute? I assume it's a decent chunk but there will probably some issue with existing contracts.

Bond, Spider-man into the spider verse and what others become appealing?
 
Fuck rentpass.

Fuck any fucking subscription service. Its fucking cancer.

I dont want to subscribe to 6 different services with ever changing backcatalogs, which all promote their low quality time wasters.
If you think game pass if full of low quality time wasters you have obviously never tried the service. You sound like a frothing at the mouth Sony fanboy, being disengenous about a service you know little about. Game Pass is a curated service, meaning they don’t let trash filler onto it. There are tons of amazing first day indie game, AAA / AA from almost every game company (not usually day one but nice to fill out the program), Microsoft and Bethesda’s titles, etc.
 
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It’s a bad idea because most people don’t want force bundled games with their movie/tv streaming and vice versa. Add In the force bundling of anime, which is even more unpopular with the public, and this idea would fall flat on its face.

No.

It will only be considered as "forced bundling" if the price is equivalent to almost the same price as getting those services separately.

This will be priced the same as any streaming online service delivering Movies and Shows (and Sony's forte - anime) to the casuals. My idea of Sony's approach will be an additional value provided by gaming.
 
Sony isn’t going to offer a game pass like service (putting their games on a service day 1). They are too pig headed. They will be forced too in a couple of years but by that time they will have let Microsoft get a huge chunk of the market back,

Gamepass is a hard sell among the hardcore gamers. Among the casuals, that service, is dead. Gamepass has been in existence for 5 years and barely 20M subs with $1 promos everywhere. Compare that to Disney+ which got to 100M subs in just over a year.

This is where Sony should go. The real way to the casuals is through a combination of service that includes movies and shows. The gaming will be an added value that will keep retention high.

A house composed of a occasional gamer Dad, and a Mom that loves her movies, and shows, and a son who loves all will find a lot of value in such a service.

I won't be surprised if one day Netflix will offer gaming to its subscribers as well, or Disney start offering Marvel games in its Disney+ service.


Netflix spent $17B on content in 2020. What if just $2B of that went into buying old successful games or including making their own games? = Game streaming to casuals of 300 million subs.
 
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Fuck rentpass.

Fuck any fucking subscription service. Its fucking cancer.

I dont want to subscribe to 6 different services with ever changing backcatalogs, which all promote their low quality time wasters.

Dude, read my first post. I explained everything there. This service is not for gamers. This for casuals. Those who would be naturally inclined to sub to a movie and show streaming service. The gaming aspect is just an added value. It won't have AAA first-party games on it Day 1. And it will be priced similarly to Netflix because it will compete with those kind of services: Netflix (300M subs), Disney+ (100M subs).


The thread title was wrong. This is not a gamepass competitor. That gamepass model is dead among the casuals. This is different. This is not for us gamers. This is for our friends who won't naturally buy a console or PC but wouldn't say no to an opportunity to play a game occasionally. I'm sure there a lot of people who are not much of a gamer themselves to buy a dedicated machine to game on, but are curious to play a game like the Last of Us or God of War. It wouldn't matter that the games are not the latest. We are talking about casuals here.

Those kind of people, you can't make them pay $10-$15 for a service that only give them games. They won't find value in that. They are casual gamers! But give them a service where they would naturally subscribe to (e.g it gives them thousand of movies, good shows). Add the gaming aspect for additional value, the purpose of which is for better retention. The gaming aspect is basically crumbs from Playstation business. It won't affect the Playstation AAA gaming at all!
This will not reinvent the wheel.
 
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Wouldn't pay more than 20 cents TBH, tv tv tv isn't that exciting for me

That's ok. You belong to the narrow target of MS Gamepass with bare 18M subscribers at $1 promo.

This one is for the 2 billion casual gamers. Those who would naturally subscribe to Netflix (300M subs) and Disney+ (100M subs).
 
How many of Sony's movies do they actually distribute? I assume it's a decent chunk but there will probably some issue with existing contracts.

Bond, Spider-man into the spider verse and what others become appealing?

I don't know, but Sony's movie catalogue is humongous! They also have hundreds upon hundreds of Shows they own and sell to TV and online streaming companies. Some of the more popular shows recently are even proprietary of Sony pictures.

Sony has its own anime studio and has a lot of deals with anime producers. Anime is also becoming more and more popular.
 
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Don't think it's happening any time soon


It doesn't suggest it's not happening. Granted it doesn't suggest the opposite either.

My idea of Sony+ is not FULLY exclusive content. In order to pull a FULLY EXCLUSIVE CONTENT Sony will have to burn a lot of money like Netflix is doing. My idea of Sony+ is where Sony+ is a new customer to Sony's own movies and shows. But there will have to be few exclusives there.

I laid it out in the first post. I'll post it here again.

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.)
 

MrSarcastic

Banned
Let´s say I am playing BloodBorne, in the splash screen of the game there is a tab saying: "Related Media" There is a concert of the game´s soundtrack that is compatible to watch on PSVR, also I can listen to the soundtrack on a platform like Spotify, watch anime, movies, series with similar vibes/themes; some of those produced by sony themselves and why not even have access to manga/comics. Sounds nice, and it´s just a matter of time for Sony-Playstation to have something. But I don´t think Sony could be this "synergistic".
 
I had a thread closed by the mods. I'll just post it here then.


Sony should separate their streaming strategy to their gamepass-esque strategy. Gamers don't care about streaming; casuals* don't care about hardware.

*Casuals could be defined in many ways, but what I meant by "casuals" in the title are those people who are not much of a gamer to warrant for themselves an investment in a console or PC but wouldn't say no for a chance to play some games occasionally. My sisters, for example, wouldn't spend money to buy a console, but they play videogames because I have the hardware and I let them have it occasionally. They mainly play games (not console quality type of games) on their phones.

1. Their streaming strategy should involve their Sony Pictures and Anime department and offer a combination of movies, exclusive shows, anime (basically like Netflix and Disney+), bolstered by some games (not 900+ games like PSNow) that make sense for streaming and the target audience. This is basically the same as my Sony+ thread minus the thing about PSNow. The streaming strategy for casuals* don't need that many BC games. Perhaps a selection of PS4 and PS5 story-driven games and quick fun games. This is basically how Sony will trickle down their games to the casuals*.

The main hook to subscribe are the exclusive shows, their thousands of movies, and animes - video games will just be an added value. I'm not saying that each and every show and movie that Sony Pictures make has to be exclusive. That's financial suicide. I maintain my stance that MS cannot sell their gamepass with a pricetag of $10-$15/mo to the casuals* with only games as the driving factor for subscription.

2. I don't know Sony's plans for a gamepass-counterpunch. But I hope it's not day and date release of their AAA games. I hope it's a plethora of good old games (like PSNow today) but improved with day and date release of AA smaller games every month with an occasional game like Returnal, a AAA-ish game. I'd also prefer if they'll just call it PS+ Premium and abolish PSNow completely (remote play should do the trick for streaming for the few people who use them). Don't ask for $15/month. Maybe increase the annual price a bit for the Premium tier but not that much. This will be analogous to how Disney approach their Disney+ service. Disney is still committed to big movies and these movies don't release on their Disney+ service , but release with a separate price tag. This will ensure that the subscription service will be supplemental to how we consume games and not the primary way to play games.
 
Timestamp


Ok I was months ahead of this clairvoyant.

He also mentioned something separate:
1."Sony Entertainment Pass"
2. More robust PS+ (I'm guessing PS+ Premiun)

That is the way to go. Separate casual-centric and gamer-centric services!
 
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PSNow is already better than gamepass.

I maintain my stance that a pure gaming subscription service will never hit critical mass.

Disney+ got to 80 million subs in just a year. Gamepass, with it's $1 offer, is struggling at around 20 million subs.

Jim Ryan just said: "the cloud game experience we offer will be unique to Playstation". I hope it means what I think it means.
 
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No thanks, i like to own my shit.

This is strategy is for casuals though.

For gamers, I think Sony should build on what they have started with PS+ (45M subs) and offer more value or perhaps create a high tier on top of it.

The movie, shows, anime + games should cater to casuals.
 

JWhiskey

Neo Member
I maintain my stance that a pure gaming subscription service will never hit critical mass.

Disney+ got to 80 million subs in just a year. Gamepass, with it's $1 offer, is struggling at around 20 million subs.

Jim Ryan just said: "the cloud game experience we offer will be unique to Playstation". I hope it means what I think it means.
I think it's a bit disingenuous to use Disney+ subscriptions as a comparison since Verizon was giving a free years subscription to any of its 120 million subscribers with an unlimited data plan.
 

vivftp

Member
Oh nifty, there's an existing thread on the subject. I'll cross-post my thoughts:

I've always felt that IF Sony were to one day eventually put all their content on a service day 1 that wouldn't happen right away, mostly because they don't need to with their insane sales figures. My thought process has always been that they'd slow play it by constantly increasing the value of existing services to build up numbers to eventually get to the point where they have enough consistent users to justify the transition to putting all their content on such a service. That way they can avoid the whole loss leader approach and smoothly transition their business model without too much of an interruption. Hell, it's the way I'd do it if I were in their position.

These initiatives we're seeing might be the groundwork for them building up their sub numbers to eventually get to that point. Offer enough overall value that not subbing to the service is silly, and once enough consistent users are on board paying the normal sub price (this is key IMO), then the option and freedom is there to go all-in on subs with minimal risk. It lets them have their cake and eat it too by raking in the big bucks from their heavy hitter titles now while consistently building towards future options.

Of course that's all just pie in the sky thinking right now, but I wonder how close to reality it might eventually get. PS+ has gotta be in the general area of 50 million subs right now and leveraging their various media arms plus continuing to add more value on the gaming side very well could get enough people on board to pay $15 or $20 a month.

For example, Crunchyroll has what, about 4 million or so subscribers? PS Now is somewhere over 2? Funimation has 1-3 million? PS+ with its ~50 million subscriber count is far and away Sony's best base to build off of. Convincing most of those folks and more to fork over $15 - $20 a month ($180 to $240 a year) versus the current $60/year for PS+ would be interesting to see.

Is that their plan? *shrug* Who knows. Is there a modicum of sense to the idea? I think so.
 
Is that their plan? *shrug* Who knows. Is there a modicum of sense to the idea? I think so.

I hope not. I hope Sony don't go the route of day 1 release of their AAA games to a subscription service. I don't think it's good for the gaming industry.

IMO, Sony should do a similar approach to Disney+ where the subscription service is sort of supplemental only. Disney still has blockbuster movies that don't release on their Disney+ service day 1. Their movies release with separate pricing. With that strategy though, Disney can afford to price the their subscription service lower than Netflix for example.
 

vivftp

Member
I hope not. I hope Sony don't go the route of day 1 release of their AAA games to a subscription service. I don't think it's good for the gaming industry.

IMO, Sony should do a similar approach to Disney+ where the subscription service is sort of supplemental only. Disney still has blockbuster movies that don't release on their Disney+ service day 1. Their movies release with separate pricing. With that strategy though, Disney can afford to price the their subscription service lower than Netflix for example.

One can't predict the far future, but in the near future they'll continue to sell their big blockbusters and make huge bank off of them. The idea that putting everything on a sub day 1 could potentially diminish the amazing thing we have with Sony's first party output is always going to be a concern. No one wants to lose these types of experiences.

At least by building up an all-encompassing service the goal would be to have enough consistent subscribers to soften the blow of such a move, should it be deemed necessary one day. I dunno what Sony has in mind, but if I were in their position I'd continue to reap the rewards of an incredibly strong first party while ensuring my options were wide open down the road. Doing so helps avoid the whole loss leader approach we're seeing with other sub services across various mediums.

Welp, let's see what this Video Pass service is all about tomorrow. I am curious if it'll be a solo announcement or if anything else will be announced alongside it.
 

MonarchJT

Banned
i honestly So if I have read correctly, we are talking about adding movies & anime to psnow. I personally do not see that such a service could have traction if not a few million. Raising the price by trying to inject something into a service for which there has never been any minimum demand doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do. We know how gamers have reacted to the Xbox One and its predilection for video services.
 
if I were in their position I'd continue to reap the rewards of an incredibly strong first party while ensuring my options were wide open down the road. Doing so helps avoid the whole loss leader approach we're seeing with other sub services across various mediums.

I agree.

By the way, Jim Ryan said their cloud gaming strategy will be unique to playstation. I hope that for their cloud gaming strategy, they go the "casual" approach.

What you have in mind where Sony will slowly build their game subscription service, IMO, should be separated from their cloud-streaming service. They should build it on top of what PS+ is now.

My premise is that gamers, in general, don't really care about streaming. Casuals, in general, don't care about hardware. Sony should do a separate service that will cater for both. This hypothetical Sony+ should be the streaming strategy that should cater to the casuals. A more gamer-centered service should be build on top of what is now the PS+.
 
There is no choice in the poll to
NOT subscribe?

i want games, not movies and tv, tv, tv

This is for casuals. That market is huge. A lot of bigger than gaming. Casuals wouldn't invest in a console hardware. A combination of movies, tv, anime and games has a higher chance of getting a sub from a casual gamers, than a service with only pure games. I don't believe a casual gamer, which is MS target with their Xcloud, will subscribe to a service for $10-$15 with only games in the roster. Movies, tvs, anime are huge among the casuals. That's what got Netflix to 300 million subs.

A more robust PS+, even on higher tier, should be Sony's answer for a more gamer-centered service. PS+ already has 45 million subscribers. They just need to build on top of that. This thread is not that though.
 
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