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PlayStation Now has 3.2 Million Subscribers

Stuart360 said:
In a way, but imo its more to do with cutting out the middle men, boxes and disk printing, etc. Once eveything is digital they maximize profits while basically charging us what they want as there will be no retail counter.

I mean this is 100% the final genearation with a disk drive, thats clealry obvious with digital sales taking up about 80% of sales on both Playstation and Xbox, and will probably be at like 95% by the end of the gen.
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Depends, I can see the Epic v Apple thing and some other cases actually proving there is a value to keeping physical around and many parts of the world still have poor internet and depend on having a physical media alternative. So maximizing reach depends on giving more options, not less.
You can always charge a little extra for the disc version ala PS5 and it seems most people would pay for the option at the moment anyway.
 
Bryank75 said:
Depends, I can see the Epic v Apple thing and some other cases actually proving there is a value to keeping physical around and many parts of the world still have poor internet and depend on having a physical media alternative. So maximizing reach depends on giving more options, not less.
You can always charge a little extra for the disc version ala PS5 and it seems most people would pay for the option at the moment anyway.
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I just cant see it Bryank. I mean i think we did VERY well to get disk drive options in PS5 and XSX, i wouldnt of been that surprised if they had been totally diskless.
And i know Covid has inflated the 80% a bit over the last year, but digital was already rising fast before Covid, and we are talking another 6 or 7 years before the gen ends. I think my 95% prediction could even be on the low side.
And yes there will be some smaller countries in the world with shitty internet in 6 or 7 years, but they are also countries where games are dirt cheap anyway, and probably wont be seen as a big loss to Sony and Microsoft.
 
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Amiga said:
the natural next step is to combine + with Now, increase the price and the value.
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I don't think this would work, those paying for + do it overwhelmingly for the MP aspect (during the PS3 days it was a games service mostly, and over time one could have built a pretty good library on this).

If you have + for CoD/whatever kids play online you should not be willing to pay much more than whatever PS+ costs now, I bet most don't even download the games.

What I see making sense is adding the features of + to PSNow so that you don't have to pay for two subscription services (maybe it's already the case).... So you get more games with + and they keep a lower cost "MP only/monthly games" version.
 
alabtrosMyster said:
I don't think this would work, those paying for + do it overwhelmingly for the MP aspect (during the PS3 days it was a games service mostly, and over time one could have built a pretty good library on this).

If you have + for CoD/whatever kids play online you should not be willing to pay much more than whatever PS+ costs now, I bet most don't even download the games.

What I see making sense is adding the features of + to PSNow so that you don't have to pay for two subscription services (maybe it's already the case).... So you get more games with + and they keep a lower cost "MP only/monthly games" version.
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business doesn't think like consumers or they would be out of business.

Sony want the most revenue for the least cost. they would make billions more charging 50 million subscribers something like $99 for one service instead of $60 from 3 million subscribers and another $60 from 50 million subscribers. they would justify this by giving gamers access to hundreds of games. the value perception of having an instant huge library is much more effective than a couple of random games that shuffle each month.
 
Amiga said:
business doesn't think like consumers or they would be out of business.

Sony want the most revenue for the least cost. they would make billions more charging 50 million subscribers something like $99 for one service instead of $60 from 3 million subscribers and another $60 from 50 million subscribers. they would justify this by giving gamers access to hundreds of games. the value perception of having an instant huge library is much more effective than a couple of random games that shuffle each month.
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Businesses don't just get to do whatever for whatever price they want, often you wand different price points so that those who don't have the money to spend on more (or are not willing to pay for "value" they don't use).
 
Agent X said:
At the moment, streaming games on cell phones is a folly. Most games that are designed for video game consoles simply aren't suited for mobile phones, for many reasons:

  • Control schemes are often complex and don't translate well to a touch screen.
  • Physical game controllers for phones are expensive and/or inconvenient to carry around.
  • Games often have small text and user interfaces that are difficult to view on a phone.
  • Most people who play games on phones want quick "pick up and play" diversions, just to chew up a few minutes of spare time. They don't whip out their phones so they can be "engrossed" for several hours by fiddling around on a tiny touch screen.

PS Now should still have a presence on mobile phones, because there appears to be a small but vocal bunch people (at least on forums like this one) who keep pining for this feature, and are apparently willing to put up with the shortcomings described above. At least we won't have to hear their whining any longer.

I feel that Sony would be better off concentrating on bringing PS Now to smart TV devices (e.g. Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV) as soon as possible. I've already tried Luna on my Fire TV Stick, and it works very well technically, but the game selection is slim and leaves a lot to be desired. I'd much rather have access to the vast catalog of over 800 games on PS Now on my Fire TV Stick, but that isn't an option at this time.
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Yep, which would make the rumors of Game Pass on Switch and possibly Steams handheld a big deal. If the rumors are true. Could be BS of course. Game Pass and PS Now on smart tvs would also be bad ass.
 
Isn't it kinda low?
I mean, I know PlayStation Now isn't supported in many countries (mine included), but when you realise PlayStation ecosystem has 100+ millions MAU and service just had big 1$ promotion it seems kinda low.
 
Godot25 said:
Isn't it kinda low?
I mean, I know PlayStation Now isn't supported in many countries (mine included), but when you realise PlayStation ecosystem has 100+ millions MAU and service just had big 1$ promotion it seems kinda low.
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It's pretty bad. Like .45 million subs per year since it released in 2014. In comparison Game Pass has averaged 5.75 mil per year and has gained speed month after month. Prety sure it averaged more than 1 million per month the last year. If Sony cares, they will have to improve the service somehow.
 
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DavidGzz said:
It's pretty bad. Like .45 million subs per year since it released in 2014. In comparison Game Pass has averaged 5.75 mil per year and has gained speed month after month. Prety sure it averaged more than 1 million per month the last year. If Sony cares, they will have to improve the service somehow.
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They also don't offer 3 years for a dollar.
 
GuinGuin said:
They also don't offer 3 years for a dollar.
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Microsoft is not offering 3 years of GPU for 1$ either so stop spreading misinformation.

Even if you are using a conversion method from Gold you are paying 181$ for 3 yeras of GPU. Which is exactly same price as 3 years of Playstation Now (59,99$ per year)
 
Godot25 said:
Microsoft is not offering 3 years of GPU for 1$ either so stop spreading misinformation.

Even if you are using a conversion method from Gold you are paying 181$ for 3 yeras of GPU. Which is exactly same price as 3 years of Playstation Now (59,99$ per year)
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Like I said, Gold that if you are an online gamer you were going to buy anyway. $1 of new revenue. This isn't a thread about value for customers. It's about putting a game with a huge budget on a service with a small revenue stream.
 
I mean. Sony has service with small revenue stream, that's true.
Last time I checked, Game Pass is growing at rate higher than 1 million subs per month and had 23 million subs in april. And we can stop this nonsesne, that every subscriber used conversion method, or would have gold if there wasn't for GPU or are just using 1$. Fact is, Microsoft is seeing revenue and how much people are paying for GPU. And fact, that they are aggressively pushing Game Pass is just a confirmation that there is a goldmine hidden in that service in future.
So if it is "small revenue service for Sony" it doesn't mean it is same for Microsoft
 
GuinGuin said:
They also don't offer 3 years for a dollar.
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If you think a significant percentage of people bought 3 years of gold and then upgraded you're super optimistic. Out of the 10 people that I now know with GP, only one bought 1 year and converted it and he only did that because I suggested he get 3 years. He didn't feel like dropping that amount of money all at once. His kids are hooked and he will continue the sub in 5 months. Everyone else I know who has it are doing month to month payments. Hardcore forumers, who would be likely to take advantage of the 3 year deal, are not as prevalent as you all think.

I have a small gaming group on Facebook of personal friends and friends of friends, even a fellow admin didn't know about being able to convert 3 years. He has been paying month to month since it's release. He follows gaming news but doesn't engage on gaming forums.
 
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Godot25 said:
Isn't it kinda low?
I mean, I know PlayStation Now isn't supported in many countries (mine included), but when you realise PlayStation ecosystem has 100+ millions MAU and service just had big 1$ promotion it seems kinda low.
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PS Now hasn't been a major focus as far as marketing and push with new content goes. It's there and has been steadily growing, but it has by no means a primary, or even secondary focus for PlayStation up until now. It got a very small marketing push a bit over a year ago with advertisements and whatnot. This is in contrast to Xbox with Game Pass where Game Pass is 100% their primary focus and is plastered on everything they do. Actually PS+ has been getting the lions share of Sony's focus with things like the PS+ Collection and a buttload of games launching day 1 on Plus over the past several months. It does make sense to cater to the larger subscriber base, especially during a console launch.

Right now PS Now is supported in 19 countries. We know from leaks that PS Now was supposed to expand to India last year but the pandemic put those plans on hold, so it very well may have been set to launch in more countries and got delayed.

As for the $1 promo, it really wasn't that big a deal or a big promotion. It was for North America only (so no Europe or Japan) and the gaming community took note of it on March 26th 2021 with the promo ending March 29, 2021 - literally 3 days afterwards. It offered a 1 month PS Now membership to new subscribers. So yeah, while it happened it really wasn't some huge push. Here's the Era thread where we discovered it existed.

So yeah, PS Now hasn't been a huge focus but we know some form of revamp for the service is coming. What form that will take and when it will happen is anyones guess. Now that the PS5 launch is out of the way, this Summer would be a nice time to discuss their vision for the service going forward so we shall have to wait and see.
 
DForce said:
How is it sad when it's bringing them in a lot of money?
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AngryCharmingBigmouthbass-size_restricted.gif

Wait PSNow is profitable (or brings in a lot of revenue) and Gamepass isn't (doesn't)?
 
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DavidGzz said:
If you think a significant percentage of people bought 3 years of gold and then upgraded you're super optimistic. Out of the 10 people that I now know with GP, only one bought 1 year and converted it and he only did that because I suggested he get 3 years. He didn't feel like dropping that amount of money all at once. His kids are hooked and he will continue the sub in 5 months. Everyone else I know who has it are doing month to month payments. Hardcore forumers, who would be likely to take advantage of the 3 year deal, are not as prevalent as you all think.
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Literally everyone I know that has GamePass used the conversion method. It's the number one Google answer when you search the term "game pass"
MpxHVOL.jpg


It's widely used and very popular because it is a very good deal. But this isn't a game pass thread so let's stick to the topic at hand.
 
vivftp said:
PS Now hasn't been a major focus as far as marketing and push with new content goes. It's there and has been steadily growing, but it has by no means a primary, or even secondary focus for PlayStation up until now. It got a very small marketing push a bit over a year ago with advertisements and whatnot. This is in contrast to Xbox with Game Pass where Game Pass is 100% their primary focus and is plastered on everything they do. Actually PS+ has been getting the lions share of Sony's focus with things like the PS+ Collection and a buttload of games launching day 1 on Plus over the past several months. It does make sense to cater to the larger subscriber base, especially during a console launch.

Right now PS Now is supported in 19 countries. We know from leaks that PS Now was supposed to expand to India last year but the pandemic put those plans on hold, so it very well may have been set to launch in more countries and got delayed.

As for the $1 promo, it really wasn't that big a deal or a big promotion. It was for North America only (so no Europe or Japan) and the gaming community took note of it on March 26th 2021 with the promo ending March 29, 2021 - literally 3 days afterwards. It offered a 1 month PS Now membership to new subscribers. So yeah, while it happened it really wasn't some huge push. Here's the Era thread where we discovered it existed.

So yeah, PS Now hasn't been a huge focus but we know some form of revamp for the service is coming. What form that will take and when it will happen is anyones guess. Now that the PS5 launch is out of the way, this Summer would be a nice time to discuss their vision for the service going forward so we shall have to wait and see.
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It's clearly not a focus for Playstation. Their focus is Playstation Plus. You can tell because they launched the PlayStation Plus Collection along side the PS5 and they put the newest and biggest games on Plus. I'm much happier with that as I get to keep the games forever that way as long as I have my subscription which you can get for like $2/mo. Best value in gaming IMO.
 
MOTM said:
These numbers must be wrong 😂
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Care to explain why? It's a service that exists and is slowly improving and growing but hasn't received nearly the push as something like PS+ with its 47+ million subscriber base.

They've said a revamp of the service is coming and todays presentation has indicated they're working on avenues to grow those sub numbers.
 
vivftp said:
Care to explain why? It's a service that exists and is slowly improving and growing but hasn't received nearly the push as something like PS+ with its 47+ million subscriber base.

They've said a revamp of the service is coming and todays presentation has indicated they're working on avenues to grow those sub numbers.
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The service have been there since like 2010 or something and all they could manage is a measily 3.2m ?
 
eastcoastkody said:
i wish. but it aint gonna happen.

PS Now does a lot of things right, but it does too many things wrong. Instant Streaming is the future. Its the holy grail of what ppl want. That "netflix of gaming" dragon everyone is chasing. Playstation has it. But unfortunately they are like 720p. And dont pick anything that requires twitch speed action.

They also have a good catalog of older gen games. Which Game Pass doesn't. But that also comes at the cost of none of those games are BC in the first place with Playstation...and many of those old games u can play BC on Xbox if u owned them.

I do appreciate how many they try to include the best version of a game on PS Now. They will have the DLC etc. Not always. But for the most part on GamePass its always the original launch version of a game.

my biggest annoyance rn is that PS Now game saves dont seem to be compatible with the saves u might already have. It would be nice to free up some storage space and just strea
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If you're going to make a long post like that at least get the facts straight. As it says in the OP PS Now streaming is 1080p. It's streaming quality is on par with other services.
 
DForce said:
How is it sad when it's bringing them in a lot of money?
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Delusional people in denial.
PS Now with 500k had 50% of market share, and here we are, 3.2M, one way street. You always have push hard shite product, that's what happening with bargain bin pass.
 
MOTM said:
The service have been there since like 2010 or something and all they could manage is a measily 3.2m ?
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2014, and it's been a very VERY small focus for Sony up until this point. Given the number of regions it's available in, the marketing that's put towards it and the push for content on it, 3.2 million isn't unreasonable. Of the 2 gaming sub services Sony has their primary focus right now is PS+. It's the far larger subscription service and is getting a lot more of the perks like bigger and day 1 games for right now.

We know they plan for cloud gaming to be a much bigger part of this gen, so we can only wait and see what exactly they are planning with regards to their strategy for Now.

Gediminas said:
Delusional people in denial.
PS Now with 500k had 50% of market share, and here we are, 3.2M, one way street. You always have push hard shite product, that's what happening with bargain bin pass.
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sigh, posts like this aren't exactly helpful friend.
 
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Gediminas said:
Delusional people in denial.
PS Now with 500k had 50% of market share, and here we are, 3.2M, one way street. You always have push hard shite product, that's what happening with bargain bin pass.
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Sony is making buckets with 3.2 mil subs? All of the games on PS Now aren't costing Sony monthly to maintain? Where did they announce their PS Now profits? MS hasn't made a profit with 23 mil but Sony is raking it in....of course.
 
DavidGzz said:
If you think a significant percentage of people bought 3 years of gold and then upgraded you're super optimistic. Out of the 10 people that I now know with GP, only one bought 1 year and converted it and he only did that because I suggested he get 3 years. He didn't feel like dropping that amount of money all at once. His kids are hooked and he will continue the sub in 5 months. Everyone else I know who has it are doing month to month payments. Hardcore forumers, who would be likely to take advantage of the 3 year deal, are not as prevalent as you all think.

I have a small gaming group on Facebook of personal friends and friends of friends, even a fellow admin didn't know about being able to convert 3 years. He has been paying month to month since it's release. He follows gaming news but doesn't engage on gaming forums.
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Yep. The normies certainly don't know about this, or can't be assed to do it because it's a lot of money upfront. I'd be very surprised if more than 5% of the subscriber base did this.
 
GuinGuin said:
They also don't offer 3 years for a dollar.
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This again. Who accidently stacks exactly 3 years and then at that exact moment converts it to gamepass for an extra $1 to get the full amount of months.

Even if they did happen to do that accidently.... They've still just bought 3 years worth of gold. So it cost them way more than $1.

Why are people so bad at maths when it comes to gamepass
 
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Hitchyhero said:
This again. Who accidently stacks exactly 3 years and then at that exact moment converts it to gamepass for an extra $1 to get the full amount of months.

Even if they did happen to do that accidently.... They've still just bought 3 years worth of gold. So it cost them way more than $1.

Why are people so bad at maths when it comes to gamepass
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People know. They're just trolling.
 
DavidGzz said:
Sony is making buckets with 3.2 mil subs? All of the games on PS Now aren't costing Sony monthly to maintain? Where did they announce their PS Now profits? MS hasn't made a profit with 23 mil but Sony is raking it in....of course.
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To be fair it probably costs a lot less since there isn't even one game from 2021 on the service yet, and they add 3-4 games per month at best. I think it makes a little bit of profit overall.
 
Chukhopops said:
To be fair it probably costs a lot less since there isn't even one game from 2021 on the service yet, and they add 3-4 games per month at best. I think it makes a little bit of profit overall.
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Yes, I'm sure it's much less of a cost but when you only have 3.2 mil subs after putting money into it for 7 years, there is no way they have a profit. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see how.
 
It's below 3% of Playstation owners.

That's not good at all. If only two out of every hundred console owners are subbing to the service that's woeful.

As others have suggested, I wouldn't be surprised if Sony decide to incorporate it into PS+ to add value to that, because PS Now isn't managing to stand alone.
 
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DavidGzz said:
Yes, I'm sure it's much less of a cost but when you only have 3.2 mil subs after putting money into it for 7 years, there is no way they have a profit. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see how.
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This is not meant to be a fanboy war comment....but a genuine question. Gamepass gets slated a lot from Sony gamers for its 'sustainability' round here, but with these numbers, surely the same would apply to sony.

Whilst gamepass does have newer games, it also costs double(?) of PS now, and it has more subscribers to paying the fees. PS now gamers talk about how many more games the service has and how cheap it costs in comparison.... So surely the service is in a worse position in terms of profitability than gamepass.
 
GuinGuin said:
... they put the newest and biggest games on Plus. I'm much happier with that as I get to keep the games forever that way as long as I have my subscription which you can get for like $2/mo. Best value in gaming IMO.
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So, in order to access the games you "own" you have to pay a subscription... and you think this is the "best value in gaming"? I think you've been had, friend: if you have to keep paying to access it, you don't own a thing. PS Plus games are great if you're planning to keep the subscription - but they're an incentive to get you to do just that. For Xbox, the 'Games with Gold' initiative actually gives you the games - if your Xbox Live Gold subscription lapses, you can still download and play those games till your heart's content. I guess that makes GWG better than the "best value in gaming"? :messenger_tears_of_joy: From my perspective, Gamepass is still the best value in gaming, and there's really nothing close to it.
 
Hitchyhero said:
This is not meant to be a fanboy war comment....but a genuine question. Gamepass gets slated a lot from Sony gamers for its 'sustainability' round here, but with these numbers, surely the same would apply to sony.

Whilst gamepass does have newer games, it also costs double(?) of PS now, and it has more subscribers to paying the fees. PS now gamers talk about how many more games the service has and how cheap it costs in comparison.... So surely the service is in a worse position in terms of profitability than gamepass.
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Any attempt to gauge profitability from both Sony and Microsoft for these particular services would just be random guesswork and devolve into fanboy console warring. There's simply insufficient data.
 
DavidGzz said:
Sony is making buckets with 3.2 mil subs? All of the games on PS Now aren't costing Sony monthly to maintain? Where did they announce their PS Now profits? MS hasn't made a profit with 23 mil but Sony is raking it in....of course.
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That's what i don't get.

Sony GAFers love to throw around question if Game Pass is profitable with 23 million subs. But it doesn't matter for Sony or what?

3,2 million subs is low number and if you consider that they paid (probably big bucks) to get games like Marvel's Avengers, Borderlands 3 how on earth can be that service profitable?
 
ZehDon said:
So, in order to access the games you "own" you have to pay a subscription... and you think this is the "best value in gaming"? I think you've been had, friend: if you have to keep paying to access it, you don't own a thing. PS Plus games are great if you're planning to keep the subscription - but they're an incentive to get you to do just that. For Xbox, the 'Games with Gold' initiative actually gives you the games - if your Xbox Live Gold subscription lapses, you can still download and play those games till your heart's content. I guess that makes GWG better than the "best value in gaming"? :messenger_tears_of_joy: From my perspective, Gamepass is still the best value in gaming, and there's really nothing close to it.
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Games With Gold doesn't allow you to keep the games when the sub ends, as many of the answers in your link say and from personal experience. Last time my Gold ended I lost everything aside from the earlier games on the service when Microsoft used to actually do that with X360 & OG games - they stopped doing it several years ago
 
MadchesterManc said:
Games With Gold doesn't allow you to keep the games when the sub ends, as many of the answers in your link say and from personal experience. Last time my Gold ended I lost everything aside from the earlier games on the service when Microsoft used to actually do that with X360 & OG games - they stopped doing it several years ago
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He is half right. You can still keep Xbox360 and OG games even if you are not Gold subscribed. But you can't do that for Xbox One games.
 
Godot25 said:
Isn't it kinda low?
I mean, I know PlayStation Now isn't supported in many countries (mine included), but when you realise PlayStation ecosystem has 100+ millions MAU and service just had big 1$ promotion it seems kinda low.
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No, it's way better than it seems because the two main subscriptions are not competing with eachother....

On Xbox for instance, you get online play as part of Gamepass meaning Gold is useless, so they are converting each Gold subscriber to a Gamepass subscription.

While on PlayStation you have 47.6 million PS+ subscribers and then add this 3.2 million subs for a service that doesn't poach from it's existing service and you can say the Platform has over 50 million subscribers. Both at 60 euro / dollars per annum minimum. (Unless it is part of the trial for Now)

As you say, Now is not in all geographic locations yet either and PS gamers would tend to prefer hardware based gaming too.
 
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