TECH NEWS – Sony is rumoured to be merging PS Plus and PS Now into a single subscription under the PlayStation Spartacus umbrella.

You may have been familiar with the name Spartacus for a few months now, an on-demand video game service in development at PlayStation as an alternative to Xbox Game Pass that would merge PS Plus and PS Now into a single product, according to Bloomberg. Now the news agency has published its information and claims that the first details will be unveiled in a few days, next week to be precise.

According to sources close to Sony’s plans, the Japanese company’s idea is to accompany the service’s premiere with more fresh hits without giving away much more than what will be shared at the end of 2021.

The Spartacus premiere will come with a hit catalogue of hits

The idea for Spartacus is a three-tiered subscription service: the first tier would feature existing PS Plus benefits, the second with an extensive catalogue of PlayStation 4 and eventually PlayStation 5 games, and the third and final tier would allow subscribers to enjoy classics from PSX, PS2, PS3 and even PSP. In addition, the most expensive tier would give access to extended demos and streaming games.

It is expected that Spartacus – which, by the way, is just Sony’s in-house working title – will launch soon once it is announced to the public. It is not known whether the launch will be via an event or a press release. In March, several State of Play events were held, one dedicated to showcasing Japanese video games and the other devoted exclusively to Hogwarts Legacy, an RPG from the Harry Potter universe.

Although Spartacus, as it currently stands, has significant differences compared to Xbox Game Pass, which has 25 million subscribers, Jason Schreier and Takashi Mochizuki are promoting the Japanese multinational’s offer as a response to Microsoft’s service. So much so that Phil Spencer was quick to applaud the development.

Source: Bloomberg