TECH NEWS – PlayStation PS Plus is being relaunched with three subscription options from June.

The new PS Plus was announced at the end of March. The change to PlayStation’s subscription model brings new options to the service. The public has been debating whether the new concept can compete with Xbox Game Pass, but what do analysts say?

Wccftech asked Karol Severin, a well-known senior expert and manager at MIDiA Research, to give an unbiased opinion on the strategy, and while he admits the move is intended to get closer to Microsoft’s service, he says it will not be virtually competitive with Game Pass, at least in terms of ‘winning’ gamers.

The analyst refers to the lack of first-day exclusives, which will allow Xbox to remain in the lead. Nevertheless, he believes that Sony’s strategy makes sense, as the company is more dependent on gaming revenues than its competitors, and the aim is to balance profits through subscriptions and game sales.

“Subscriptions are likely to dominate the industry” – Karol Severin, MIDiA Research

“My guess is that the move is designed to reach the existing PlayStation user base rather than to attract new users,” says Severin – “I don’t see the new PS Plus attracting users from other ecosystems.” He was also asked about the industry’s future, explaining that “subscriptions will likely dominate video games over time”, although this will not happen immediately or equally across all territories. Subscriptions, for example, do not work particularly well in key markets such as China.

Despite these analyses, Sony is sticking to the strength of the new PS Plus, available from June. The service will have more than 200 members and will include some key games in its catalogue that could help boost PlayStation’s own studios’ audience, as Housemarque hopes for Returnal.

Source: Wccftech