PlayStation Plus, Sony’s game subscription service born as an answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, is, as we’ve said on more than one occasion, quite a smart move by Japanese technology. So much so that it’s actually hard to believe that they had to put this much thought into it before deciding to launch it. And so it is that until its official confirmation, at the end of March, the company went from the word I say to the word Diego.

«Our pitch, as you’ve heard, is “new games, great games”. We’ve had this conversation before: We’re not going down the path of launching new subscription titles.“, said the person responsible for PlayStation. «These games cost many millions of dollars to develop, over 100 million. We just don’t see it as sustainable.” said Jim Ryan, head of PlayStation, as we told you here, in October 2020, although only a month later, in November of the same year, and with the arrival of the PlayStation 5 on the market just around the corner, he opened the door that he had slammed shut shortly before.

From then until the official confirmation, there were several leaks that suggested that Sony was preparing its subscription service, and shortly before its launch we learned that the selection of games that would integrate the various levels of PlayStation Plus would be overwhelmingly complete. Now there is a specific matter, specifically one with which Sony doesn’t seem willing to catch up with Microsoft and its Xbox Game Pass. And whether Japanese tech executives like it or not, it’s an important point that makes Microsoft’s service more attractive in the current situation.

I’m talking of course Sony refused to add large versions (or at least some of them) on PlayStation Plus on the same day of its launch, which Microsoft regularly does with premieres. Something that, from what we can read in VGC, doesn’t seem to be changing in the short term, at least according to Shuhei Yoshida, head of PlayStation Independent Developer Initiatives.

“We believe that we will launch a premium title at launch and maybe after six months, three months or three years, when sales of the games are down, inclusion in this service, PS Plus Extra, can help introduce these games to a new and wider audience.“.

Personally, and I’ve been saying this since day one, I think Microsoft is much bolder and more innovative with Xbox Game Pass than Sony is with PlayStation Plus. Of course, we can also understand that Microsoft has more “muscles” to invest and take risks in initiatives like this. However, it’s easy to imagine PlayStation users expecting that sooner or later Sony is following in Microsoft’s footsteps in this regard as well. Personally, I think this will be good for Sony, for its players, and by extension for the entire gaming ecosystem.