The good news, for those who like their games industry a little less homogenous, is that Sony continues to tread its own line with the much-anticipated makeover of its PlayStation subscription service. The new PlayStation Plus might look broadly similar to Game Pass, and at its top tier it costs broadly the same too, but with Sony’s first-party games not hitting the service on day one this is quite pointedly not a direct competitor. It is instead simply a consolidation of what’s gone before.
All of which makes the reveal, heavily rumoured and highly billed by some insiders for months beforehand, feel somewhat underwhelming. The new PlayStation Plus is not a game changer. It’s not about lowering the barrier of entry, aggressive user acquisition or expanding the market beyond its current boundaries; it’s merely a bundle, and further affirmation that Sony firmly believes in its time-honoured model of big-ticket, triple-A games with a £70 price tag for its fancy £500 machine.