PlayStation Spartacus, or Project Spartacus, the codename for PlayStation’s answer to Xbox Game Pass, will reportedly be released next week according to a new report from Bloomberg. Sony has been preparing for the arrival of this subscription service for a long time, but it seems that they are ready to unveil PlayStation Spartacus, or “PlayStation Infinite” (or whatever it’s going to be called), very soon.
What do we know so far about PlayStation Spartacus?
News of the oncoming announcement of PlayStation Spartacus is not unexpected. Within this month alone, we have seen a trailer for Shadow Warrior 3 note that it will would be launching on PlayStation Now as a day one release, sparking rumors that PlayStation Spartacus would be on its way. Just a few days later, some PS4 and PS5 players reportedly saw their PlayStation Now subscriptions be rolled into their existing PlayStation Plus memberships. And just yesterday, Microsoft executive Sarah Bond mentioned PlayStation Game Pass at GDC 2022.
As suspected from numerous earlier reports, PlayStation Spartacus will combine both PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus. Available for PS4 and PS5, the subscription service will have three tiers, apparently called Essential ($10/month), Extra ($13/month), and Premium ($16/month), according to Jeff Grubb on his show on Giant Bomb.
Essential will be pretty much what PlayStation Plus provides currently, while Extra will grant players access to a catalog of games. Premium will include free trials, extended demos, game streaming, and a deeper library of games from Extra to include classic titles as well from PS1, Ps2, PS3, and PSP.
Given that current PlayStation consoles don’t have backward compatibility for games before the PS4, and it’s only $3 more than Extra, Premium is being positioned as the go-to tier.
The main difference between Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Spartacus is that new first-party games like Horizon: Zero Dawn will allegedly not be available on day one.
In other news, Polyphony Digital has apologized to Gran Turismo 7 fans for the unfortunate state for the game, and the PSVR 2 has impressed several developers at GDC 2022.
[Source: Bloomberg]
