In the battle for value, Sony might have just figured out how to get a leg-up when it comes to subscription services. With PS Plus having very big hit or miss months with the handful of games it offers to players, it looks like the Polish PlayStation website may have jumped the gun by accidentally revealing that members are soon going to get video content bundled in with their membership.
The post was quickly removed, with the unfortunate soul who accidentally hit publish likely being banished to the dumpster where Ridge Racer is currently kept, but the listing did originally describe (cheers, VGC) “a new benefit available for a limited time on PlayStation Plus… PS Plus Video Pass is a trial service active 22.04.21 – 22.04.22. The subscription benefit is available to PS Plus users in Poland.”
It’s not clear if this is a Polish or a global offering, but it arrives hot on the heels of a previous Sony announcement where the company confirmed that it would stop offering TV and movie content for rental. “At SIE, we strive to provide the best entertainment experience for PlayStation fans, and that means evolving our offerings as customer needs change,” SIE’s head of Video Business Vanessa Lee wrote at the time.
We’ve seen tremendous growth from PlayStation fans using subscription-based and ad-based entertainment streaming services on our consoles. With this shift in customer behavior, we have decided to no longer offer movie and TV purchases and rentals through PlayStation Store as of August 31, 2021.
OS Plus established itself as a subscription service that was necessary for gamers wanting to play their titles online, and began offering a pair of free games soon after it was introduced. Since then, it has pretty much remained in this state while Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has evolved to become the industry standard in video game subscriptions.
Focusing on entertainment slightly could give PS Plus an edge over Microsoft though. especially when weebs such as myself are hoping that Sony’s recent acquisition of anime powerhouses Funimation and Crunchyroll will somehow factor into this.
Last Updated: April 22, 2021
Original Heretic
April 22, 2021 at 04:32
Wouldn’t mind me some Crunchy Roll without ads.
Iskape
April 22, 2021 at 08:12
I find they keep the uncensored stuff for BD releases!
Iskape
April 22, 2021 at 08:14
Yeah, well, if they plan to position the PS5 as a powerful media hub, then yeah, it could bode well for them, but personally, I have a console to game on, not to consume other media. Admittedly, I’m fortunate to have an Nvidia Shield which I use for all my other media consumption. And right now, Netflix and Disney are the big dogs in the yard fighting over the meat – us as consumers!
CodeDisQus
April 23, 2021 at 03:02
Nvidia Shield Squad! I love that thing, can’t think of a better purchase value wise…..2 years on and it just keeps on kicking with minimal hitches!! I’ve got the 2017 version and I’m hoping that there is a new version that brings type c and some more improvements to gamestream.
Man, Nvidia could REALLY have something if they manage to make gamestream a bit more reliable
Iskape
April 28, 2021 at 06:26
I tend to use my Shield for Plex. Have a couple of external harddrives connected via a USB 3.0 hub. I consume a ton of 4K content with HDR, and it copes pretty well with it.
CodeDisQus
April 28, 2021 at 07:22
Awesome! I’m using Kodi with a very similar set-up.
I stopped using Plex because I found that scrubbing through a timeline was slow. Kodi being open also makes things fun, although I do miss the ease of Plex