Suddenly facing a formidable new array of competition, Sony today announced that it is dropping the price of PlayStation Now, and dramatically.
“PlayStation Now is the first and only console game subscription service that uses cloud technology to deliver an unprecedented breadth of games through streaming and downloading,” Sony VP Grace Chen writes. “Today, I am truly pleased to announce new updates to the service that take our subscription gaming efforts to the next level.”
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PS Now used to cost $19.99 per month, or $99.99 per year. As of today, however, the monthly price has been dropped by half to just $9.99. And the annual price is now just $59.99.
PS Now does have the largest game library of any console game subscription service, as Sony notes, with more than 800 titles available, 300 of which are PS4 games. But with so many cloud-based gaming services coming online in the coming weeks and months, that is surely a temporary condition. Many upcoming cloud gaming services will or already do cost less than Sony’s offering, too, even after the price break. For example, Apple’s Arcade+, which is not console-based, is just $4.99 per month.
Still, there’s something to be said for the PS Now library, which includes some real heavyweights like God of War, Grand Theft Auto V, inFAMOUS Second Son, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Bats
<p>That's absolutely a great price! Also this move was very…..SO…..predictable. More players in this space means lower pricing. I knew that the Sony's lineup of PS Now games was good and vast, but after taking a quick peek at it (just now), I can't believe it's that large. They even have the complete Batman Arkham series. LOL….I can't believe GameFly is still in business. </p><p><br></p><p>When it comes to this space, Google is perhaps the default "incumbant" here, because of their tried and true streaming capabilities, when it comes to audio and video. However, their library is tiny compared to Sony's. Therefore it's unlikely that PS4 gamers are gonna jump ship to Google anytime soon.</p><p><br></p><p>The PS Now has always been a decent deal, but if it becomes more popular because of the price cut, then it should hurt PS5 sales, because there would be no reason for casual gaming PS4 users to upgrade 800/300 games at their disposal. Just imagine the 100 million PS4 users $6-$9 per month on the PS Now? ?</p>