Xbox Game Pass has become insanely popular over the past few months. The service not only enables gamers to instantly gain access to hundreds of games at one monthly subscription but it has also welcomed some launch titles such as Outriders and even the Sony PlayStation-developed MLB 21: The Show.
Right now, it is the one thing Sony does not have that makes Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S console superior. However, that may change soon. According to a report, Sony is working on a “counterpunch” to the Xbox Game Pass service.
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The news comes from an ex-Sony developer and God of War creator David Jeff who claims to have spoken to a number of sources at PlayStation about the company’s plans to respond to Xbox Game Pass. Jeff claims that there is news to come in regards to Sony’s game subscription service. He says Sony is doing some stuff and working on their own model. In the video, Jeff says:
“We had the guy on the show yesterday that had made the petition to fire Jim Ryan and I was like, ‘dude, that’s way premature’ because Jim Ryan doesn’t owe anybody, Sony doesn’t owe anybody, the truth about what’s coming and what their counterpunch to Game Pass is.
What I can tell you is I know they are doing some stuff because I know people at Sony who have told me that they are doing some stuff. What it is we don’t know.
People have kind of guessed what Sony could be working on when it comes to this so-called Xbox Game Pass counterpunch. Previously, the company filed a patent that revealed backwards compatibility emulated through cloud gaming while enabling trophies and enhanced performance. This could mean that thousands of PS2 and PS3 games might be unlocked for gamers to play through a subscription-based cloud gaming package.
This could improve Sony’s PlayStation Now service with loads of backwards compatible games from hardware that users no longer own. In addition, the recent PlayStation Store closures on the PS3 would mean that this cloud-based emulation might be the only way users can enjoy older games.
Sony previously mentioned that making their own Xbox Game Pass service would not be a viable option for the company. However, before the PS5 launched they announced the PlayStation Plus Collection which is a package of games readily available to PS5 PS+ subscribers. If Sony were to improve on this package, it could potentially be a Game Pass equivalent.
All we can hope is that whatever Sony is working on is not cloud-based. While the idea of PlayStation Now being pumped full of PS5 and PS3 games sounds great on paper, the database locations, or lack thereof means the service is not readily available everywhere.
Source: YouTube
