Now, that’s more like it.
Sony cloud-streaming PlayStation Now service enables you to play over 100 PlayStation 3 games on the PlayStation 4 and other devices via digital rentals. However, you had to pay to rent each game individually, and the prices were often steep. Thankfully, Sony announced today that PlayStation Now is getting a subscription plan.
Starting on Jan. 13, PlayStation 4 owners can pay $20 a month or $45 for three months (which saves you about $5 a month) to get unlimited access to PlayStation Now’s entire library. Sony says that the subscription option will come to other PlayStation Now supporting devices (which include the Vita, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation TV) in the future.
PlayStation Now is partly Sony’s answer to PlayStation 4’s inability to play PlayStation 3 games. Using cloud-gaming technology (which enables someone to play a game on a device while a distant computer handles all of the processing) it gained access to when it acquired Gaikai in 2012, the service has become an interesting experiment for console gaming. Other cloud-gaming platforms like OnLive have existed on PC platforms since 2010, but PlayStation Now is the first game-streaming service to come from one of the large console manufacturers. If this Netflix-like subscription option becomes a success, it could lead to Microsoft and Nintendo considering similar services. Currently, Sony stands out as the only one of the three with a streaming service.
Microsoft’s Xbox One does have a vaguely similar service in EA Access, a $5 a month subscription plan. However, EA Access only grants access to seven games, and you have to download each one before you can play it.