PlayStation Now just became a much more tempting proposition. Sony's oft overlooked subscription service started out as a streaming platform for PlayStation 3 games, but last year, it added full PlayStation 4 title downloads to its arsenal, with new games being added monthly.
It's a pretty solid service, but for many, the pricing structure has always been a little steep. The big news today, then, is that subscription prices are being permanently slashed across the board. For example, it's going from $19.99 monthly to $9.99 in North America, which is a significant drop.
You can find the new pricing structure below (which applies starting today):
- US: $9.99 – monthly / $24.99 – quarterly / $59.99 – yearly (from $19.99/ $44.99/ $99.99)
- CAN: $12.99 – monthly / $34.99 – quarterly / $79.99 – yearly (from $19.99/ $44.99/ $99.99)
- EU: €9.99 – monthly / €24.99 – quarterly / €59.99 – yearly (from €14.99/ (N/A)/ €99.99)
- UK: £8.99 – monthly / £22.99 – quarterly / £49.99 – yearly (from £12.99 / (N/A) / £84.99)
- JP: ¥1,180 – monthly / ¥2,980 – quarterly / ¥6,980 yearly (from ¥2,500 / ¥5,900/ (N/A))
What's more, highly rated "blockbuster" games will now be added to the service and rotated on a regular basis. Again, starting today, God of War, Grand Theft Auto V, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and inFAMOUS: Second Son are all up for grabs, while additional blockbusters will be added monthly. As hinted, though, these titles will only be available for a limited time. The aforementioned first wave will leave PS Now in three months, on the 2nd January, 2020.
It's certainly an interesting restructure, and it makes it seem as though Sony is going to start pushing PS Now harder than ever. PlayStation Network vice president Grace Chen reckons these updates will take PS Now "to the next level".
What do you make of this? Is PS Now a more tempting proposition? Are you thinking of subscribing? Give it some thought in the comments section below.
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments 102
That's cool and all but PS Now isn't available in my country yet..
Finally! I feel like this is something they should've done a while ago but glad they're stepping in the right direction now.
PS Now actually works really well from my experience and it's great that they seem to be taking it more serious at last with competitive pricing and games that will actually encourage people to sign up.
Good job, PS!
I'm really tempted to give PS Now a shot. Especially that it's a cheaper price and you can download the games instead of forced to stream them.
Great value at that price! I still have some months left on my sub so won't be reupping anytime soon but I highly recommend PS Now if you have the internet for it. It's a really good service, especially now.
Side note though, why wasn't this mentioned in 'State of Play'?!
That's a huge price decrease. Now it's a very tempting proposition.
Very tempting to try this out now it's at a reasonable price and with some big newer title rotating in.
Im grabbing two one year subs. Between this and Xbox gamepass i never have to waste a $60 on bad games at launch again if you wait long enough cough Borderlands 3 cough
Well... Rip Playstation. God of War, Uncharted 4 and InFamous on PC now? Damn Sony is actually giving up. Would explain why two top dogs at Sony management have quitted within 2 days.
it drops because no one wants it and now they are desperate. if people bite they will raise the prices again, so this price drop is just carrot dangling. we have seen what direction this is going with xboxpass, new games sold for a dollar and then have been stuffed to the brim with microtransactions etc.. no thanks. let psnow die so we can get rid of this stupid streaming garbage ones and for all.
@PhantomXIII if they didnt throw away millions on psnow, we would have had the option to play ps3 game disc on the ps4 already.
might give it a go now, it was always a bit too expensive for my tastes
About time! Hopefully this will give a subscriber boost that then in turn will encourage Sony to start pushing harder with the service. It's literally the one thing I always thought Microsoft had the edge on (price and title selection).
@roe
Because it s better to announce Now.
@TheBuzz
Streaming games is both now and the future of gaming. Microtransactions in games are always optional so thats never an issue.
PS Now has never appealed as i have always owned a playstation from the early days. If I was new to the console then PS Now would be something I would sign up for. Just like if I was moving to xbox the gamespass would be the first thing I signed up for.
@JAMes-BroWWWn The heck have you been drinking?
@PhantomXIII That is the only thing this would be good for are PS3 games if you could download them.
@BorderlineJon They do not and should not push services. They need to sell their games and looking at how crappy M$ games have been it is illogical for anyone to want Sony to do the same. M$ has given up on Xbox.
As it tends to take me a while to complete games like don't like the short amount of time they'll be available for.
@Athrum water and you? Delusion juice? If that move now is not obvious a sign of a change Playstation is heading coupled with high ups quitting around the same time. They just seem to prepare to leave the console space. Or at least want to act as in dual market. PC and consoles.
@JAMes-BroWWWn Leaving the console space? Yeah you are in another universe mentally LOL. This has nothing to do with PC. This is just PS4. PSNow on PC does not have the same amount of games as PS4 and it is just streaming, no downloading. Yeah they are going to leave the console space after selling 100 million units, right.
is the streaming that bad then? as the games list makes me very tempted, esp as I never had a PS before PS4
£50 a year is a fantastic deal.
@quinnyboy58 Game streaming is not high quality and lag will always exist. I get issues watching Netflix so gaming would obviously have problems. They do offer a free trial for you to check it out.
@GodGamer Wut? There is no difference between the catalog of games for PC and PS4. It is literally the exact library. In other words PC has access to the top of Playstation games. Just a matter of time, I guess. Like timed exclusivity for Playstation owners before hitting the PC market via the PSNow subscription.
@GodGamer may do that trial then! thanks
@JAMes-BroWWWn There is a different catalog and streaming is not the same as being on PC. Anyway, you clearly don't know what you are talking about so discussion over.
@quinnyboy58 really depends on your own connection. Where I am for example it's really indistinguishable from playing the game natively to the naked eye. For others some games are just unplayable. Take advantage of the free trial and see!
@redd214 thanks I have a good connection I think so hopefully will be fine
I wonder if there will be the usual black friday deal as it could be well worth the price if there is a black friday discount. I think it would of carried a little bit more weight if announced with the state of play last week.
@GodGamer yeah I've not played a single good exclusive on Xbox this generation 🙄 and obviously that Scarlett thing is made up as they've given up on Xbox
@Neolit it's crazy 6 years in that still has to be explained to people lol!
Any word, when this will be visible in the PSN store? Still showing the old prices to me (Switzerland).
@GodGamer the catalog is identical buddy. But you do have a point. On PC I can't download these games. Or at least I don't see the option for it. Maybe they gonna add this soon for PC too.
@carlos82 The best game was Sunset and they don't own it and it went to PC like all of their games. So the obly exclusive they have is Halo 5 and it was average. Scarlett is irrelevant since Phil himself said Xbox is not needed to play their games. I mean their actions prove me right and I am not the only who realizes the truth. You can play on Xbox, but it is just their and not needed. I have been looking for a reason to buy an Xbox but it just does not have any games that are worth it and I played on Gamepass.
@Neolit I strongly disagree with your take. Believe it or not but millions of PC gamers bought a PS4 for their exclusives, me included, putting high end games on that service is definitely a sign of change Sony is heading. And I'm sure no PC gamer sees a point buying a PS4 now or even PS5 later when all I gotta do is waiting for em to launch on a service I have access to on my PC. But yeah Sony could change their way again and take their service off or modify it if they lose revenue because of it.
@JAMes-BroWWWn I did not ses the same catalog before but regardless this is nothing new then so why are you making goofy comments about Sony leaving the console space since PSNow been on PC since day one? Still does not change the fact that the games are not on PC and its more like remote play with the Vita.
@JAMes-BroWWWn Ok. So you are a PC fanboy. Got it. I figured but gave you the benefit. Moving on now.
I see sony starting to get serious for Now, I prefer to buy games so this service is not for me though.
I have just got used to digital download and now the industry wants me to stream rather than own my games. I do not think it is for me as my home Broadband is not good enough.
@Alan_Breen Just continue to buy your games. You do not have to stream.
As long as they don't start putting their exclusives on there day one then I'm cool with it.
Also I don't think this is a reaction to Game Pass (it's not a streaming service) it's more about positioning PS Now against Stadia.
Wait, can you download all the games or just some? I am in the Asia region and we don't have it. But I have some money left in my old USA account that I could use for this. I never wanted to try it as I figured streaming would be terrible from here. But if it's download now, them I'm in.
@GodGamer how am I a PC fanboy? I always loved owning all consoles. Hell I started playing video games on consoles. But isn't it the same route Microsoft has taken? Tell me do you think I own a Xbox? They erased that reason. And that will apply to Playstation when they follow the route of Xbox. I want them to give all gamers across all platforms a reason to buy their console. That's competition for the companies and high quality products for consumers.
@JAMes-BroWWWn not everyone has a powerful gaming PC. The Xbox exists to cater for those that just want a £200-300 box that can play games. Obviously Microsoft benefit from people gaming on Windows anyway so it's not a huge blow to them if gamers shift from Xbox to PC.
PlayStation offering PS Now on PC doesn't really affect PlayStation's console market at all, unless they were to open up all their exclusives for PC streaming, which I can't see why they'd do given the success they're having anyway.
You can download PS4 games, so what happens with this "rotation"?
Say you download God of War... will you lose the ability to start the game when it gets rotated out, or can you keep it for as long as you subscribe to the service? If you lose it, that's a huge negative.
@Paranoimia Well they want you to stay subbed so just like PSPlus you will not be able to play the games if you are not subbed.
So if you have aforementioned blockbusters installed and they leave the service, you aren't able to play them anymore?
@JAMes-BroWWWn Making comments like
"Rip Playstation. God of War, Uncharted 4 and InFamous on PC now? Damn Sony is actually giving up." sounds like PC fanboy talk.
They do it all over the web because they hate consoles and always port beg. If you actually like PS you would not be claiming the brand will die over streaming. A lot of people pretend to have a PS4 too but always talking negative.
What about eliminating the need to have an American credit card for the subscription services? Some of us prefer to use individual American gift card top-ups to avoid being squeezed by foreign tyrannical tax regimes, and the PS Now service requires a permanent card on the system for automatic renewals. Just a thought before the PS5 arrives next year...
Why not announce this during state of play?
@GodGamer well we know Microsoft sees Xbox as a platform now, so obviously if you have a PC it's harder to justify, I have both and use my X more for convenience but there have been quite a few great (console) exclusives such as Gears 5 which is as good as pretty much any PS4 exclusive I've played. Then the likes of Fozra Horizon 3 and 4, Cuphead, Ori and yes Halo 5 had an iffy story but the gameplay was still very good and let's not forget that its PS4 equivalent is Killzone Shadowfall, whilst even Sea of Thieves is a very good game these days.
If none of those are for you then fair enough and Sony have been on a roll for the last couple of years but it was a different story before that with the likes of Knack and the aforementioned Killzone, not to mention shutting down its own games online functions. I just think its a bit of a myth that the Xbox hasn't got any good exclusives and I whilst I wouldn't argue their output has matched Sony recently, going forward with all the studios they've aquired and Halo Infinite that could well change. Which for me is great news as I own both now and will likely buy both of the next gen consoles too
@markkoo because they want to lock you in. it's the same reason why they will send you a reminder email when your subscription is about to expire when you have automatic renewal turned off but they will NOT send you a reminder when your subscription is about to renew when you (perhaps unknowingly) have automatic renewal turned on. instead in that case they will send you an email right after your subscription renewed basically stating "haha! you forgot to turn off automatic renewal so you're locked in for another year and you can't cancel it!"
Microsoft does the same thing except with them it's no problem to cancel your subscription after automatic renewal and get the full amount back.
@roe @roe ok first of all building a "powerful PC" isn't that expensive to begin with. You save a lot of money by having games cheaper and avoid the online paywall. For example 5 years of PS Plus is 300 dollars plus 400 dollars for the console itself you almost have a high end PC. If you play on TV you save more money by not buying a monitor. Second thing, isn't putting their highest rate game on that service the obvious direction that they gonna put all their exclusives on it eventually? That was my point. They might have timed exclusives soon, instead actual system sellers.
@GodGamer ok fair point. But having their most praised games on a service where you don't need the Playstation itself is doubtless devaluing the console isn't it? I want to have a reason to own a Playstation not just you can have it like a year before we put it on PSNow.
Not interested in the slightest in PSNow but it's a pretty good price if I was!
Strongly considering it.
There is one game missing in cloud gaming... FF7! badum tssss
Hi everyone, just a reminder to keep things civil, please. I don't want to have to ban anyone else.
@KnightWolf Thanks, that was the only thing missing to my (nearly) perfect comment
@JAMes-BroWWWn
You can not build a high end PC for $700 if you are then you are cutting corners. The graphics card will also need to be updated probably a couple of times during the lifetime of what you would get out of a console to run the latest games.
Why don't they merge both their gaming services and charge 15 a month, plus give deep discounts on games older than a year?
Next step is Ps Plus and Ps Now combined into one service for $99.99 or $109.99 a year
Tempted to subscribe and see how far I can get through God of War and inFAMOUS: Second Son before my month is up.
Next step is going to be ps plus rewamp. They will remove free games from the service, leaving only discounts, free cloud space, game freebies like twitch prime and online functionality and will drop the price of the package to 25-30 euros a year. Maybe even offering timed demos of new games like EA access do.
Meanwhile PS Now will be all about the games for 60 euros a year.
just bought a years worth, playing Sly Cooper and loving it! no lag for me so far
huh? why are the games being rotated... they should and need to be added and left there for the long term (within reason). but i would assume games would be locked on the service for YEARS, not a month or two. so they reduce the price but suddenly make it less appealing in other ways...
@Porco Nothing's being taken away. Sony's just adding in a few popular games on rotation. The vast majority of PS Now games are there for the long haul
@BridgeToClarity Not totally sure yet. Sony usually announces new PS Now games at the start of the month, so maybe wait and see whether additional games are revealed this week.
@LaJettatura https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/10/guide_all_playstation_now_games
i don't think the 7 day trial still exists now, my money was taken straight away
well if my new internet arriving next week is as advertised and fast with low latency i might give this a go if they are putting newer games on it
That's really great. I've been using PS Now with success and those are great chances for have a go on games you're not sure you'd be into.
@BridgeToClarity didn't work for me but doesn't really matter quite happy with it anyway
@GodGamer You need to re-read my question. 😉
It would be a great deal if I didn’t already own all the games I wanted that are available on the service.
I’m not a patient enough person to not buy a game I want to play in the hope that it will eventually appear on a subscription service.
That's a lot more tempting now. There's plenty enough in my backlog as it is though, so I'll probably not use it.
@Paranoimia I got it. I would imagine it is just like PS+. No sub, then no play.
@GodGamer Again, you need to re-read. I'm not talking about if you stop your sub.
@Paranoimia "Say you download God of War... will you lose the ability to start the game when it gets rotated out, or can you keep it for as long as you subscribe to the service?
I meant to add the first time, that is something that we do not know yet, but the fact they say available for 3 months makes me think the answer is no. There have been games that left PSNow that are no longer playable even with an active sub. There are a lot of unanswered questions that more people should be askingnlike you are. Peopld just see a lotbof games and a cheaper price.
@JAMes-BroWWWn lol! Tell us another joke!
@Neolit I can not even get the app to open on my PC and that guy is hyping PSNow as if it means you don't need a PS LOL.
Someone else also said the catalog is not the same which it was not the last time I seen a list but it does not matter if the app does not work for everyone.
Streaming is trash regardless. It is better to just buy a PS as anyone who is a gamer should and play the games running directly on the hardware.
Streaming is not a viable gaming solution and never will be. No one is even talking about Stadia anymore. PC fanboys would do not buy consoles anyway so PSNow is no excuse.
I took at subscribing a few weeks backs, but there were only a couple of games that I would be interested in playing. And I've since bought one of them.
I already have more than enough games in my backlog anyway, the games in get with ps plus wilk do me fine for now.
@TheBuzz Sony is doing this because of that new google streaming service is debuting soon.
@Oriion Stadia released almost 2 months ago and no one cares. This has nothing to do with Stadia as you have to buy games individually on Stadia, its not an on demand service like Gamepass or PSNow. They just want to get more subs because obviously the number is low.
So basically coming in line with game pass model pretty much.
Limited time stuff puts me off - I’m a slow burner player.... I go back to games months later. Rarely do a game all in one go.
Much better yearly price though
@IanAlbarn you can make US Store account and enjoy the downloadable games
An industry analyst reckons that for Sony to make the same money they were earning before they would need a 60% increase in the user base.
@JAMes-BroWWWn You must be fun at parties.
@Athrum How much is likely the more appropriate question.
@JAMes-BroWWWn PS Now is being streamed to PC, not playing on a PC directly. Big difference. They allow them to be streamed there because it makes business sense to lure newcomers, and apparently it works if it hit 100 million+ now. It really doesn't help to be a negative Nancy.
@JAMes-BroWWWn They aren't going to add that feature. That would defeat the purpose of owning a console. Don't count on it.
They could add a video streaming service/app to the system and have it discounted if you have PlayStation Now, along with a possible discount on Funimation Now and I believe they also own AnimeLAB/Madman Anime and Manga Entertainment, so their services could be discounted too. Why Sony hasn't developed a mainstream video streaming service after Netflix became big is beyond me (but there are risks and if it was financially viable, it may be better to buy Netflix, but that is a lot of money). I believe that you don't need PS Plus to use multiplayer, so it would be nice too if all your free PS Plus games could be transferred between the two services.
Just a though anyway.
@daveofduncan I have no joke in petto. But IGN just made a great one. Thanks to Playstation Now you don't need a Playstation to play God of War. Oops it wasn't a joke. Sony is following the same stupid way Microsoft has taken. And we all know how great Xbox has been selling since PC has access to the Xbox games right...
@InsertUsername why do you consider streaming "not directly". Don't you watch movies/series directly on your TV/Playstation while it's being streamed though. Point is you don't need a Playstation to run those games. That does devalue the console.
@hotukdeals maybe not a high end PC but easily a PC that runs games 1080p/60 fps. It blows PS4 out of the water. And now that Sony starts putting their exclusives on PSNow, you can play their "exclusives" also on it without owning a PS4.
I think I'll at least give the 7 Day Trial a go, just to see if my internet is up to it. If it's good, then I'll definitely consider getting a year's subscription.
@JAMes-BroWWWn why do you consider streaming "not directly".
Because it's streaming from ps3's and ps4's in one large server so to speak. That means it's not running on anyone's PC. That's a difference whether you disagree or not.
"Don't you watch movies/series directly on your TV/Playstation while it's being streamed though."
Refer to above answer.
"Point is you don't need a Playstation to run those games. That does devalue the console."
Incorrect, once again. Yes, you do need a PlayStation device to run those games, as that is how the PS Now's infrastructure works. It does nothing to devalue the console. Not to mention, it's money for Sony either way. It's quite smart to cater to those who don't own a console to subscribe to PS Now. That's how business works, and it doesn't affect PS4's value at all. If it did, then the console and games wouldn't be selling at all(Spider-Man and HZD being good examples). PS4 just passed 100 million not that long ago, that says it all. Last but not least, these games will only be on the service for a limited time, so it shouldn't bother you too much.
@InsertUsername agree to the first 2 points but you are wrong with the third point. You don't need a Playstation to have access PSNow. You seem to mistake it with Remote Play. And the fact you don't need a Playstation to play those exclusives does devalue the console. The same happened to Xbox One. And it really doesn't matter if it's timed or not. PC gamer will wait to play it on PC instead buying Playstation. If the current one or Playstation 5. But just wait and see. As soon as all exclusives hit the PSNow how many consoles Sony is able to sell when their selling point is no longer.
$60 a year for at least 12 games i am interested in as of now.
I am definitely picking up a subscription and if it hits $40 on a sale, its a no brainer for me. Ill save a tonne of cash.
@GodGamer not sure what you're talking about. If Sony didn't push services they wouldn't be successful. Microsoft may have been lacking on exclusives, but it doesn't mean Gamepass isn't a good value service. Why shouldn't Sony push for more people to subscribe to their product? They are in the business for the money, and the more people who subscribe, the more money they have to spend on their ecosystem.
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