Sony to announce PlayStation subscription service as soon as next week

• Subscription service will have multiple tiers of offerings, with catalogs of both modern games and classics from older PlayStation

• Sony will combine two of its existing offerings PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus

Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corp is reportedly planning to launch a video game subscription service for the PlayStation as early as next week to compete against Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox Game Pass, which is gaining market share in the U.S.

Sony’s new service, which has been in development under the codename Spartacus, will combine two of its existing offerings, PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

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The new subscription service will allow customers to choose from multiple tiers of offerings, which will list catalogs of both modern games and classics from older PlayStation eras.

Sony to enter game streaming market

The Japanese giant is developing Spartacus to regain control of the gaming industry as Microsoft’s entry-level $300 Xbox Series S is gaining popularity compared to the $500 PlayStation 5, along with Xbox Game Pass.

Although PlayStation 5 consoles have outsold the higher-end Xbox Series X, Sony lags behind Microsoft’s efforts in the streaming market.

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Xbox Game Pass offers hundreds of games for $10 a month. One of Game Pass’s biggest selling points is that subscribers get access to many titles on the same day they go on sale in stores.

Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) is also introducing video games for its video streaming platform.

Bloomberg earlier reported that Sony’s most expensive subscription tier will give players the ability to stream games over the internet.

Picture Credit: The Verge