In a surprising yet not entirely unprecedented turn of events, Sony has announced that subscribers to PlayStation Now are in for a special treat on March 1. When Shadow Warrior 3 launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, Flying Wild Hog’s first-person shooter will also land on the subscription service on the same day. Even though that’s significant news by itself, there’s several reasons why the game’s arrival on PS Now could be a warm-up for even bigger things to come.
Over the last few months, credible rumors have suggested Sony is set to shake up its subscription services in the spring of this year. If these leaks are to be believed, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now will be merged and expanded in an attempt to compete directly with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. Against that backdrop, Shadow Warrior 3’s arrival on PS Now becomes even more important. In many ways, the anticipated shooter’s release could be an experiment that ultimately leads to shaping the future of the PlayStation ecosystem going forward.
PS Now’s Day-One Releases
While PlayStation fans have become accustomed to witnessing day-one launches like Rocket League and Fall Guys on PlayStation Plus, the same can’t be said of Sony’s other subscription service. Since its debut in 2014, PlayStation Now has often been relegated to the background of the publisher’s online offerings. Even though big-name games like God of War and The Last of Us 2 have landed on the service, debuts like this usually only happen years after a game has hit the market at large. Over the last eight years, only a handful of games can subsequently claim to have launched day-in-date on PS Now.
Aside from Shadow Warrior 3’s imminent arrival on PlayStation Now, only two other games have technically launched on the service as day-one releases. These are Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, and Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. It’s fair to say that these releases have not only been the exception to the rule, but there’s been some significant strings attached to their arrivals as well. Sega’s fighting game launched as a day-one release on PlayStation Plus at the same time as its PS Now debut, so most players associate it with Sony’s more popular service. By a similar token, the Olympic Games tie-in launched in Japan back in July 2019, and only debuted on PS Now when it was released internationally two years later, in June 2021.
Shadow Warrior 3’s day-one launch on PlayStation Now appears to be a more significant step forward for the platform. When Flying Wild Hog’s shooter launches to subscribers, it will be the biggest and only caveat-free game to do so on launch day. Over the years, PS Plus has become something that PlayStation owners need to have access to, partly thanks to the brand-new games that have often debuted through it. If nothing else, Sony’s decision to try and make its other subscription service hold the same kind of value, indicates that the publisher has plans for it going forward, one way or another.
PS Now’s Spartacus Future
If rumors are to be believed, the experiment that Sony is conducting with Shadow Warrior 3 is just the first part of a much bigger scheme. Based on reports from industry insiders, there’s a suggestion that Sony is looking to effectively launch its own version of Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass in the coming months. While details are still vague, it’s believed that the publisher is referring to the concept as Project Spartacus internally.
Right now, all signs point to the project revolving around the idea of PlayStation Now with PlayStation Plus being combined into one package. Subscribers will reportedly be able to subscribe to one of three different tiers, with new games coming and going from the unified service’s library every month.
Since Microsoft shook up the gaming industry with Xbox Game Pass, the Netflix-inspired service has been dominated by exciting day-one releases. One of the topics of discussion amongst fans, and indeed fears, has been the idea that Sony won't be able to do the same with its own competitor service. While there’s no indication that the publisher’s own software will arrive day-in-date, the fact that Sony is already pursuing games like Shadow Warrior 3 indicates that third-party launches will be a part of its plans.
The fact that Shadow Warrior 3 is debuting on PlayStation Now, at a time when Sony’s marketing is changing, also suggests that fans won’t have to wait much longer for some form of official news. The deal Sony has struck with the game’s publisher Developer Digital, was potentially penned with Project Spartacus in mind all along.
Challenging Xbox Game Pass
As it stands right now, there’s been no official confirmation from Sony that either of its subscription services are going to be overhauled anytime soon. Even though the language used in recent PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now marketing material has indicated something is in the works, there’s a chance that things could develop behind the scenes in a way that forces plans to change. Until there’s confirmation directly from the publisher itself, fans should still take credible leaks and rumors with a grain of salt.
Even if the idea of Project Spartacus and a unified subscription platform fail to materialize, Shadow Warrior 3’s presence on PS Now still indicates that change is on the horizon. It’s become clear in recent years that Microsoft’s success with Xbox Game Pass is far from just a fluke. As a result, there’s a chance that Sony will inevitably be forced to find an answer to its rival’s wide-spread success down the road, one way or another. With this in mind, there’s reason to believe that Flying Wild Hog’s shooter is being used as an experiment by Sony and the wider gaming industry at large.
It’s easy to imagine if Shadow Warrior 3 does well on PlayStation Now that more publishers could come on board to launch their games similarly. Smaller indie developers in particular that have less money to advertise their games, could find the proposition especially attractive. Players only need to look at the success that Microsoft has had in attracting games to Xbox Game Pass, to see one potential future for PS Now if Shadow Warrior 3 thrives on the service. The fact that the game is set to skip Microsoft's competing platform, could also be a sign that Sony is willing to throw money to help the process along as well.
Shadow Warrior 3 releases on March 1, 2022, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.