One of the biggest criticisms that consumers have for Sony and PlayStation concerns its policy on PlayStation Now, and the lack of newer first-party games available on its service. To address that, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan spoke with GamesIndustry and addressed the company's current thoughts on launching PlayStation exclusives via PlayStation Now.
That policy is notably different from Microsoft's, as that company promptly makes its first-party Xbox One games available through Xbox Games Pass--which is Microsoft's equivalent platform. Even though PlayStation Now recently got a 50% price cut, and with hype over the upcoming PlayStation 5, some players still want to know when Sony will make PS4 exclusives regularly available on PS Now.
According to Ryan, Sony has other priorities at the moment when it comes to the PS4's big first-party games. “The nature and scale of some of the first-party games that we are making lead us to think that, right now, it’s better to spend energy on making sure that the launch of those games is a massive entertainment event," he said. "I would cite God of War and Spider-Man, and The Last of Us [Part] 2 next year will fall into that category.”
Of course, some of those games' developers are already just as interested in expanding the games' availability as players are; God of War director Cory Barlog has said that he'd love for the game to get a PC port. For the moment, it doesn't look like Sony agrees, but Ryan also told GamesIndustry that when it comes to exclusives and PS Now, the company's policy is "fast-changing and fluid."
PlayStation: "Buying studios right now is a very expensive undertaking. It is most definitely a seller's market." https://t.co/k47A69XP0z
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) November 7, 2019
Ryan's interview definitely left the door open for change, with him adding, "I don’t want to say this is what PlayStation Now is going to be like forever." Nevertheless, Sony knows when it has a profitable exclusive and plans to capitalize on that by focusing on the PS5 and its launch. “Certainly right now, given how some of our first-party IP is incredibly special and valuable, we just want to treat them with amazing care and respect, and have those launches be clean and pure," he said.
So, it doesn't look like PS Now subscribers will be getting their PS4 exclusives anytime in the immediate future--but maybe after the PS5 launches that could change. For now, players will have to keep an ear out and keep playing those classic PlayStation titles.
Source: GamesIndustry