Sony says strategy of not shipping its games on PS Plus at launch is working

Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed that it does not yet plan to make games made by its studios available on PS Plus at launch, as the current strategy is paying off.

Nick Maguire, vice president and global head of subscriptions, told the GI.biz that the company has no interest in making all of its games available on Plus on day one like Microsoft does with Xbox Game Pass.

“We are happy with our strategy,” said Maguire. “Putting games a little later means we can reach more customers 12, 18, 24 months after launch. We’re seeing customers still getting excited about these games and deciding to play. For us, this is working.”

“Occasionally there will be an opportunity to invest in making the game available at launch, like Stray, and we will do that when the opportunity arises,” he explained. “But for us, letting those games (from our studios) come out to the off-service platform first… that is working and will continue to be our strategy going forward.”

Last year, both PlayStation head Jim Ryan and head of the company’s indie developer initiatives Shuhei Yoshida stated that there is no intention of releasing their games on PS Plus the day they launch.

“We feel that if we do that with the games we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment we need to make in our studios wouldn’t be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games we make wouldn’t be something gamers want,” explained Ryan in March 2022.

“It’s like in movies – a movie comes out first in the cinema, then it goes to pay per view, or a subscription service, or free TV, always generating new revenue and reaching a wider audience”, complemented Yoshida in September 2022. “Likewise, we believe in premium launching a title and after maybe six months, or three months, or three years, when sales of the game drop, inclusion in PS Plus Extra can help introduce those games to new and exciting audiences. wider.”

Via VGC