Sony Plans To Continue Adding Older First-Party Games To PS Plus, Not New Ones

Sony has revealed that it isn’t looking to change its PS Plus first-party strategy and will continue to introduce older first-party PlayStation titles to the service as opposed to new releases.

Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz, Sony’s head of subscriptions, Nick Maguire, makes it clear that the company isn’t looking to focus on new releases for PS Plus, opting instead to continue waiting some months after the initial launch of games to add them to the subscription service.

“We’re happy with our strategy,” Maguire stated. “Putting games in a bit later in the life cycle has meant that we can reach more customers 12, 18, 24 months after they have released. We’re seeing customers still get excited about those games and jumping in. For us, that’s working. Occasionally, there will be an opportunity to invest in a day-and-date like Stray and we will jump on those when they come in. But for us, letting those [first-party] games go out to the platform outside the service first… that’s working, and that will continue to be our strategy moving forward.”

This strategy is a defining difference between PS Plus and Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, the latter of which prioritizes first-party new releases, including massive upcoming titles like Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and a long-awaited Fable reboot. In contrast, Sony has relied on a handful of day-one third-party releases, such as Stray and Tchia, to entice PlayStation players to subscribe to the higher tiers of PS Plus.

Maguire seems to be open to a future where this first-party strategy could change, though, saying, “We are constantly working out what the right strategy is moving forward. How are player habits going to evolve and how do we make sure the service meets those future habits? No more I can say on that at the moment, but obviously, we are keeping close to it and thinking about the role that Plus can play moving forward.”

Only time will tell if Sony will ever adopt a more Game Pass-esque first-party release philosophy, but in the meantime, the Game Catalog has recently been updated with big-name titles like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Dishonored II, and the full Tomb Raider reboot trilogy–among others. PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers can download and play them now at no extra charge.