Sony officially confirms the subscribers numbers for its game streaming service PlayStation Now and online multiplayer subscription PlayStation Plus. The company has been going big with the two services, with PlayStation Now adding games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege as it tries to get people to subscribe.
In a corporate strategy meeting, Sony revealed that there were 2.2 million paid PlayStation Now subscribers at the end of April 2020, which is huge growth compared to the one million+ subscribers it had in October 2019. PlayStation Plus added 2.7 million new subscribers between January and March 2020, meaning that there are now 41.5 million paid subscribers to PlayStation services.
Sony largely puts this down to COVID-19 which has kept people at home, playing games, and looking for ways to enjoy games with each other. It is one of several entertainment companies to have benefited greatly from COVID-19. While Disney recorded a $1 billion loss because of the closure of its parks, its Disney+ streaming service now has 50 million subscribers. Sony seems to have big plans for its services, throughout and after COVID-19, as it says that "it is important for us to maintain and expand this increased engagement going forward."
An important part of this will be the release of the PS5. PlayStation Now could potentially be used as a way to offer PS5 backward compatibility, leading to a huge growth in subscriber numbers as players want to enjoy PS4 games on a more powerful console.
It also seems unlikely that Sony is going to stop making PlayStation Plus necessary to enjoy multiplayer games on PS5. Players don't need to have a PlayStation Plus subscription to play Fortnite, a confirmed PS5 launch title, but they probably will for most other multiplayer games on the console.
However, it won't be easy for Sony to keep growing its PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus subscribers, as it faces a giant challenge from Microsoft and its Xbox subscription services. Last month, Microsoft confirmed that Xbox Game Pass has 10 million subscribers. Sony doesn't offer a service like Xbox Game Pass as games through PlayStation Now are primarily streamed with few downloading options, and this could be an issue for the company.
Microsoft's confirmation of Xbox Series X subscriptions could also be an issue. If Microsoft is planning to make the Xbox Series X more affordable by offering a subscription package that comes with a console and Xbox Game Pass, it will be able to add subscribers far quicker than Sony.
