Highlights
- Sony has announced Sony Pictures Core, a new video streaming service that offers free movie streaming to PS Plus Premium subscribers on PS4 and PS5 consoles.
- The new service is part of Sony recent revamp of its PlayStation Plus subscription service.
- PS Plus Premium subscribers will have access to a rotating catalog of up to 100 movies to stream for free, with a selection already available that includes titles like Looper and Resident Evil Damnation.
Sony has announced Sony Pictures Core, a new video streaming service that will net PS Plus Premium subscribers free movies to watch on their PS4 and PS5 consoles. Perhaps in direct response to the steady success of rival Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, Sony has been revamping its PlayStation Plus service by dividing it into three tiers — Essential, Extra, and Premium — and adding varying access to current-gen and backward compatible games, depending on the subscription level.
Up until recently, many gamers found PS Plus to be comparable to Xbox Game Pass as far as value, thanks to its cloud saves, free monthly games, and constantly updating catalog of titles available to play via streaming or download. However, that value proposition took a hit when Sony confirmed a price increase for all three PS Plus tiers beginning in September, with the Premium level jumping by a non-negligible $40 per year.
But it seems there may have been a reason behind the price hike, after all. Beginning on October 5, PS4 and PS5 users may notice a new app called Sony Pictures Core being promoted on their console. This app will allow those who sign up for a free account to rent or purchase select Sony Pictures movies, in some cases granting early access to films before they are available at other digital retailers. But for PS Plus Premium subscribers, it gets even better because Sony will be offering a rotating catalog of up to 100 different movies to stream for free.
These movies will be available to watch ad free, and there’s already a selection accessible to PS Plus Premium members, including Looper, Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy 15, Elysium, and Resident Evil Damnation. The library of movies available to rent or purchase is even larger, extending to up to 2,000 movies like the critically acclaimed Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Uncharted, and The Equalizer.
The early access movie currently up for grabs is Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, which has been available digitally in the US for a while, but not in some other countries like the UK, France, Germany, and Japan. For a limited time, those who buy the movie via the Sony Pictures Core app will also receive a code for 750,000 credits to make in-game purchases in Gran Turismo 7 on PS4 or PS5.
The Sony Pictures Core app is actually a rebranding of Bravia Core, which some users who own Bravia and Xperia devices may already be familiar with. Bravia Core, and presumably by extension Sony Pictures Core, can stream HDR movies at up to 80Mbps, which is “similar to a 4K UHD Blu-ray.” For comparison, many other services only offer movie streaming at up to 25Mbps. And according to the Bravia Core website, the app offers the “largest available collection of IMAX Enhanced movies.” For many PS Plus Premium subscribers, this addition to the lineup of perks may make the recent price hike more acceptable.
Source: PlayStation.Blog, Sony Bravia Core
