A couple of days ago, Sony held a State of Play livestream after the company once again ditched E3 2021 this year. Although many were expecting a huge presentation from Sony due to Microsoft's big announcements at E3, the recent State of Play was relatively low-profile. It only announced a handful of games releasing on the PS5.
It's no secret that Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass has been catching the attention of the video game industry, especially with all the studios Microsoft has acquired. Not to mention, Microsoft also announced several first and third-party titles that will be coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one. However, given that Sony made no response as to how it plans to compete with the Game Pass, people might be wondering what this could mean for PS5 players and PS Now subscribers.
Sony May Be Sticking To Its Current Business Model
Although Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass is turning heads in the video game industry, it is worth noting that in terms of units sold, the PS5 is still miles ahead of the Xbox Series X and Series S. However, it is also worth mentioning that everything Microsoft has promised so far is yet to reach its full potential. So, looking at the gaming landscape, PS5 players are still good in terms of content, especially since some of the biggest and highly-anticipated games are releasing as PS5 exclusive titles.
Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for PlayStation Now. Despite Microsoft's relentless promotion of the Xbox Game Pass, Sony hasn't seriously talked about PS Now for quite some time. As previously mentioned, players were expecting Sony to release some sort of a response to everything Microsoft has revealed for the future of Xbox Game Pass.
Some PS Now subscribers hoped to see Sony announce upcoming AAA games to release to PS Now on day one, similar to Xbox Game Pass. Unfortunately, none of this happened at the recent State of Play, which could mean that Sony is either saving its huge surprises until the end of the year, or it is sticking to its current business model of releasing old or less popular games on PS Now as new games are sold individually.
Should PlayStation Players Feel Threatened by Xbox Game Pass?
For players whose sole intention of purchasing the PS5 is to access every PlayStation-exclusive game, the Xbox Game Pass isn't really something to be worried about. However, for those who are interested in playing as many games as possible, Xbox Game Pass is turning out to be the best option. This means that PlayStation players must pick up either the Xbox Series X/S or PC to access the service.
At E3 2021, Microsoft revealed tons of new games that have been released or are on their way to the Xbox Game Pass. This includes games such as Psychonauts 2, Back 4 Blood, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, and Starfield, which are all going to be available on Game Pass on day one. Additionally, Microsoft also revealed its long-term plans for the future of Xbox Gaming, and Phil Spencer revealed in an interview that the team is even looking into integrating Xbox gaming into Smart TVs without the need for additional hardware.
In the end, Sony's lack of a response to the Xbox Game Pass at its latest State of Play presentation is disappointing, especially for those players subscribed to PS Now. While PS Now still has more games than Xbox Game Pass, the quality of the latter far outweighs Sony's service given all the AAA games available on Xbox Game Pass, with some even releasing to the service on day one. Still, there is hope that Sony may hold another event before the year ends, especially if it wants to stay ahead of Microsoft in the latest console generation.
