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Putting rumors to rest, Sony has officially unveiled a revamped PlayStation Plus service that aims to compete with Team Green’s Game Pass. While both services offer a library of video games for a monthly fee, there are quite a few key differences between the two services.
PlayStation Plus is a subscription service required for players to play multiplayer titles on PS4 and PS5. While the lower Essential tier retains the same services as the original PS Plus, Extra and Premium tiers bring more exciting features to the service. Let’s take a look at how each service compares to one another.
PlayStation Plus vs Xbox Game Pass: how do the two services set themselves apart in 2022?
With Sony unveiling a subscription service that offers a library of video games for a monthly fee, comparisons to Game Pass were inevitable. With that being said, let’s take a look at what each service offers.
Tiers and pricing
The newly revamped PlayStation Plus consists of three distinctive successive tiers. The first tier is Essential, which is the same as the current PS Plus, including online multiplayer access and two brand new titles. The next title succeeding the Essential is Extra, which adds a library of both PS4 and PS5 games. The Extra is succeeded by Premium, which alongside the benefits of the previous tiers, brings in PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP titles. The pricing is as follows (for the U.S.)
- PS Plus Essential: $9.99 monthly
- PS Plus Extra: $14.99 monthly
- PS Plus Premium: $17.99 monthly
Going over to the other side, Xbox Game Pass also interestingly has three tiers, but they are quite different than that of PS Plus. Console Game Pass and PC Game Pass bring a massive library of games to the Xbox consoles (One and Series X|S) and to the Windows PC respectively. Game Pass Ultimate combines both Console Game Pass and PC Game Pass along with Cloud Gaming. One of the biggest advantages of Game Pass over PS Plus is the addition of EA Play in PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate, which brings all EA Games into the paid service. With that being said, the pricing is as follows (for the U.S.)
- Console Game Pass: $9.99 monthly
- PC Game Pass: $9.99 monthly
- Game Pass Ultimate: $14.99 monthly
Games included
The biggest difference-maker between the two titles is in the library of games included. Aside from a healthy selection of third-party AAA titles and first-party titles, Game Pass also brings a massive selection of indie titles through the ID@Xbox program, alongside the EA Play, which incorporates all EA games into the service. Furthermore, most Game Pass titles are available across PC and consoles, with the majority of them expanding to Cloud Gaming.
Switching over to the other side, while most information about the service is unknown, it does mention some key details in the announcement post which highlights some key differences when compared with Game Pass. The most prominent difference between the two services is in reference to new games. While Game Pass includes all Day 1 launches of Xbox titles, PlayStation Plus will not include first-party games on launch day across any of the three tiers.
Platform and accessibility
Both Xbox and PlayStation Plus are, of course, available on their respective console platforms, Xbox One, Series X|S, and PS4, PS5. However, Game Pass has expanded beyond the console ecosystem to establish itself as a full-fledged platform.
Most notably, Game Pass is available on Windows PC, where it also features its own individual subscription tier that brings amazing games on the Game Pass to the PC audience. Furthermore, with Cloud Gaming, Xbox is able to bring Game Pass titles anywhere fans want, from mobile phones to Steam Deck or even on Smart TVs, if rumors are to be believed.
As for the new PlayStation Plus, its debut in the PlayStation console family has been announced. While the highest tier, Premium, does utilize the cloud for older generation titles, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will have a robust system like Xbox.
The previous generation of titles
Both Sony and Microsoft are giving players the option to play previous generation games, but with different approaches. PlayStation Plus Premium will let players enjoy PS1, PS2, and PSP games with both options of downloading locally and streaming. As for PS3 games, while the service will include quite a few, all of them will be streamed via the cloud.
While PlayStation is limiting older titles behind a subscription service, Xbox is much more open. A full list of games dating back to the original Xbox to Xbox 360 along with the full list of Xbox One libraries, is backward-compatible. Players can not only purchase and own their games, but they can also play them locally. Additionally, they can even just put in an older disk and start playing. Xbox also brings some interesting features like FPS Boost and Auto HDR to make the older titles more appealing.
All in all, PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass take a similar yet different approach to the subscription-based model, and both seem to be worth it in their own ecosystem.
