Xbox Game Pass is considered by many (including me) to be the best deal in gaming. Period. No doubt it has been a great success, so far racking up about 25 million subs. Gaming’s move to add subscription business models is so financially compelling that Jim Ryan, CEO at Sony PlayStation has announced plans for their own subscription service, codenamed ‘Project Spartacus’.

This is exciting fans everywhere, with gamers eager to see just what PlayStation has up their sleeves. With their compelling library of games, there is little doubt in my mind that it will be hugely successful. With service games being added to the PlayStation library, existing ‘aaa bangers’ already abundant, the service wars seem finely poised to start.

How can Project Spartacus beat Xbox Game Pass?

So, what does Project Spartacus need to do to beat out the ever-growing Xbox Game Pass? Well, I can think of a few things. This is not an article about fanboying all over everywhere. I just mean what do PlayStation need to ensure the service is being genuinely competitive. Every person in the ‘hardcore’ circles of core gaming has heard the narrative of ‘Xbox has no games’. That narrative is hanging by a thread. Xbox have a huge amount of content coming. PlayStation do have a job to do to get this service to the levels of Xbox Game Pass. Luckily, it is quite within their capabilities! With the service expected to be formally announced in Summer, lets take a look at key areas Sony will need to include in this service.

  1. Live service games in the service with regular content updates. Sorry to some of the Sony hardcore, but like it or not, regular new content is what keeps people subbed. Jim Ryan knows this, and this is why he announced that PlayStation has 10 currently in development!
  2. 3rd Party titles landing day-in date on the service. We’ve seen it with Xbox Game Pass through, Outriders, MLB The Show, Rainbow Six Extraction and the announcements of S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 and Atomic Heart launching into Game Pass day one. I imagine that once Spartacus is up and running MLB The Show will switch to that because it is developed by a Sony owned Studio. That aside it is a box I am sure that will get ticked. Personally, I am hoping this will be the end of timed exclusivity and instead it will move to launching in the subscription service. How do you all feel about that?
  3. Day-in-date first party titles. I know this is not too popular with the PlayStation hardcore, and before you all come at me like a flock of angry Spearow; at first they could get away with putting first party titles in 6 months or so later, but the problem is when they hit the ceiling of growth they will need to think of new ways to grow and compete.
  4. Streaming capabilities. Yes, I know that the technology is not quite there yet, in terms of the experience being close enough to gaming on native hardware, but I we are going that way. And, speaking as someone who games a fair bit via cloud streaming on Xbox, it is getting better! Adding to this that the majority of PlayStation’s catalogue of first party titles would run very well on the cloud, being single player and narrative driven, as opposed to ‘twitch’, reaction based online multiplayer. We can be fairly certain that this is coming too. Sony and Microsoft both told us as much when Sony partnered with Microsoft to use the Azure to build up their game streaming network. And ultimately, this is the way that Sony and Microsoft are going to rake in the big bucks, as it makes the medium so much more accessible to ‘normies’.
  5. Innovation. Yes, and I’m sure they will too. They will at least do something different. I imagine they have a team of testers who currently use Game Pass with the express purpose of identifying how Sony might improve areas for user experience and increased revenue. Perhaps a ‘tier’ system or something of that nature. How do you think they could innovate and improve Xbox Game Pass Features?

When Project Spartacus releases, the gamers win

So I guess the conclusion is it certainly has the potential to be a better service than Xbox Game Pass, but it would need to be executed extremely well. I for one am looking forward to watching these to gaming behemoths compete for our time and money. I was an early subscriber to Game Pass way back before first party titles went in day-in date, and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be day one in Project Spartacus. Do you think Project Spartacus will be a better service than Xbox Game Pass, or do you think Game Pass will reign supreme? Try not to fight over it too much, but if you do, do it in the comments 😉