PlayStation boss Jim Ryan explains why the first-day Game Pass business model doesn’t fit Sony well.
In a recent PlayStation investor briefing, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan described the coming years of new PlayStation business models. PlayStation will soon follow Xbox and extend far beyond traditional consoles by expanding to mobile and computer. It is also revolutionizing its PlayStation Plus subscription service by adding two new value-oriented levels: PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium, with access to 740 games on six generations of consoles. Despite all these changes, one thing will remain the same: Premium game releases will not arrive on PS Plus on the first day.
In a recent Q&A session during the briefing, Jim Ryan explained why PlayStation will not accept the day and date release model used by Xbox Game Pass. In short, it all comes down to how Sony makes money. The launch of the first day would affect the sales of games on which Sony depends to reinvest in its business.
Here’s what Ryan said in the briefing:
“In terms of our assessment of what the players want, it’s pretty simple: the players want great games. That’s the first and overwhelming prospect they have.
“How they are delivered is a secondary concern. I would say that if it is in absolute terms, or in relative terms compared to our own history or compared to anything that competitors are managing, we have never been in a place more strong with PlayStation Studios that we are now, we anticipate that this position of strength and excellence will only continue and only grow.
“We are in a virtuous cycle where success has allowed us to invest, which has led to more success, which allows us to invest more and we hope it will generate even more success.
“This virtuous circle, we believe that if we were to move to a different model, which involved putting our AAA games on a subscription service on the first day, we believe there is a significant risk that the virtuous cycle we have established so successfully would be compromised and potentially broken.
“We definitely don’t think it’s in the best interest of the PlayStation player. That’s our opinion on this particular issue.”