As we announced back at CES, PlayStation Now (PS Now) is the first-ever game streaming service available on a game console, where you can quickly access a rich and expanding library of PlayStation 3 (PS3) games from our cloud servers. Since January, PS Now has been in Private Beta for select gamers across the country, and I’m happy to announce that the Open Beta will be available to all PlayStation 4 (PS4) owners in the U.S. and Canada starting tomorrow.
As part of this Open Beta, PS4 users will see PS Now titles fully integrated into PlayStation Store, available to be streamed for various rental durations. Check out the video walkthrough of how it all works:
During the PS Now Open Beta, PS4 users will see a diverse library of more than 100 titles to rent, with more added regularly. PS Now will offer a variety of rental periods depending on the game, including 7-days, 30-days or 90-days, as well as a short 4-hour duration, so players can sample the experience first.
With a strong and stable broadband connection, visual and gameplay quality will be much like what you’re used to with other PS3 games. PS Now will also feature cloud game saves, as well as support for other popular network features such as Trophies, friend lists and leaderboards. You can also play seamlessly online with other people on PS Now, or even players who have the downloadable or disc based version of the game. As you know, the PS3 catalog of games is massive and incredibly diverse, and we’re thrilled to make these epic experiences available to PS4 first, followed by our other PlayStation platforms in the coming months.
Since we’re still in Beta, and in the very early days of PS Now, we plan to continue to collect feedback during this Open Beta phase to make further refinements to the service, so please provide us feedback once you’ve experienced the service.
We want to thank those that have been participating in the PS Now Private Beta for their time, dedication and valuable feedback, which have helped us continue to shape the service.
You will immediately see a clear breakdown of what’s included with game rentals, so it’s easier to tell what content you’re getting with your rental, especially since several games offered through PS Now include DLC that increase the value of the offering. Also, in a few weeks, you will start seeing reduced pricing on some 4-hour rentals which will appear at $1.99.
In addition, we’ve heard you loud and clear for an update on a PS Now subscription option and want to reassure you that we are working on it. We think PS Now represents the next step toward the future of gaming and we’re excited to have the PlayStation Nation come along with us on the beginning of this journey.
Why isnt there any plans for a monthly subscription?
@guitarpete987: YES! I mean when I checked it out tonight and I see they are all priced then I start wondering “Is this a Beta?”
@CFetus: Yes and more yes. I mean seriously dude, who in their right mind would pay for a short period rental when you can just get the freaking game. I can only think of people who are now “all digital”.
I guess the main base for this product is like someone said the owners of (pricey) Bravia TVs and so on, with no interest on getting a console, but then when you have to buy the controllers and stuff I’m guessing in the long run you just wanna buy the console and call it a day.
@Esena: Agreed completely.
Bonus track: MGS HD collection… I’m guessing by the time you’re ending the first codec call you will get the nice pop up “your subscription period of 4 hours has expired please give us moar dough”.
I love Sony and currently own PS3 (+move), Vita, PS4 (+camera), countless games/huge backlog, PS Plus… but this and the overpriced Vita cards (which I’ve resisted to buy successfully and I’ve been using a bundled 8 GB one) are a total fiasco. I ain’t falling for that my sweet love Sony oh sweetie pie please just go don’t wanna touch ya tonight.
I will NOT buy a single game for PS NOW until
1. The prices become a lot more reasonable.
2. Add the games they actually promised us in February.
3. Allow those who have the digital copy some sort of slack or discount.
4. A FREE STREAM FOR ATLEAST AN HOUR.
I already convinced my whole friends list to not purchase a single thing from PS NOW because it’s “BETA” isn’t even sufficient enough to play without take a risk to you wallet.
They should have gave it some more thought before showing this to the public eye.
I love Sony/Playstation but this is down right unacceptable and I have NEVER been so disgusted with their new ideas until “NOW” (PUN INTENDED)
@ PS_Pschedelic that’s some funny stuff! As much as I love complaining and giving feedback tho, sadly SONY isn’t paying attention to us or this blog so why bother right?
Now who wants to go Shark Hunting on Battlefield 4? Send me a PM or FR and let’s do this!!! Lol
A bunch of bad games in the beta
Prices so high I can buy the games for about the same or in many cases less money
No 21st century pricing structure/options like rent to buy or just a plain subscription service
I can’t just stream content I own (for a fee)
PlayStation Now is not for me
@PS_man1984: “Do you still keep your Windows XP computer to play old games?”
Umm, yes?
I have Win 3.1 games that won’t work on later. I have Win 95 games that won’t work on later. I have Win XP games that won’t work on later. I have Win 7 games that won’t work on later. I have games that won’t work on 64-bit. I have games that won’t work on much past a 486.
You were saying?
This is where they would like feedback :
community . us . playstation . com /t5/PlayStation-Now-Open-Beta/bd-p/PSNow
i removed the http and put spaces in, in case the site doesn’t allow URLS
Sony, why we must to test Your beta for our money??? Are you crazy???
@M_K_Sniper: Ya well, what can we do. Maybe we’re just venting on this hot climate here and in a way calming down by this disappointment. I think sometimes even Yoshida reads this. My guess is that they’ll read eventually, like they did with say, the other fiasco named The Crew (or whatever they are giving us a PS+ glorified demo of, it’s off my radar now so pardon for not even remembering the name).
But thanks @stefer09, maybe it’s time to creepy paste all of these comments over there. Migration of some sorts.
A subscription fee would be a lot more realistic than the prices that are offered now. I’m not even going to bother buying anything until there is a subscription service.
Considering 99% of all these comments are negative I’m pretty sure it’s a wrap, I’ve already told all my friends to not give in an give SONY they’re money to help test the system, pretty sure SONY has the Playstation wallet figured out so remind me what’s the point of this beta again? Oh yeah, that’s right, it’s a quick money grab!!!
You didn’t see Bungie charging for their OPEN beta did you? Nope didn’t think so
Yeah, I feel ya. I already told my PS3-only friends “Worry not my child, for you ain’t missing anything at all”.
I’ve bent joking with my PS3 only friends asking them if $2.99 for a trial demo is a good deal? Haha
My feedback:
If I own the PS3 disc, I should be able to put it into my PS4 and then stream the game… Just like with my copy of BF4 for PS3 that was upgraded and used to play the PS4 version.
If I own the PS3 digital copy, I should be able to just stream the game, since the PSN knows I own it.
Simple, if I don’t own it and want to rent it, cool I’ll pay.
Don’t understand this thing at all. I mean you can go to gamestop and buy these games flat out… usually for less then the 90 day rental price.
Close the beta and do it right.
You suck the customer in with cheap or free games, decent games not indie, they should be free anyways.
Then when you get us hooked, then jack up the prices.
Like you did with the PS Plus.
You gave us decent games in the past.
So this year you give us crap indie games.
Now we are stuck having to need PS Plus to play online.
The PS Plus, you might as well keep your ‘free games’ and just tell us we are paying $50 a year to play online, and be done with it.
well, i was excited until i saw that i have to rent the games. i figured we’d just get to try out the service since it’s a beta. it just seems an awful lot like ps+ where i have to purchase at strategic times and make the most of it before it’s gone. i really like the idea of ps now, though. maybe later this week, i’ll stop being so frugal and buy a 7 day rental on one of the games, but just this once!
Yes its aGREAT IDEA BUT ITS COSTING US THE customer MORE MONEY TO RENT THE GAME WE MIGHT AS WELL BUY THE GAME ITS GREAT TO RENT BUT COME OUT WITH A PLAN LIKE PSN PLUS YOU WILL GET MORE MORE ASWELL GET YOU GAMES PLAYED
I’m sorry but i was hoping to buy old games digitally like on the PS3…this is kind of a let down , but i guess that’s what i get for not following it close enough. I say we should tell sony to either let us buy the old games or just do a netflix pay system that would be a lot easier!
Anyone remember the days when companies used to pay US to beta test their games?? Guess I’m just dating myself…but I can’t imagine ever paying just for the privilege to help Sony get feedback on their system. They should never be charging for this, really leaves a bad taste. Too bad, as I was really excited about this when I heard of it.
Would be something to think about merging it w/ PS PLUS and having accesses to certain titles for free and for those exceptions at reasonable discounted price.. Currently the price buckets aren’t that appealing or convincing.
With daily/hourly subscriptions, I don’t think the service is going to be worth it. It’s got to be a subscription based service like Netflix to work. I shouldn’t have to pay per game for a set amount of time, but rather pay a subscription and I can play any game st any time for however long I want so long as I keep an active subscription. One of the best things about games is I can play final fantasy one day, then play battlefield the next day, and three hours later, switch to metal gear. I’m not stuck playing just one game till my time/money is up and I just go get the next one- I set my own schedule. The per hour format is good only for demos, and they should forever remain free. This hour/ day thing will discourage me from using playstation now. If it’s to replace the ps3, then it must do so not only in capability, but in economy as well. Use subscription options only and allow all players to stream whatever they want at any time, and make sure the subscriptions aren’t so ridiculously overpriced as to make it completely uneconomical and destroy the very point of getting rid of my ps3 .
I spend a lot of money on PSN, probably a few thousand a year easily. The prices for games on PS Now are absolutely outrageous. I will not be renting anything no matter what you decide to add. For the price of your 90 day rental I can go buy 2 copies of most of the games on your list at my local used games store and just play them on PS3 where there is no worries of lag. Now if you added something like a BUY option for games that might be a different story, or changed your hilariously overpriced 4 hour rental fee to something reasonable my mind might be changed but honestly unless it’s something like Netflix or PS Plus style subscription this is one customer you won’t be getting.
I have a 2 questions. Are you considering making games on the Playstation Now purchasable so we can play them forever. Trust me Dead or Alive, MGS, Way of the Samurai 3 are all awesome games that I will try out. But Knowing that I have them for a limited time is kinda not sitting well. Second question is are you considering making games that we already own playable on the ps4. For example I have Lost Planet 2 for ps3 already on a disc and there is Lost Planet 2 on PS now but I cannot play it using the physical disc it self. It would be cool if you could pay A LITTLE to NO money to allow the ps3 disc you already have to be compatible to the system. Thank you for reading. :)
I’m a very big gamer. If there is a game I really really like, I like to keep that game for as long as possible. I’m not a big fan of RENTING games because there is a possibility I may want to play the game sometime in the future. Is there any possible way you guys can make an option where we can buy our streamed games and have ownership for that copy of a game we want? Because I despise the whole RENTING concept. I like to KEEP the games I purchase.
I am seeing this launch as a major lost opportunity. I know a LARGE number of people who used to be exclusive XBOX users. They are now PS4 owners and have no real knowledge of what was available on the PS3. This would have been a great opportunity to show off games like the Uncharted series, the Motorstorm series and the Resistance series. All of which are absent on this launch. Now I know that many more titles will be released as more time passes. But, there should have been some heavy hitters in this launch. It seems like a poor selection of games.
@Obiwan176 It’s not a launch, it’s a Beta. They have said they will be adding a lot of games on a regular basis once it’s launched.
PS Now is something that should be entitled to me as a Playstation Plus Subscriber. This is how it ought to work and I think many would agree. There should be a regular ps plus subscription, the usual 49.99 price a year that we are familiar and then there should be a second option maybe tack on an extra 10 or 15 bucks maybe so it adds ps now, and now I can access all these games with my ps plus subscription. Concluding, keep regular ps now subscription but also offer a ps plus and ps now combo subscription.
A normal subscription for a MMORPG is roughly $13-15 a month. Difference is the PSNow games are already made, no updates, no add-ons and they are older games.
I think $15 a month for unlimited game access should be fair. With PS+ $10 a month.
Then do a special price for a 6 month plan, and a special for a 1 year plan.
I have been with Playstation for many years, and I know how slow they can be for releasing old titles from old generation consoles, but they need to get on the ball about rereleasing these games for the PSNow. it’s been 8-9 years since PS3 has been released? And they still haven’t gotten all the PSOne games for repurchase, barely put a dent in PS2 games.
Last thing, all the games we bought from PSStore needs to be free or a very very heavy discount and the PS+ games from the PS3 to remain free unless we let our PS+ subscription expire.
You guys are insane! SO Overpriced it’s not even funny!! And most certainly no where close to a “value”. Should be 4.99 to rent for 3 months, .50-.99c four 4 hour rental. This should be Included FREE with PS Plus. This service has ZERO chance at succeeding, ZERO.
This along with all the Indie games being jammed down our throats really saddens me. In less than One year Sony has thrown away all the good will they earned from me in gameing since mid 90’s. I payed 400.00 for a machine that is still inferior to the PS3 it sits next to and 90% of the games out for it can be played on a NES Gaming system.
I really think the S in Sony needs to be replaced with a $. Also PS+ is hardly the Value it used to be, I still have a difficult time dealing with paying ANOTHER fee aside from my Internet bill to game online, BUT at least the free AAA games made that Bitter Pill easier to swallow, But now that all We get are 2 a month and they are constantly Indie Dreck, I now look at PS+ as a Waste of Money I have very little choice but to pay anyways
~Signed- A VERY Unhappy Customer. Ignore me or ban for not being a blind fanboi I dont really care anymore.
Dear Sony, I really do like the service. The prices are reasonable here and there, although some seem way off. I think its $7.99 for 90 days but it literally costs $7.99 to just buy it. There’s a few others like that too, it’s just really odd and it kind of explains some of the hate you’re getting.
I rented Sniper Elite 2 for 4 hours. I think it’s worth the price of $2.99 since I usually say a 2 hour movie being about $5 to rent is worth it. So usually $5 for 2 hours of entertainment means a good deal! But in this case, 4 hours is actually just theoretical because I don’t think everyone wants to play it for 4 hours straight. I only played for 2 hours-ish. I think and it’s sort of be like paying $5 to rent a 3 hour movie then having to return it after 2 hours and needing to repay the $5 to watch the rest. First I wanna try it to see if I like it $2.99 ($1.99 is coming so that’s cool! I don’t see you needing to go less than $1.99. People posting here are cheap as heck), then if I do like it maybe I should be able to upgrade my ‘rental time’ with the price difference. (can we already do this?)
And lastly I’d like to say I REALLY want my ps4 to let me use the SHARE feature with PS NOW. I was annoyed when I couldn’t share with my friends a video of me literally sniping 2 soldiers in slow mo glory right in the nuts, 2 times in a row, both by accident. :(
So I have a question. Does the streaming only work for the specific account that purchased it on said PS4? So for example if I have two users on my ps4, account A and account B, and then rented a game on account A, would I then be able to log out and access the same game from account B? I ask because there are other people who use my PS4 and I know would like to play the rented game on their own accounts. Someone please test it and fill me in. Thanks
@49 when you say we you mean you, dont speak for all of the community
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Price are to high you have to do something about this…
Game
Lowest Price to Buy
How Much Rental Time Will This Buy?
Killzone 3 $4.99 used at GameStop 4 hours for $2.99
Dead Rising 2 $7.69 used at Amazon 7 days for $5.99
Metal Gear Solid 4 $6.99 used at GameStop 4 hours for $4.99
Catherine $13.82 used at Amazon 30 days for $7.99
Darksiders II $15.35 used at Amazon 30 days for $14.99
Zone of the Enders HD Collection $13.10 used at Amazon 7 days for $9.99
Deus Ex: Human Revolution + DLC $6.82 used at Walmart without DLC 4 hours for $4.99
Guacamelee! + DLC $14.99 download on PS4 with extra story content 90 days for $14.99
F1 2013 $39.99 new at Amazon 30 days for $22.99 + 7 days for $11.99
Dear Playstation,
I have an option about a subscription for PS NOW.
What if there is a subscribtion model that you pay once for like 3 months for both PS NOW and PS PLUS. And every game you’ve downloaded free on PS PLUS will be instant free forever on PS NOW. I saw games GRiD 2 and Dead or Alive 5 in the PS NOW beta but i already have that games on PS PLUS. Isn’t it a good option to get PS+ and PS NOW linked to each other?
I hope you will sugest this option.
Hmmm. There’s no void in my life to fill by allowing me to play PS3 games on my PS4. Same with any other combination that allows me to stream PS games on a multitude of devices from phones, to tablets, to smart TVs. I’m passing on this service as a whole.
I find the rental system to be unacceptable. We should be able to own these games instead of only being able to play them for a few hours or days or months. If thats the case, players could just go out and purchase the game for ps3 and play it for as long as they want to. I believe playstation now should have a subscription where players can pay monthly or annually, or better yet link the service to playstation plus which players are already paying for.
Prices are way to high I have no interest in renting games for prices I could get them new twice over on eBay or amazon for the cost of a 30 day (and in some cases 7 day) rental. I don’t see this service in its current form ever replacing my ps2 or ps3. Love you Sony been with you since the ps1 launch but you really dropped the ball here if you think this is the way to go.
Wow. What an embarrassing money grab. Pricing needs to be re-worked and a subscription model needs to be introduced.
I am one of those persons wsho does not have an issue with most of the pricing. Gamers have to realize a $1 a day is unrealistic when you can beat a AAA game in a day. The service does have to be profitable.
And above I said I did not have an issue with MOSTpricing. I own quite a few of these titles in digital format purchased on PSN. I have been a Plus member since the Beta. I do not see why I should have to pay for those games…again. A disc format I understand but digital? Really?
On a related note I would pay serious money for a unlimited subscription.
I hate this whole idea from before I tried it. I prefer to own my games, digital or on a disc. Why should I pay $22.99 for 90 days to rent Resident evil 5 for instance, when the store next to me has a copy for less of a price. Time limit to play games is retarded especially for those who collect trophies. I SPEAK FOR MYSELF WHEN I SAY LET US OWN OUR GAMES, NOT STREAM THE.
Ofcourse some 90 day rentals are more than buying them for ps3 because the service is on ps4, and not ps3. Also instead of using hardrive space, there is a server making the service better, thus slightly more expensive prices. Stop complaining, most of these games can be finished in a day, so making the day price $2 is way too cheap.
@Hatchetforce: “Gamers have to realize a $1 a day is unrealistic when you can beat a AAA game in a day.”
You think maybe the fact that it can be beaten in a day is in and of itself a problem?
I love the service Idea and concept but I do have to say I am gravely disappointed that you cannot purchase games or like someone stated below ” rent to own” titles, which in itself would be awesome.
Prices should be adjusted, some seem too high once you hit the 60 day tier.
I spent 4 hours yesterday playing killzone 3 (both story mode and online multiplayer). I intentionally picked this game to test a familiar experience on this new consumption model.
I completely agree with many of the other commenters about the current price model. I remember the days of renting new games at Blockbuster – a few dollars for the weekend, or $5/5 days. I think your lower tier(s) need to be radically adjusted. I also like the suggestion to allow access to previously purchased PSN content. It only makes sense, especially after seeing that you’ve integrated this into the playstation store (which is something I really enjoyed – no need for another app).
The play experience itself was a mixed bag. U-Verse is not exactly known for it’s quality internet in my part of the world (I average 18 Mbps down/3 Mbps up), so I was skeptical going in. To my surprise, the framerate was very smooth, and there were only minor hickups throughout the 4 hours, but the latency was definitely an issue – especially for online multiplayer. I’m sure things will improve as we get closer to a full public release, but at this point I doubt it will ever be a viable means for online play. The experience could be greatly improved if you were able to move some of the processing client side, and stream texture/model data, but I’m not sure how technically feasible this is, and it would require a minimal up front download/installation.
All in all, after my first experience, I’m fairly optimisitic about the future of this service. I do plan to purchase a Playstation TV this winter, but I’m largely drawn by the ability to stream PS4 games over my own network. The extent to which I use PS Now will largely depend upon the improvements made (technically and economically) over the next few months. At this point, I think you’re off to a great start.
I was skeptical of this, as my main interest would be for playing on my Vita, but after seeing the spectacular disaster that this has become, especially regarding the pricing issue, I’m pretty sure I won’t ever use the service. That’s just insulting to ask people to pay such outrageous prices for renting old games.
I understand that it costs Sony a lot in processing power and bandwidth to deliver the experience (more than streaming non-interactive media), but that’s irrelevant to the consumer. To take an example I saw elsewhere, a consumer won’t accept to pay more for your muffins because you baked them in a golden oven instead of a regular one. If it costs so much to offer such a service that you can’t afford selling at a price that makes sense to the consumer, then it is simply a bad business model.
But there’s a thing more outrageous than these prices… The fact that people at Sony don’t seem to have a slight idea about “fair prices” to the point they have to ask feedback from the consumers to make adjustments. I mean… wow. Just… wow.
The only problem I have with the PlayStation Now service is it’s current price model.
For starters WHO IN THEY’RE RIGHT MINDS WOULD PAY $2.99-$4.99 TO PLAY A GAME FOR ONLY 4HOURS?? 0_0
In my humble opinion I think that Sony should go the Netflix route and charge one flat monthly rate between $15.00-$25.00
I understand From there point of view that they’ve spent a s**t ton of $$$.$$$.$$$ on they’re servers However anything below or above the price point that I’ve just shown will hurt them in the long run.