You’ve been able to rent games through PlayStation Now for several months now, but many of you have asked –- what about a subscription? I’m pleased to announce that starting January 13th, we’ll launch a subscription service for PlayStation Now that will provide instant and unlimited access to a catalog of more than 100 PS3 games. And since you’re using PlayStation Now, you can enjoy the freedom to quickly discover and play a wide range of full games without downloads, installs, or patches (not to mention trips to the store). The subscription service will be available first on PS4 across North America, and will come to other PlayStation Now enabled devices in the future.
You’ll be able to choose from two subscription plans: one month for $19.99, or a three-month package for $44.99 (about $15 per month). The subscription provides access to a large and diverse catalog of PS3 games, ranging from action to RPG and everything in-between. Check out our launch trailer for a sneak peek.
We know that there are many PS4 owners who never owned a PS3 or had a chance to play some of the great games it offered, and this subscription provides an easy way to catch up on games you may have missed.
Want to try before you buy? Well, good news! We’ll also offer a free seven-day trial to the subscription program when it launches.
PlayStation Now subscription will have strong and growing support from our publishing partners, and at launch you’ll find great games in your catalog from the likes of SCE Worldwide Studios, Warner Brothers, SEGA, and many others, including indie developers. Here’s a look at some of the key titles:
There’s strong value with the subscription, as you’re getting access to over a hundred great games and lots of hours of game time. What’s more, we will be adding even more games over time, so you will always have something great to play.
Also, to celebrate the launch of the subscription service, a free PlayStation Now theme will be available for PS4 users in early January. If you download the theme before January 31, you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for a chance to win a one-year subscription to PlayStation Now. I hope you will give the new PlayStation Now subscription a try, and I look forward to hearing your continued feedback as we grow the service.
now bring ps2 games!!!
It’s a great idea. Maybe a bit overpriced but PLEASE bring back PS2 Games!!!!
Hmm, I was hoping for a slightly lower price point, and the subscription including PS+. I don’t have a PS4, but rather a PS3 and PSTV, so really the only draw would be to play PS3 games from the PSTV for the time being.
The more I think about this the more I realize its not a really good deal.
Gamefly charges roughly the same price and has a larger selection updated with new releases when they launch. Sure its a 2 game at a time limit but a much wider selection.
Suppose you own a last gen console why buy thi service odds are you’ve played the title you want to play and if no you can buy them for less than $20 and own them.
Who is to say the service will get the support it deserves look at titles recently added, or better yet look at other times we were told to expect great service and were upset case in point the Vita and Home both flops sadly.
This is pretty great; I really hope long term there are PS1 and PS2 games added.
kinda hoping it was more like the plus model $10 for 1 month $18 for 3 and $50 for a year or something along those lines, if there was a discount for plus users then i mgiht consider it.
TOO EXPENSIVE!
Thank you, this is what I have been waiting for! Definitely give it a try now. Love the option of jumping into several games as I want to instead of renting 1 at a time.
This is too pricey for me. Now i have a PS4, how often am i going to play PS3 games? Sure, occasionally there may be a title I missed that I want to play but at $20 a month (or 15$), then I need to be play over 1 PS3 game each month, probably 2 to be getting value out of this deal. Since most of the time i’ll be playing PS4 games, this is not a purchase I will consider for this price.
I’d rather pay $5 per game. Sure I would miss out on playing any game I want at any time, but people that are going back to PS3 games once you have a PS4, how often are you likely to play over 3 PS3 games in any given month?
Nice one! I’ll be doing a 3-month over the summer lazy days. An annual subscription model would be nice too – $109-$119 maybe?
Hey This is pretty cool! I’m interested, but before I sign up I need to know does this mean I can play ps3 games on my ps4? Also, will this service have ps2 and ps vita games playable on ps4? PS2 had some solid games I never got to play.
I like idea of a subscription plan but the prices you guys have now are overpriced why not make it 10 a month that’s more reasonable
If we played the game before on the playstation 3 such as a game like call of duty will our info from the playstation 3 version be moved to this? or do we start over on everything? will i be able to play online with friends who are playing the same game but on playstation 3?
Hell yes! I am very excited about this. I think so many more people are going to give this service a try now.
Better than the ridiculous prices they had for individual prices but still way too high for a catalog service where latency is still an issue. IMO if you don’t have a PS3 your a still better off getting a used one and playing them locally.
Let me play the games I own digitally on ps3 on my ps4 and we can talk about me supporting this service.
Was truly excited for the subscription based PS NOW until I saw those prices. For an entire year at the 3 month mark it’ll cost $179.96. My Netflix account only costs me $95.88 a year. I normally pay a year for Crunchyroll $49.99 to $99.99 (depending if I get the All Access Black Friday sale). Then you have people who subscribe to DC Universe Online, Final Fantasy 14, PS Plus, Xbox Live, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and so on.
This needs to be $9.99 a month with a yearly subscription plan as well. At this point it’d be cheaper and easier to buy a PS3 and buy the games throughout the year of the ones I’ll actually play.
Still WAY too pricey to catch any kind of interest from me. I still believe you guys should package PS+, PS Now, along with Music and Video Unlimited into a bundle. You do that and put a yearly subscription price on it and I’m in.
Having access to my previous PS3 purchases would be enough to push me into getting a ps4. Will continue to stick to my PS3 and it’s back catalogue.
The link to this post on the front page of the blog says $14.99 a month instead of $19.99. For unlimited access, this seems fine, but not sure this will be successful. I tried PS Now’s Beta once or twice, and can’t image that I’ll actually subscribe to it. It worked ok, but it will a while before I feel like going back to older games. I honestly wish you the best as this is a way to provide backwards compatibility.
Im shure all of these games are good and fun games, but as an old call of duty player I was hoping to see FPS games. Like for an example Call of Duty Black Ops and MW3. Maybe Far Cry 3 and so. Will this happen?
The monthly subscription is an awesome idea. The next one I have for you is to allow people who previously purchased games on older systems to enter their UPC code and play those games for free. I’ve been buying playstation games since the PS1 and don’t really want to pay to play them again. But again the monthly subscription is a great start.
Great idea but for that price I will keep my ps3 hooked up. With this being bought in 3 month chunks and PS+ at $50 a year comes out roughly to $230 a year. I will be passing on PSNow.
The one discount I can think of is the recently announced 10% off, one-time, of any Playstation Store purchase.
I do agree overall that while this is welcome, it would have been nice to see a more attractive yearly price that puts it closer to other streaming services. I would also like to see some effort to compensate / recognize people who have purchased PS3 digital content in the past that is now being streamed, as i own a lot of PS3 games in digital form and would like to be able to stream those even without a PS Now subscription, even if the gating factor would be needing to have PS+.
I believe that the pricing model set forth by Sony for PS Now makes sense, for the most part. For $16/month, Gamefly allows you to rent one game (new or old) at a time. You usually have to wait a week to receive it after waiting another week for it to arrive at a Gamefly warehouse and show up on the queue. Not to mention the fact that they may not even send out the game you really want because it’s not in stock. Although PS Now doesn’t have a lot of the new games (yet), you get instantaneous access to 100+ games simultaneously to play on your PS4, PS3, Vita, mobile or TV for $15/month. Sounds reasonable to me. Of course, cheaper is better, but I’m not necessarily sure why people think $15/month is too expensive. A comparison to Netflix doesn’t seem applicable since movie streaming and video game streaming are really apples and oranges.
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Continued from #175…
I must admit that my interest in the service is strictly due to being a Vita owner (the thought of playing half the available games on the handheld makes me giddy!). I doubt I’d have much interest if I played many of the games listed, currently owned a PS3 (which I do), or didn’t own a Vita. I would be in favor of adding some sort of discount if you already are a PS Plus subscriber (i.e., $10-$12/month if already a Plus subscriber), but otherwise I think this is a good deal. I’m also glad they’re giving Now subscribers a free week to demo the service, as it may not work well for those with poor internet connections. Having a subscription to a service that doesn’t work in your home or wherever you have access to a wireless connection would really suck. Hope this works out for you, Sony!
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year subscription pleas .. i just hate renew sub every few months.
This is a really cool idea. I’m still not wowed by it yet though. Meaning the concept is currently better than the final product. I think the thing turning me off the most to it has been the pricing structure. This is far better than what the beta has charged, but it’s still too high for me to want to dive into it. This may be due to the fact that I still have my PS3 along with my PS4. The system I’m always hoping for more games on is my Vita. Which means PS Now has a great deal of potential on that platform. I still wouldn’t pay the high price tag though. I’ve seen others suggesting $29.99, which seems more reasonable. I also like the idea of a much deeper discount for signing up on a yearly basis. That way I don’t worry too much when a couple months go by and I haven’t had time to bust out any games. Which also means Sony is making money on me even when I’m not using your service, but we’re both happy since I wanted the discount. Thanks! I’m glad you guys are always listening. Best of luck with this product.
PS – I also may not use this service this year due to the fact that 2015 is going to bankrupt me with all the amazing games my PS4 was built for!
Also, real quick, I see a lot of people basically requesting that Sony allow for digital backward compatibility through PS Now (i.e., allow me to play my purchased digital games through this service). I understand the request, but honestly, that sounds like something that would be really costly for Sony and technically, an absolute nightmare.
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In the event of another DDOS attack, would the service be affected and, if so, how? Would there be any refunds or extensions of subscriptions if the service was down for a prolonged period of time?
Do i need a credit card or can I subscribe using the same money that i already use for ps store purchases to subscribe to Playstation Now?
$20 bucks amonth..or $44.99 for 3…considering an MMO ONE game, with a subscription model costs $15 a month…that’s…really not that bad. To me, the price isn’t terrible, but way out of my price range (I’m lucky to be able to keep a PS+ subscription). That being said, why…force us, the people who made you guys rich, pay to be able to play games we bough ages ago (I have a TON of PS3 games), if emulation on the PS4’s possible, just make it so we can pop a PS3 disc in and it works, you guys would make much more money, because you and Nintendo would be the only companies with backwards compatibility, your biggest threat, microsoft, wouldn’t stand a chance..it seems like a good idea, and an obvious one. IF PS NOW wasn’t happening, I’d say, “okay, backwards compatibility isn’t possible,” But, it is…otherwise NOW WOULDN’T exist. I imagine no one will listen to all of us saying the same thing, because money, but, who knows.
Sony,
I hope by the time you add PS1 classics to this service (as you’ve indicated is planned), I sincerely hope you add the ability to play our purchased PS1 classics via PSN on PS4 just like you could on PS3. I am certainly not going to be putting more money into renting games I’ve already purchased.
Thank you,
HeavyD-Love
So is this only available through streaming? A copy of the game can’t be download to the device to play offline? I am asking more for the future release of this to the PS Vita. With the non-existent good game library on Vita, ( too many indie titles) this would bring the device back to life. If you have to be on the network to stream this, well that takes the “portable” out of my portable gaming device. Cool option on Vita for remote play, but if I am at home, I am playing the PS4 on my big screen, not my Vita.
Like @Tristan77 said
“I believe PlayStation Now will be a good service and the price is comparable with other services out there but since it is a new service, I would have taken a more aggressive approach:
– $15 for a month
– $29 for 3 months
– 5% discount to PS Plus subscribers
– If you bought a PS3 game on PSN and that game is on PS Now catalog and you have PS Plus then you can stream that game on your PS4 for free even if you don’t have a PS Now subscription.
Hope you guys read our feedback.”
make it 15 a month then you’re off to a good start.. and it should be able to recognize the content from those who purchased the games on a PS3, PS vita previously.
How does it work wih existing PS3 saves? Would there be a way to keep those saves on a vita or ps4 because if so you have a new lifetime subscriber
I’ve already purchased 100+ digital PS3 games! There’s no way I’m paying that much again. They certainly don’t have that much replay value. Not to mention Sonys prices for the UK are always so extortionate, so it’s gonna be even more expensive here…
Oh and then there’s also that monthly ps plus charge too. I’ll pass!!! Us poor people aren’t made of money you know!!
PLEASE ADD AN IMPORTED SECTION. There’s lots of Japanese visual novel and beat games I want to play. There’s also lots of games with easy platinum’s but they’re too expensive to buy. Being a trophy collector, if you did that, I’d latch on to this service and never let go.
actually $20 a month is not bad imo.. I would personally go for the 3 months one though..
Do you have a yearly subscription? .. i used to pay like $35 a month for 2 out at time for games at blockbuster..
Comparing to Gamefly.. $23/month for 2 out at a time? .. with the turn around time for shipping.. this might be a better deal..
but..
i have a few questions
1- how many titles will be available over the next few months ? since 100+ is a good start but a small number
2- is there a LIMIT on the # of games we can play per month? or per day?
I don’t really finish every single game i started.. usually will drop it if it is boring to me and move onto something else.. it could be 1-2 hours or 6-7hours into a game..
3- I know it’s available for PS4 owners only at the moment.. but hopefully will be for PS3 owners as well. hope this will be a Gamefly killer sort of thing.. but.. um.. Do i need to have PS+ to use this Playstation Now service??
4- will you have a YEARLY subscription for the Playstation Now? since if 3 months are $45.. now much will it be for 1 yr upfront ? :) if it’s $120/yearly i don’t see why not :)
The pricing model is all wrong. Look at Netflix; do you think they’d still be around if they had a pricing model like this for streaming? Common sense dictates that if you cut the price to $8-10/month and wind up with a greater percentage of subscription base than percentage you cut the pricing by its more profitable.
And let’s call it like it is: a price point similar to the Netflix streaming service WILL net you a much higher subscription base than this pricing model will.
Playstation doing it wrong again should have started with ps1 games and build it up why start with games we all buy in shop or get cheap smart option Sony would been bring out the games we can’t get anymore giving us the chance to play all playstation games on one console I mean come on who thought ps3 game was good place to start should fire that guy
Cool. Looking forward to this. I’m on board for it once a plus discount gets attached.
Maybe this has been mentioned but a combined annual subscription with PS+ and a slightly lower per month cost would be very attractive. With PS+ at 49.99 per year along with four 3 month subs of ps now adding up to $229.95 (please correct my math if I’m wrong) I would be happy and immediately subscribe at $199.99 for a year of PS+Now.
For that price we should be getting games released in the last year to match competitors and what about some actual games that won game of the year for example to increase the value. There is not a single game of the year winner or any nominees from over the years that I notice. How about past winners of games that won best “insert genre” game
While this is a service i can see myself using, the price is just too much of a turn off! Im sorry but as someone who pays 50$ per year for PS+ this is just adding another fee for something i can get elsewhere for more than half the price! the sad thing is i really want to use the service! why isnt there a combo with PS+? it just makes sense to have something included with both PlayStation Now Subscription, and PS+! hopefully in the near future, but until then i wont be using this service!
This is what I was waiting for to get into the PSNow service. I will definitely subscribe to this next week. Now there are only two things left that I’m hoping to see. 1.) An annual subscription for about $9.99-$12.99 a month, and 2.) Release SOCOM 2 on PSNow with the online servers up and running. I know there’s a lot of people who will subscribe to this service when the classic PS2 SOCOM games return!
Price seems a bit steep, but I think I may be arguing that based on a personal desire to have it lower. Convenience here is key and its clear you guys are aware of that, hence the reason you are pricing it where you are. At any rate the biggest ISSUE I have is that there’s no mention of us getting old games that we purchased on the PSN back. I feel thats a wrong you should be making right Sony. This is also something that I believe will prevent people from really diving into console digital sales when I’ve gotta worry about never getting those purchases back at the next upgrade. Shame really cause I love digital convenience but not when I’m just throwing money out at each upgrade.
Definitely a step in the right direction. Still think the price is a wee bit high for my liking. $10/month it’d be a no brainer. As mentioned by others, would love to see PS1/PS2 library on this (or better yet, Disc support on the PS4). We need some means of playing PSOne/PS2 classics on PS4.
I may be in the minority here, but I was mostly okay with only paying for the specific games I wanted. Will we still be able to rent individual games for a length of time we prefer?
Wow… considering these are all old games and are stuck with Stereo sound only even even they originally had 5.1, this service should be free with Plus! I might have paid, at most, $5 a month extra on top of Plus. And there should be a discounted yearly option.