Sony has recently introduced its freshly revamped PS Plus subscription service, introducing a three-tiered membership with different price tags and benefits depending on what users are looking for. As an answer to Microsoft’s hugely successful Xbox Game Pass subscription, Sony is including large game libraries within their top two tiers, PS Plus Extra and Premium. While the priciest tier includes more than 300 classic games dating back to the PS1, PS Vita games have mostly been snubbed by the gaming giant.
PS Vita Games mostly omitted in the new 3-tiered service
Sony has split its freshly revamped PlayStation Plus subscription service, which rolled out at the end of June into three distinct tiers. The lowest tier, PS Plus Essential, includes the PS Plus benefits we already know, such as free monthly game downloads, online multiplayer access, cloud storage etc. It’s the PS Plus Extra tier where things get more interesting, as Sony has included around 400 PS4 and PS5 games for members, offering a similar model as the Xbox Game Pass. The third and highest tier, PS Plus Premium, offers full backwards compatibility with 340 additional games from the PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP – but not the PS Vita.
While pretty much all of Sony’s consoles are represented, the new subscription model has largely omitted PS Vita titles. This has many PS Vita fans frustrated and serves as another nail in the coffin of Sony’s most underrated console. Since its launch in 2012, the PS Vita had struggled to reach mainstream success and only received a mediocre reputation within the community at large. A limited library of exclusives and Sony’s short-lived support for the device had the PS Vita doomed for failure already early on. The thin list of exclusives and absence of commercial success will have most likely been the reason Sony didn’t deem it viable to include Vita titles in their new subscription model. Furthermore, the additional controls of the PS Vita such as the rear touchpad or gyro motion sensors make PS Vita games especially hard to emulate on other devices, which will have been another reason for Sony to omit these games.
Large game libraries for multiple game platforms are trending
After all, making games playable across platforms is where the industry is currently headed. With its new subscription service, Sony is following industry trends of offering large libraries filled with games at a monthly fee, which can be accessed from several mediums. Xbox has led the way in this field, with the Xbox Game Pass boasting hundreds of games. With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, players are no longer restricted to playing their games on their console, but can also switch to their PC and mobile devices. While Sony had already allowed cloud gaming with their PS Now service, they have now improved on this by merging PS Now and PS Plus in one single service.
Offering large game libraries which can easily be accessed from several devices is not something only seen on consoles, as this trend was long kicked off within browsers. As browser games are solely available online, these can be accessed from any computer or mobile device at any time without the need for a download. For a long time, all kinds of genres have been available this way, from casual and classic games to MMOs. For instance, many mini-game websites offer a selection of casual games for free, while many online casinos offer a large variety of casino games such as table games and slots on the web. These can be accessed freely on the web through no deposit casino bonus offers which include free spins and free credit to play without having to deposit money. Players can easily switch between different games without having to make a download on some of the best-rated platforms. Even large-scale MMOs such as League of Angels and Drakensang Online can be played on a browser, both on computers and on the go. It is therefore evident that by offering a large library of games from different consoles, many of which can be streamed on different devices, Sony is following current industry trends.
Sony has revamped its PS Plus subscription service with a new three-tiered model. Boasting a large library of classic PS games, the new service allows players to dive into the annals of PS games. However, unfortunately for PS Vita fans, the hugely underrated handheld has mostly been left out of the equation.
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