PlayStation Plus subscribers played an average of 7.4 games – 06/28/2023 – Tech

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Sony’s PlayStation Plus game subscription service has more than 400 games available and, on average, each subscriber played just 7.4 games last year. I highlight this and other data from the platform, which were released by the company.

Rewinding: PlayStation Plus launched in 2010 as a subscription service offering access to online multiplayer, cloud storage of save files, discounts, and a monthly selection of free games for PlayStation consoles.

In June of last year, the service was remodeled and now includes a catalog of games available for download. The change in service was a response to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, which launched in 2017 and has since dominated the market for subscription gaming services with virtually no competitors.

Bargain: even considering the annual subscription price of BRL 389.90 for the service in Brazil in the Deluxe category (the most expensive), subscribers spent an average of BRL 52.69 per game. Well below the R$ 349.90 charged for the main PlayStation 5 releases.

The most accessed by subscribers:

• “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales”: The continuation of the first Spider-Man game was made available to subscribers right at the service’s debut. Launched in November 2020, it is set in the same New York as the first title, but this time Miles Morales takes on the role of Peter Parker.

• “Ghost of Tsushima”: Launched in July 2020 for PlayStation 4, Sucker Punch’s open world RPG puts the player in the shoes of samurai Jin Sakai, who needs to defend the Japanese island of Tsushima from a Mongol invasion in the 13th century.

• “Stray”: the “game of the kitten” was one of the few made available on the subscription service along with its launch, in July 2022, with immediate success from critics and the public. In it, the player is a cat that gets lost and needs to wander through a city populated by robots to find his furry friends.

In the catalog of classic games, which offers remakes and PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PSP titles for “Deluxe” subscribers, the most successful franchises were “God of War”, “Resident Evil” It is “The Last of Us” –the latter most likely helped by the success of the HBO series inspired by the game.

What’s next? Sony announced that it is testing PlayStation 5 game streaming with Premium subscribers. Currently, only PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and classic titles are accessible in the cloud. The idea is to face Microsoft’s competing service, which already makes most of its games available via streaming.

Brazil from abroad: The Japanese company has no forecast to make the game streaming service available in Brazil

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play

game tip, new or old, for you to test

Apico

(PC, Switch, PS 4/5, Xbox One/X/S)

This charming 2D beekeeping simulator is a lesson in conservation and biology. You need to discover dozens of species of these insects through exploration and crossbreeding. In addition, you can release bees raised in nature to repopulate the island where the game takes place. Despite the simple presentation, it is a complex game, with confusing menus to navigate. Still, the experience becomes addictive after the player manages to overcome these initial challenges.

A copy of the game was provided for this text.

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update

news, launches, business and what matters most

• Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, said in an internal email sent shortly after the announcement of the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft that he was not worried about the deal, IGN said. In the messages, the executive says he does not believe that Microsoft will turn Activision Blizzard games into Xbox exclusives and says that PlayStation will be fine.

• Microsoft will raise the price of Xbox Game Pass, its subscription gaming service. As of July, the monthly fee for the standard version will increase from R$29.99 to R$32.99. The price of the Ultimate version, which includes access to cloud games, will rise from R$44.99 to R$49.99 per month.

• In yet another sign that Nintendo should soon announce a new console, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in an interview with the GamesIndustry.biz website that the Japanese company advised him to wait for the Switch successor to launch the game “Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope”, which hit the market in October last year.

• Nintendo announced at a virtual event last Wednesday (21) its releases for the coming months. Among the highlights are the remake of “Super Mario RPG” (a classic developed for the Super Nintendo), “Super Mario Bros. Wonder”, a new 2D platform game featuring the mustachioed plumber, and an untitled game starring Princess Peach, planned for 2024.

• Electronic Arts announced an internal restructuring that will separate the area responsible for sports games from the rest of the company. Through the change, EA Sports (developer of the “Fifa” and “Madden” series) will function as an autonomous unit, while the other franchises of the group will be under the responsibility of EA Entertainment.

• Activision announced that the original version of “Call of Duty: Warzone” (now called “Call of Duty: Warzone Caldera”) will go offline on September 21st. Launched in March 2020, the game was replaced in the company’s plans by “Warzone 2.0” in November last year.

• According to the VentureBeat website, a report by the consultancy PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) pointed out that “casual and social games” represent 68.6% of the gaming market in the USA, while the “traditional” gaming sector is responsible for only 22.8% of the revenue from the electronic games market.

• The minutes of a meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Tourism, held on the last day 21, indicated that the 2024 and 2025 editions of E3 were canceled. Asked by journalist Stephen Totilofrom Axios, the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), owner of the event, stated that the future of E3 is still under discussion.

• The BIG Festival, one of the biggest gaming events in Latin America, starts next Wednesday (28), at São Paulo Expo. The event, which runs until next Sunday (2), will bring together some of the main companies in the sector, independent developers and specialists to discuss the games market. In addition, more than 200 titles will be available for visitors to test. Tickets are on sale on the festival website.

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Download

games that will be released in the next few days and promotions that are worthwhile

June 29

“AEW: Fight Forever”: R$299.90 (PS 4/5), R$389.95 (Switch, Xbox One/X/S), price not available (PC)

“The Lara Croft Collection”: BRL 59.99 (Switch)

June 30

“Crime O’Clock”: BRL 76.49 (Switch), price not available (PC)

“Everybody 1-2-Switch”: BRL 149 (Switch)

“Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective”: R$ 129 (PC), R$ 146 (Switch, Xbox One/X/S), price not available (PS 4/5)

“Goodbye World”: price not available (Xbox One/X/S, PS 4/5)

“Master Detective Archives: Rain Code”: BRL 303.90 (Switch)