PS5 doesn’t have an Xbox Game Pass killer — but that could change

PS5 doesn't take an Xbox Game Pass killer — just that could change

PS5 DualSense controller and Xbox Wireless controller

(Prototype credit: Future)

Xbox Game Pass is undoubtedly the 'killer app' for the Xbox Series X and indeed the Xbox 1 and Xbox One X. While Sony's PS5 might have the edge with consoles exclusives, it currently has no real Game Pass rival. But that could change.

According to David Jaffe, the creator of God of War and co-creator of Twisted Metal, Sony is working on "a counterpunch" to Xbox Game Pass, reported VGC. What form that volition take wasn't revealed. Just Jaffe said sources at Sony merits that the company's PlayStation division is cooking upwards something to hit back at Microsoft'south service, which currently has some 18 million subscribers.

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Merely that's no pocket-size undertaking, while Xbox Game Pass might have Xbox in its moniker, it's more than merely console service. Game Laissez passer is bachelor on Xbox consoles and PC, with the latter having been boosted to comprise over 100 games. And if you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate you lot can stream an increasing number of games to uniform Android devices, with game progress syncing between the cloud, Xbox consoles and PCs.

In my stance, Xbox Game Pass is a fantastic deal and a must-take for whatsoever Xbox fan. Furthermore, a whole bevy of Xbox and PC exclusives are ready to land on Game Pass over the next year or so. Plus, Game Pass at present hosts EA Play games besides as Bethesda's stellar cohort of games. As such, I'm racking my brain to how Sony could compete.

PlayStation Now streaming everywhere

If you lot accept a PS Now subscription, you can stream some PS4 or older games to a PC or PS4. In fact, there are around 800 games you can stream, which on paper trumps Xbox Game Pass. Just a lot of these are hardly stellar triple-A titles like those on Microsoft's service.

And while PS Remote Play to allow you to stream games from a PS5 or PS4 to an Android or iOS device, in that location's no cloud-powered streaming to Android similar Xbox Game Laissez passer has.

Sony could solve this by expanding PS Now to cover a wider gamut of games, including new titles like Demon's Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. And it could add proper game streaming over cellular broadband.

Of form, that'southward easier said than washed. Microsoft can afford to have triple-A games on Game Laissez passer considering it makes millions upon millions of dollars a month from it; 18 meg users paying around $ten equals a hefty $180 million revenue a month. Whereas PS Now has some 2.ii million subscribers, a respectable if paltry amount when compared to Game Pass.

And having a robust streaming service isn't easy. Microsoft has an ace in the hole hither with its Azure deject platform, currently the second largest cloud infrastructure in the world, giving it the tech-plumbing to support game streaming at calibration. The Redmond company is also a dab hand at software steaming given it has the cloud-based Office suite and other online services. Then, Sony may struggle to catch up here.

But Sony could take a different route. Rather than provide a huge range of games on PS Now it could instead deliver a carefully curated library of PlayStation sectional titles, something akin to the PS Plus Collection only with added smartphone streaming. I, for i, would love to be able to play brusque bouts of Bloodborne on my smartphone when on a dull railroad train journey. That'due south provided I don't end up hurling my phone across the carriage when the second-phase of the Begetter Gascoigne boss fight causes "Yous DIED" to wink up for the umpteenth time.

Phoning information technology in

PS Vita in use — (Image credit: Taner Muhlis Karaguzel | Shutterstock)

Of course, trying to go head-to-caput with Xbox Game Laissez passer might non exist the best idea for Sony. Just a new job post for Head of Mobile at PlayStation Studios is looking for someone to "focus on successfully adapting PlayStation's about popular franchises for mobile."

Now I don't want to say 'God of War: Android Edition' but I also don't want to not say that. I need to temper my wild speculation, but I too see no reason why the likes of Santa Monica Studio couldn't adapt God of War to run on a smartphone or tablet. Consider how gorgeous the God of War reboot is on the base of operations PS4 and you can be fairly confident that the developers know how to extract gaming power out of hardware.

Some smartphone games showcase sophisticated graphical grunt thanks to the hardware institute in the Oppo Find X3 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 and iPhone 12. Given the Nintendo Switch uses what's finer mobile hardware and somewhat long-in-the-tooth silicon, yet notwithstanding manages to run the likes of The Witcher 3 and Doom Eternal, I'd exist quietly confident an iPhone 12 Pro Max could run a less-graphically lush version of Bloodborne or Uncharted.

Having such games that could then sync upwards with Sony's high-fidelity panel counterparts, or even companion games that complement full-fat panel titles, could give the visitor an extra string to its gaming bow to hook attention abroad from Game Pass.

This is some wishful thinking from my tired mind. But Sony is tipped to be working on some interesting stuff, so it's not beyond the realms of imagination.

In the meantime, I'll have to brand exercise with waiting for more PS5 exclusive games similar Deathloop and Horizon Forbidden West to keep my gaming attention PlayStation-centric.

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Roland Moore-Colyer is U.K. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He oftentimes writes almost gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of marvel on his face up.