Sony’s Jim Ryan says PS5 will not put “$100 million” games on subscription services, referring to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass

Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment

After the inexcusable mess that followed PS5 preorders last night, Sony apparently decided that wasn’t enough. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has now said that the company isn’t planning to release “$100 million” games into subscription services, exactly what Microsoft does with Xbox Game Pass.

Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz that PlayStation does not plan to follow Xbox’s approach with a similar offering. Xbox Game Studios games currently release into Xbox Game Pass the day they launch at retailers.

For us, having a catalogue of games is not something that defines a platform. Our pitch, as you’ve heard, is ‘new games, great games.’ We have had this conversation before — we are not going to go down the road of putting new releases titles into a subscription model. These games cost many millions of dollars, well over $100 million, to develop. We just don’t see that as sustainable.

Part of what makes Xbox Game Pass so appealing is that you can play games like Gears 5, Halo Infinite, and more the minute they release for everyone else. It’s an outstanding amount of value for a service that costs just $10/month. Sony’s PlayStation Now just can’t compete with that, and it looks like it unfortunately doesn’t want to. Imagine Horizon Forbidden West and Spier-Man: Miles Morales coming to PS Now at launch. That’s a pipe dream that sadly won’t become reality.

The PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition will release on November 12 for $499 and $399. Though it’s only coming to seven countries on that day — United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea — it will release worldwide the following week on November 19. Just don’t plan on playing any AAA PS5 exclusives in a subscription service anytime soon.