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Sony reportedly has a Game Pass competitor in development

By Otto Kratky December 3, 2021

Sony is ratcheting up its competition with Microsoft’s Xbox ecosystem in the form of a competitor to Xbox Game Pass, according to a report from Bloomberg. The report, which cites “people familiar with Sony’s plans and documents viewed by Bloomberg,” alleges that the competitor, code-named Spartacus, will be a tiered subscription plan.

Expected to launch in spring 2022, Spartacus will combine PlayStation’s two current subscription services, PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now, into one service. PlayStation Now has been seen as a failed competitor to Game Pass that lets players stream a limited number of games to their PlayStation consoles. According to the report, PlayStation Now will be phased out entirely, while the PlayStation Plus branding is retained.

Spartacus, much like Xbox Game Pass, will reportedly have multiple subscription tiers. The first would provide the same services PlayStation Plus currently gives users, namely access to online multiplayer in games and a select group of free games each month. The next tier up will give users access to a large library of PS4, and eventually, PS5 games. Spartacus’ final tier includes even more content for users, with access to a streaming library made up of PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP games, as well as extended demos for games.

It’s not clear how much each tier will cost when Sony’s Spartacus actually launches. Regardless of price, Sony has an uphill battle to fight when it comes to claiming any of the game subscription service market share from Microsoft. Xbox Game Pass has been a massive success for the company, driven by game studio acquisitions that have brought the likes of Bethesda under Microsoft’s exclusive umbrella.

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Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

Gaming

Microsoft has acquired Activision Blizzard: What does that mean for you?

The key art from when Microsoft finally acquired Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. After Microsoft worked to appease regulators and fend off litigation, the $69 billion acquisition first announced in January 2022 is finally complete. Now that Activision Blizzard is officially part of Microsoft and a sister company to Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media, that raises an important question: What does this acquisition mean for you as a player?

Following this acquisition, Microsoft will own more gaming studios, the availability of Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard franchises will shift, and unionization efforts within Activision Blizzard could gain a bit more ground. If you're wondering what happens next, here's our thorough examination of how the deal could impact players moving forward.
Microsoft's new game studios
With this acquisition, Microsoft will now own all the developers under the Activision Blizzard company. That includes the teams at Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King, the latter of which is the developer behind the wildly popular mobile series Candy Crush. The acquisition encompasses the following subsidiaries as well: Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, High Moon Studios, Beenox, Toys for Bob, Activision Shanghai Studio, Solid State Studios, Demonware, Digital Legends, and Major League Gaming. Microsoft now also owns the rights to all of the games and IP Activision Blizzard previously released.

Computing

Sony just made all other wireless gaming earbuds obsolete

Sony InZone Buds sitting among other earbuds.

I've struggled to find an audio solution that works for PC gaming. Over-ear headphones, even premium ones like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pros, irritate my ears by pressing into my glasses. And earbuds, almost regardless of brand, either lack the features I want out of a premium audio experience or come with horrendous Bluetooth lag. The new Sony InZone Buds have finally solved my problem.

They're a set of true wireless earbuds built for gaming. That's not new, as we've seen with earbuds like the HyperX Cloud Mix. The difference here is that the InZone Buds come from Sony, makers of some of the best true wireless earbuds.
Why the InZone Buds are special

Gaming

Play Xbox Game Pass’ weirdest game before it leaves on September 30

weird west leaving game pass september 2023 art

Earlier this year, Arkane Studios disappointed on Xbox Game Pass with Redfall, a game that dropped much of the studio’s immersive sim expertise for an underbaked multiplayer adventure. But what if I told you that the person who founded Arkane and helped create series like Dishonored had left the studio prior to Redfall and made an excellent immersive sim that is also available on Xbox Game Pass?
Well, that actually happened, and the game in question is Weird West.
In March 2022, former Arkane Studios founder Raphaël Colantonio released Weird West under the newly formed WolfEye Studios. While it swaps out a third-person perspective for an isometric one, Weird West is a joyfully odd supernatural Western game that manages to tap into the immersive sim design philosophy that made many of the games Colantonio worked on excellent.
Unfortunately, Weird West is leaving Xbox Game Pass on September 30, so we recommend you give it a shot before it’s gone.
Embracing the weird
Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of games set in the Wild West, and even fewer that lean into creepy, supernatural elements like Weird West does. The game’s world is full of supernatural cults, magic, and creatures like pigmen, zombies, and werewolves. Its story is told across five distinct campaigns, starting with one about a retired bounty hunter whose child is killed and husband kidnapped, setting her off on an adventure to get them back.
The individual stories of all five of Weird West’s playable characters are emotionally captivating and quite distinct from each other. That’s very noticeable as soon as you jump over to the second story, which follows a human turned into a Pigman. Still, it’s a living and reactive world, so decisions made and characters killed in an earlier character’s journey do have an impact on subsequent characters’ adventures; you can even find and recruit characters that you previously played as.

It’s here where Weird West’s immersive sim roots start to shine, as a lot of emergent narrative moments with impact feel crafted by the player. This carries over into gameplay, which is done from an isometric perspective. Like Arkane’s best games, there are always multiple solutions to any objective, and going in with guns blazing isn’t always the best option. Instead, players are encouraged to stealth around, sweet-talk characters, and even use some magical abilities if the playable character can learn them as they progress through a character’s journey.
With these more dynamic elements, the isometric perspective, and the narrative focus, Weird West can feel like as much of a CRPG as an immersive sim at times. As such, it might be an enjoyable follow-up to Baldur’s Gate 3 for players finally coming off that lengthy RPG. At the very least, if you enjoy games that emphasize player freedom and also find novel ways to make it influence the game’s broader narrative, then you’ll enjoy Weird West.
The game had some technical issues and rough edges when it was first released, so it has flown under the radar. Most of those have all been smoothed over by now, though. Post-launch updates have fixed most of the major bugs and improved the character progression, aiming, and companion and stealth systems by adding more depth and UI clarity to them. Weird West is in the best state it has ever been in, but still feels as distinct and strange as ever.