Sony PlayStation to start a subscription to rival Xbox Game Pass

Sony Group Corp. is all set to introduce a new video game subscription service for PlayStation starting next week, people familiar with the plans said.

Sony Group Corp. is working on introducing a new video game subscription service for PlayStation starting next week, people familiar with the plans said. The service, which has been in progress under the codename Spartacus, is Sony's response to Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox Game Pass, a kind of Netflix for video games that has amassed more than 25 million subscribers. Sony will debut a flashy lineup of hit games from the past few years, said the people, who requested anonymity as the plans are private.

Sony's new service will contain two of its current offerings, PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus. Customers can choose from several tiers offering catalogues of both modern and classic games from previous PlayStation eras.

Last year documents obtained by Bloomberg showed that the most expensive tier will also offer players access to extended demos and the capability to stream games over the Internet. Any Sony spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In recent years, PlayStation consoles have outsold Xboxes, but Sony lags behind Microsoft's efforts in the streaming market. Xbox Game Pass offers hundreds of games for $10 monthly. One of the biggest selling points of Game Pass is that subscribers get access to many titles on the same day they go on sale in stores for $60 or $70 each. That includes this year's highly anticipated sci-fi game from Microsoft, Starfield.

Sony will probably be at a drawback there. The new service is not expected to feature its biggest titles on launch day. For example, the upcoming God of War Ragnarök is not likely to be offered on the streaming platform right away, said one of the people familiar with the plan.