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What's your speculation on the content Sony will put on their new upcoming subscription service (Spartacus)?

vivftp

vivftp

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,763
We have the report from Jason Schreiers article that Spartacus should feature PS1, PS2 and PSP games in addition to the PS3 and PS4 games Sony currently has on their subscription services, with PS5 games to come at some point post-launch. We have a rumor from Era user NateDrake that they should be aiming for about 100 PS1 titles on the service by launch with more to come later.

As it stands right now, PS Now has 851 games on the service with 405 PS4 games, 425 PS3 games and 21 PS2 games (technically PS2 games ported to PS4). On top of that there's the PS Plus Collection which features 20 titles from the PS4 gen. This is the starting point I think everyone is expecting them to build off of with Spartacus, so the question is how big do you think they're aiming to go here? Do you think we'll see every Sony published title in history eventually find itself on the service? How about PS1/PS2/PSP games from publishers who already have loads of games on PS Now? I'm going to assume Sony has a blanket contract with each publisher for those games so are we likely to see them expand that contract to cover even more legacy games?

Do you think one of the tiers will have anime/tv shows/movie content added? What sort of scale are you anticipating for the amount of games at launch and beyond?
 
yyr

yyr

Member
Nov 14, 2017
3,471
White Plains, NY
I'm going to be a skeptic and say that you won't see much outside of what is currently available for purchase on PSN on a PS3 console. Granted, that's a lot...many hundreds of games. But it's not *everything.*

No video content is what I'm guessing. No movies, no anime. Just games.

Maybe they could roll the content out in waves. But since it's all old, to really wow people it would have to drop all at once. That would create a product that's attractive to many, many people!
 

RoastBeeph

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,027
Think all Ps1, Ps2, PS4 and PS5 titles will be downloadable, PS3 titles are confirmed to be streaming only (at least initially). I don't think they plan to ever have 100% of older titles on the service, that would be impossible (too much work, licensing issues, etc.). I'd guess maybe two to three hundred ps1/ps2/PS3 titles, maybe 150 PS4 titles and eventually some PS5 titles.

Edit: actually, based on your numbers, think it would have at least all the same titles as PSNow has so maybe closer to 500 PS4 titles.

I expect first party titles to come 1 year after their release date, similar to EA's subscription service (though their titles come out six months after release date). Don't think Sony will be willing to put new first party titles on there as soon as EA has, think 1 year lag sounds reasonable.

I am sure they will have bundling options to include anime streaming and maybe Sony movie/tv shows streaming.
 
Delusibeta

Delusibeta

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,648
yyr said:
I'm going to be a skeptic and say that you won't see much outside of what is currently available for purchase on PSN on a PS3 console. Granted, that's a lot...many hundreds of games. But it's not *everything.*

No video content is what I'm guessing. No movies, no anime. Just games.
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I'll actually be more pessimistic: I predict it'll be the existing PSNow lineup, with the addition of about five recent indie games and a dozen first party PS1 games, and then monthly batches of about three or four PS4 games and three or four PS1 games.
 
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vivftp

vivftp

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,763
yyr said:
I'm going to be a skeptic and say that you won't see much outside of what is currently available for purchase on PSN on a PS3 console. Granted, that's a lot...many hundreds of games. But it's not *everything.*

No video content is what I'm guessing. No movies, no anime. Just games.

Maybe they could roll the content out in waves. But since it's all old, to really wow people it would have to drop all at once. That would create a product that's attractive to many, many people!
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I think the whole anime thing being rolled in will depend on when they plan to launch their new amalgamated streaming service that merges Crunchyroll, Funimation and the rest. One of the gaming websites had claimed a few months back that the new anime service would appear in a more expensive gaming sub from Sony, so having it added to the most expensive third tier seems to fit the rumor.

As for TV shows and movies, well they're currently testing out having movies in PS+ in Poland under the name of Video Pass and that trial is going to finish at the end of this fiscal year, which is about when Spartacus is set to launch. Makes me wonder if they'll be tossing on some TV/movie content on the service as an extra perk. How that will play into their deals with Netflix and Disney to put Sony's content on their services though, who knows.

As for the games, yeah we're definitely going to be seeing content releases in waves as I can't see them having EVERYTHING ready to drop at launch. Releasing content in waves also gives subscribers something fresh to experience each month.

Delusibeta said:
I'll actually be more pessimistic: I predict it'll be the existing PSNow lineup, with the addition of about five recent indie games and a dozen first party PS1 games, and then monthly batches of about three or four PS4 games and three or four PS1 games.
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Dang that is REALLY pessimistic. That's just a couple more games a month than we're currently getting with Plus and Now combined, lol.
 

skorba

Member
Dec 19, 2020
124
I really don't think the PS1/PS2/PSP games are going to be downloadable. I think this will just be a beefed up Now with a new name.
 
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vivftp

vivftp

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,763
skorba said:
I really don't think the PS1/PS2/PSP games are going to be downloadable. I think this will just be a beefed up Now with a new name.
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See I'm having trouble seeing a scenario where those games aren't downloadable. Leaving them to be streaming only would only tie up resources for their cloud infrastructure whenever someone wanted to play one of those games. Emulators for those platforms are relatively easy compared to the PS3 as well. Not to mention Sony themselves have acknowledged that the majority of folks on Now prefer to use the download options versus streaming. As a result my brain can't fathom a reason not to offer a download option for those platforms.

rochellepaws said:
I expect nothing new, just a repackaging of streamed PS3 stuff.
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So you're expecting them to just rebrand PS Now into this new service with no other changes whatsoever? Despite Jason saying that this new service will have PS1/PS2/PSP games added to it as well?
 
rochellepaws

rochellepaws

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,452
Ireland
vivftp said:
See I'm having trouble seeing a scenario where those games aren't downloadable. Leaving them to be streaming only would only tie up resources for their cloud infrastructure whenever someone wanted to play one of those games. Emulators for those platforms are relatively easy compared to the PS3 as well. Not to mention Sony themselves have acknowledged that the majority of folks on Now prefer to use the download options versus streaming. As a result my brain can't fathom a reason not to offer a download option for those platforms.



So you're expecting them to just rebrand PS Now into this new service with no other changes whatsoever? Despite Jason saying that this new service will have PS1/PS2/PSP games added to it as well?
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Jason's tweet said the 3rd tier "could" include those things and seemed pretty uncertain and lacking in general detail.

I'm inclined to not expect very much considering Sony's general efforts around legacy content over the past few generations.
 
klee123

klee123

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,104
PS1-3 games available.

That said, PS1 and PS2 better be downloadable, but I can see PS3 being streaming only.

Having PS1-PS2 games streaming only will be a massive waste of bandwidth.

Certain PS1 games aren't even 100mb in size.
 
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vivftp

vivftp

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,763
rochellepaws said:
Jason's tweet said the 3rd tier "could" include those things and seemed pretty uncertain and lacking in general detail.

I'm inclined to not expect very much considering Sony's general efforts around legacy content over the past few generations.
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I'd say it was the past 1 generation. The PS2 had BC with the PS1. The PS3 had BC with the PS1 and PS2, but they were forced to take it out as a cost cutting measure as the console was hemorrhaging money on each unit sold. The PS4 had no possible way of doing PS3 BC as it just wasn't powerful enough. Not to mention the PS4 launched at a time when Sony as a whole was in VERY bad shape so even if they had wanted to do additional BC, the resources likely weren't there.

Now with the PS5 it's got built in PS4 BC, and Sony are doing amazingly well financially. Offering some robust legacy content options would just be Sony returning to form after the rocky period that was post-PS3 launch and the first half of the PS4 gen.

Of course we'll have to take a wait and see approach. They've certainly got the financial resources to pull it off, and now they have the financial incentive to go big on it as they'll be pulling in additional revenue via the additional tiers of Spartacus.
 

skorba

Member
Dec 19, 2020
124
rochellepaws said:
Jason's tweet said the 3rd tier "could" include those things and seemed pretty uncertain and lacking in general detail.

I'm inclined to not expect very much considering Sony's general efforts around legacy content over the past few generations.
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Exactly. I can sum up why the older games will probably not be downloadable in two words: Jim. Ryan.
 
Doctor_Thomas

Doctor_Thomas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,652
I think it'll probably include all of their PS4 first party titles, with no time limit, excluding 2021/2022 and then start filtering those titles in.

I think PS5's early first party titles, especially cross gen, will also find a home here.

I think they will expand the PS2 offerings and I HOPE they include the PSOne classics that were already on the store. PS3 will still be streaming.
 
Eoin

Eoin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,103
I'm not sure there's going to be the full set of platforms at launch. That'd seem like a very wide range of new things for Sony to be adding and getting right on day one across lots of platforms in lots of countries. So what I'm outlining below is more along the lines of what I think the service might grow to include eventually, and certainly not my expectations for day one.

PS5: Sony need to be rolling PS5 into PS Now. It was understandable not to include it a year ago but it's now past time for it and every time PS Now adds PS4 versions of games that are available on PS5 it just looks sillier. The service doesn't need a huge collection of PS5 games but they should be there, should be downloadable on PS5 and streamable on PS4 and PC, and should include at least a few stand-out games.

PS4: I don't expect this to be much more than the PS4 selection from Now as it stands, maybe with the Plus Collection rolled in. If it's just that then that's not too bad since that's a hefty amount of games and there's still time for Sony to add to the selection.

PS3: It's just going to be the Now selection, and remain streaming only. I can't see them adding much to the service since they're likely not going to expand their cloud-based PS3 hardware and it makes little sense to start putting new hardware in the cloud to emulate the PS3. Without that kind of push they'll probably keep the PS3 selection static (the way it's already been for years).

PS2 and PSOne: They should at least be aiming to get the games line-up they got for the Classics ranges for these machines on PS3. I'm not sure how much they can add to that. PSOne was probably close to being tapped out of games without license problems. At this stage anything other than 60Hz versions of those games (with 50Hz as an option for language reasons only) should be a given but I don't trust Sony not to somehow fuck up and give most of the world 50Hz versions of these games again.

PSP: I think PSP has the most scope for surprise. I'm not sure I expect it to be included but if it is then Sony already have a huge amount of PSP games on the PlayStation Store that they should theoretically be able to make compatible at short notice, and potentially that'd mean giving people lots of big-name games that they hadn't played before. PSP games often look pretty good when upscaled as well, and Sony could also use the PS4/PS5 hardware to sort out performance and control issues, making them the definitive official releases of the PSP versions. I don't know how many people would care for PSP games, but personally I'd be a whole lot more interested if Sony included PSP games than if they just added compatibility for the PSOne Classics range.

Other services: I presume Sony will want to include some kind of anime streaming service with this. Anything else will be very difficult to do internationally. Maybe they could partner with one of the other streaming services like Spotify or Netflix for discounts on joint subscriptions.
 
jbug617

jbug617

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,928
So far on Game Pass there hasn't been any games from the Publisher. We all know the close relationship Sony shares with Activision/Blizzard specifically COD. Is there a possibility that one of the selling points of Spartcus would be some kind exclusivity?
 
LilScooby77

LilScooby77

Member
Dec 11, 2019
11,112
Well have to wait and see. Im pretty sure this years cod will be on Spartacus before it comes to gamepass as an example.
 
Sunfyre

Sunfyre

Member
Jan 15, 2020
585
Do you honestly believe that MS would pay 67 BILLION when they could not put the games on Game Pass?
 
Noppie

Noppie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,770
🤷 Don't know. Think Activision mostly just didn't bother with the service.
 
Strings

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,419
Iirc, the Capcom leak let us know that Sony has a right of first refusal on games they have marketing for when it comes to those services, so that might be it.
LoNe_eXiLe said:
Can we please stop with a reaction threads every 5 minutes? We literally don't know what will happen and that won't change any time soon.
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But yeah, this.
 
LoNe_eXiLe

LoNe_eXiLe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
306
Can we please stop with a reaction threads every 5 minutes? We literally don't know what will happen and that won't change any time soon.
 
Izanagi89

Izanagi89

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,599
Yes, no, maybe, I don't know 🤷 We dont know anything and guessing isn't all that fun
 
Kalor

Kalor

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Oct 25, 2017
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We know basically nothing about Spartacus so what's even the point of discussing potential exclusivity.
 
Grimmy11

Grimmy11

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Oct 28, 2017
1,764
I don't think there's any chance Sony would have thrown the money required at Activision to get the next CoD on Spartacus day one for example, but Vanguard (or older CoDs)? Depending on when Spartacus launches I could see that being on it, possibly with a timed exclusivity on it being on other subscription services. Although that'd probably expire by the time the buyout is completed and Microsoft want to put it on Gamepass.

I don't see there being anything in place with whatever Spartacus turns out to be that would effect what MS want to do with Acti/Blizz games in any real way.

Edit: As others mentioned, Obviously any deal would have needed to already been made before the acquisition was announced, and seeing how Sony have found themselves scrambling to change PS+ games days before they're released before now, I'd be pretty shocked if they had a massive amount of deals in place for something that doesn't have an announced release window or anything yet.
 
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Deleted member 93062

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24,767
I think we'll definitely see Crash and Spyro PS1/PS2 games on there. Outside of that, I don't think Sony's approach to this will be too similar to Game Pass in terms of getting big third party releases day one. If they haven't signed a deal to get Wumpa League on there or some other thing Activision is working on, I don't expect anything.
 
Frieza

Frieza

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Oct 25, 2017
3,850
Looking at the way Game Pass works, and I assume Spartacus would be similar. Games typically leave the service after a year, this wouldn't impact MS assuming Spartacus releases this year and Activision had some sort of deal with Sony.
 
AstronaughtE

AstronaughtE

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Nov 26, 2017
10,218
I would imagine that it was certainly a threat, but I think if it were a thing Bobby would have held out until after the announcement from Sony. It likely would have drove the shares up higher and increased his payday?
 

Nola

Member
Oct 29, 2017
8,061
jbug617 said:
not a full exclusive but timed for a certain amount of months.
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Almost certainly not

If there are past contractual agreements such as ghost wire or Deathloop, yes, Microsoft may honor them up to a point, beyond that no new deals that benefit Sony and take away from the brand strengthening power these deals are meant to serve for the Microsoft ecosystem are going to happen.

Let alone to help sony's competing service. If Sony wants to put Gamepass on PlayStation, I'm guessing Microsoft would be ready to help them get CoD on there.
 
GING-SAMA

GING-SAMA

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Jul 10, 2019
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Pretty sure that when Microsoft sign the intent, they block Activision Blizzard any discussion possible with Sony
 
Naner

Naner

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Oct 27, 2017
3,018
Probably not but...

I have a hunch that Sony signed Deathloop and Ghostwire in order to lessen the effect of the Bethesda aquisition. They might have done something similar with ActiBlizz IF it's possible they knew about the deal in advance.
 
Dunlop

Dunlop

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Oct 25, 2017
8,479
GING-SAMA said:
Pretty sure that when Microsoft sign the intent, they block Activision Blizzard any discussion possible with Sony
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Absolutely,

At the moment, every PS5 that is produced is instantly sold due to hardware shortages. What would have been Sony's motivation to spend the obscene amount of money it would have cost to do this?
 
Reddaye

Reddaye

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Mar 24, 2018
2,909
New Brunswick, Canada
Putting games on streaming platforms (especially day one) doesn't really gel with Kotick's strategy for ABK. Perhaps some legacy titles that they weren't going to release for quarterly revenue box sales.

I find it hard to believe you were ever going to see day one Call of Duty releasing on Spartacus, or any streaming platform before the buyout.
 
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