PlayStation Now

PlayStation Now (PS Now) was a standalone video game subscription service on consoles developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The service offered cloud gaming for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 games that could be played on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Windows computers. In addition, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 4 games could be downloaded to play locally on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.[2] With the expansion of the PlayStation Plus service to offer additional tiers in May-June 2022, the standalone PlayStation Now subscription was shut down, but its services were incorporated into the PlayStation Plus Premium tier.[3]

PlayStation Now
DeveloperSony Interactive Entertainment
TypeVideo game subscription service
Launch date
  • NA: January 28, 2014
  • UK: March 7, 2015
  • EU: April 15, 2016
  • JP: September 6, 2017
Platform(s)PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows
StatusMerged with PlayStation Plus
Members3.2 million (as of March 31, 2021)[1]
Pricing model
US$9.99 per month
US$24.99 for 3 months
US$59.99 per year
WebsiteOfficial website

No games could be downloaded to a PC.[4] Downloaded games could be played without an internet connection, but internet connection was required for verification every few days.[5][6]

Non-PlayStation devices required a DualShock 3, 4, DualSense, or any XInput-compatible controller, such as an Xbox gamepad, to use the service. If members intended to stream their games, Sony recommended that players have a minimum of 5 Mbps internet connection to achieve good performance.[7]

History

PlayStation Now was announced on January 7, 2014 at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show powered by technology from Gaikai.[8][9] At CES, Sony presented demos of The Last of Us, God of War: Ascension, Puppeteer, and Beyond: Two Souls, playable through PS Now on Bravia TVs and PlayStation Vita.[10] The closed beta began in the United States on January 28 with PS3, and on May 19 was extended to PS4.[9][11][12]

To implement the service, Sony created a single motherboard equivalent to 8 PS3 console units into a server rack to allow the games to function, as opposed to software emulation, due to architectural complexity.[13][14]

PlayStation Now was launched in Open Beta in the United States and Canada on PS4 on July 31, 2014, on PS3 on September 18, 2014, on PS Vita and PS TV on October 14, 2014, with support for select 2014 Bravia TVs coming later in the year.[12][15] At Gamescom 2014, SCE announced that PS Now would arrive in Europe in 2015, with the United Kingdom to be the first European country to access the service.[16] On December 24, 2014, Sony announced that PlayStation Now would expand to the other electronic brands.[17]

On CES 2015, Sony confirmed that PlayStation Now would arrive in North America on PS4 as full release on January 13, 2015. On March 7, 2015, it was revealed that PlayStation Now was accessible in Europe.[18] Official beta invites for Europe started going out to PS4 owners on April 15, 2015.[19]

On February 17, 2017, Sony announced it would discontinue PlayStation Now on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV, Sony Bravia televisions (modeled between 2013–15), Sony Blu-ray players and all Samsung televisions by August 15, 2017.[20]

On September 20, 2018, Sony announced that users on PlayStation 4 would be able to download PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4 games offered via the service as Sony started to gradually roll out the new feature to subscribers.[2]

On January 23, 2019, Sony announced that the service would be launching in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden later in the year. A beta for these countries launched in early February[21] and the full service launched on March 12, 2019.[22]

On April 22, 2021, Sony announced that support for 1080p streaming would start rolling out during the week.[23]

On December 3, 2021, Bloomberg reported that Sony was working on a new subscription service codenamed "Spartacus". The service would be a merger of the company’s current services, PlayStation Plus, and PlayStation Now, with the company reportedly set to keep the Plus branding. The service would include three tiers: the first would include all the benefits that PlayStation Plus would include, the second would expand upon the first by including a catalog of titles, and the third one would expand upon the first two by including game trials as well as a catalog of games from the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable.

On March 29, 2022, Sony officially announced the merger of the two services under the Plus branding. The merger took place over May and June 2022.[24][25]

Games

PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 games on PlayStation Now could be streamed to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. As of 2020, there were over 800 games available, with over 300 of them available for download to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. New games were added every month.[15]

After a 7-day free trial, there were three pricing options available for the subscription service.[15]

A separate subscription fee for online multiplayer was not required for PlayStation Now games. The three pricing options gave access to both single player and online multiplayer components.[15]

Availability

PlayStation Now was available in Europe (including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), North America (Canada and the United States), as well as Japan.[22]

References
  1. "Sony IR Day 2021 Game & Network Services Segment" (PDF). Sony.com. May 26, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 26, 2021.
  2. Dunn, Brian. "PlayStation Now Adds Downloading of PS4, PS2 Games". Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  3. "UPDATE: All-new PlayStation Plus launches in June with 700+ games and more value than ever". PlayStation Blog. March 29, 2022. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  4. "Getting started". PlayStation. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  5. "PlayStation Now Adds Downloading of PS4, PS2 Games". PlayStation.Blog. September 20, 2018. Archived from the original on February 10, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  6. "PlayStation Now is changing: here's everything you need to know". PlayStation.Blog. October 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  7. Karmali, Luke (January 9, 2014). "PlayStation Now Recommends 5Mb/s Connection". IGN. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  8. Peckham, Matt. "Sony Unveils 'PlayStation Now' Streaming Game Service at CES 2014". Time. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  9. Moriarty, Colin. "Sony Reveals its Streaming Service: PlayStation Now". IGN. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  10. Long, Neil (January 8, 2014). "Spotify, Netflix and Now, PlayStation: streaming finally trickles down to videogames". Edge Online. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  11. Reardon, Marguerite. "Sony goes all-in on cloud with game, TV streaming". CNET. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  12. Jamshidi, Peter (May 19, 2014). "PlayStation Now: PS4 Private Beta Starts Tomorrow". PlayStation. Archived from the original on December 19, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  13. Leadbetter, Richard (January 17, 2014). "Sony creates custom PS3 hardware for PlayStation Now". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  14. "Sony's PlayStation Now uses custom-designed hardware with eight PS3s on a single motherboard - ExtremeTech". www.extremetech.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  15. "PlayStation Now". PlayStation. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  16. "PlayStation Now gets all-you-can-play subscription plans". Archived from the original on November 30, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  17. "Samsung PlayStation? PS Now coming to Samsung smart TVs in 2015". Ars Technica. December 24, 2014. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  18. "PlayStation Now Beta Currently Running in Europe". xtremeps3. March 7, 2015. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  19. "PlayStation Now Beta Invites Going Out". xtremeps3. April 15, 2015. Archived from the original on August 25, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  20. Dunn, Brian (February 17, 2017). "PlayStation Now Service Update". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on May 21, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  21. "PlayStation Now is coming soon to Spain, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden". PlayStation Blog. January 23, 2019. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  22. "PS Now launches across Italy, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway". PlayStation Blog. March 12, 2019. Archived from the original on January 27, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  23. @PlayStation (April 22, 2021). "PlayStation Now will begin rolling out support for streaming 1080p capable games this week. The rollout will occur over the next several weeks across Europe, US, Canada, and Japan, where PlayStation Now is available" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. Gilliam, Ryan (June 13, 2022). "Sony's new PlayStation Plus is live in North America". Polygon. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  25. Phillips, Tom (May 24, 2022). "PlayStation Plus launches in Asia, though fans say its catalogue has far fewer games than expected". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
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