Along with bolstering production of the PlayStation 5, Sony is will bring another next-gen product to market: an upgraded virtual reality headset. PlayStation VR2 (PSVR 2) may not have a release date yet, but Sony clearly has big plans for it. At an investor briefing, the company revealed that there will be at least 20 "major" PSVR 2 games available at the jump.
There will be a blend of first- and third-party titles. The company didn’t reveal more specifics in its slide deck, but it did include key art for Horizon: Call of the Mountain. That’s a VR spinoff of the Horizon games, but it's not a confirmed PSVR 2 launch title as yet.
It’s not clear whether any of the games in question will be remasters, upgraded versions of existing titles (such as No Man’s Sky and Tetris Effect) or ports from other VR platforms. In any case, here’s hoping that Sony can bring over Half-Life: Alyx from SteamVR.
One third-party game that will definitely be available when PSVR 2 arrives is Among Us VR, according to Schell Games. Other titles that are coming to the platform include Firmament from Myst developer Cyan Worlds, multiple games from Fracked studio nDreams and one by Coatsink, the team behind Jurassic World Aftermath.
Sony revealed the design of the PSVR 2 back in February. The headset will come with new VR2 Sense controllers and have a display resolution of 2000 x 2040 pixels for each eye, a 110-degree field of view, a maximum framerate of 120Hz and 4K HDR support. Pricing hasn't been announced.
One of Sony's top priorities going forward is to ramp up production for the PlayStation 5 to meet unprecedented demand for the console. In a briefing with investors (PDF), the company said that it expects to close the gap in PS4 and PS5 sales this year after the newer console lagged behind its older sibling in 2021. Sony blamed the lack of PS5 sales on its inability to build enough units due to ongoing supply chain shortages in its quarterly earnings report. There's no lack of demand: Based on the data Sony presented, it takes only 82 minutes to to sell 80,000 PS5 units, whereas it takes nine days to sell the same number of PS4s.
The company now expects to be able to produce more units as supply chain shortages have eased up a bit, but the pandemic's impact on parts availability still remains a concern. In addition, Sony is worried that the Russian invasion of Ukraine might also affect its logistics and potential parts inventory. To mitigate the impact of those issues, Sony plans to source from multiple suppliers "for greater agility in unstable market conditions." It also has ongoing negotiations to maintain optimal delivery routes for the console.
With those solutions in place, the company believes PS5 sales can overtake the PS4's again starting next year. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said during the briefing that after the initial ramp up, the company is "planning for heavy further increases in console production, taking [it] to production levels that [it has] never achieved before."
Aside from discussing its PS5 production goals, Sony has also revealed that it's expanding PlayStation Studios by acquiring more game studios, as well as increasing its investments in live services, PC and mobile offerings. It's committing to launch 12 live services in the coming years that don't include Destiny, which will be the company's as part of its Bungie acquisition. And it intends to have half of its annual first party releases on PC and on mobile by 2025. "By expanding to PC and mobile, and it must be said… also to live services, we have the opportunity to move from a situation of being present in a very narrow segment of the overall gaming software market, to being present pretty much everywhere," Ryan explained.
More than a month after revealing the revamped version of PlayStation Plus, Sony has shared the initial lineup of games heading to its new service, covering everything from original PlayStation classics and PlayStation Portable titles to modern hits. The new PlayStation Plus has three tiers, each at a discrete price point and offering varying levels of goodies, and it’s all set to go live on June 13th in the Americas.
Now that we know which games will be included in each tier — PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra and Premium — it’s easier to directly compare Sony’s service with that of its biggest competitor, Xbox Game Pass from Microsoft.
The new PlayStation Plus
Sony’s subscription service is segmented into three parts, with different games and features available depending on how much you pay. PS Plus Essential costs $10 a month or $60 a year, and it’s basically the Plus we know now, offering two games to download each month, access to online multiplayer features, cloud storage and discounts.
PS Plus Extra costs $15 a month or $100 a year, and provides everything in the Essential tier plus a library of up to 400 downloadable PS4 and PS5 games.
Bluepoint Games
The final option, PS Plus Premium, costs $18 a month or $120 a year, and adds up to 340 games from the original PlayStation, PS2, PSP, PS3 and PS4 eras. This is also where streaming comes into play: Sony is folding its existing cloud service, PlayStation Now, into the new Plus ecosystem, but only at its most expensive level. Premium adds the ability to play a selection of PS3 titles from the cloud, and stream or download lower-tier games from original PlayStation, PS2, PSP and PS4 eras (cloud play is only available in territories where PS Now is already live). Streaming will work on PS4, PS5 and PC, while native cloud gaming on mobile devices isn’t possible on Sony’s network.
Now, the games. Sony confirmed just over 100 titles heading to PS Plus Extra and Premium, including Demon’s Souls, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us Remastered, Gravity Rush Remastered, The Last Guardian, Tokyo Jungle, Ico, Tekken 2, Asura’s Wrath, Ape Escape and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. That last game is included in the list as part of a deal to offer a few dozen Ubisoft+ Classics games to Extra and Premium subscribers.
Most of the games on Sony’s list are from the PS4 and PS5 generations, which is good news for Extra subscribers. However, Sony’s initial lineup of old-school games feels thin, even though they’re a crucial feature of the Premium tier. There’s an emphasis on PS3 games, with 29 available to stream, and relatively few titles from earlier eras. While there are some PS4 remasters of PS2 games on the list, including Rogue Galaxy and the Jak and Daxter series, so far Sony’s service has zero original PS2 games.
There’s still hope for nostalgia seekers out there — Sony said its list of classic games is an “early look at a selection of games that will be available,” so there should be more to come.
Japan Studio
However, don’t look to PS Plus for new, blockbuster Sony games. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan told gamesindustry.biz in March that new, first-party titles won’t hit PS Plus on day one, meaning subscribers will have to pay separately for them. This is notable because Microsoft has made a big deal out of offering its in-house titles to Game Pass subscribers at launch.
Ryan said his stance on day-one drops could change, but for now, don’t expect titles like Spider-Man 2 or God of War Ragnarök on PS Plus at any tier.
Xbox Game Pass
On the surface, Game Pass has been a successful endeavor for Microsoft, with 25 million monthly subscribers and counting. Game Pass unlocks access to a large library of old and new games, including day-one releases of first-party titles like Halo: Infinite and Starfield (eventually); it functions across Xbox consoles and PCs, and it includes cloud features that make the included games playable on mobile devices.
The Game Pass library has around 300 games, even though Microsoft continues to market the service with a lowball figure of “over 100” titles. The lineup spans the original Xbox to current-gen, and the main tier adds Xbox Live Gold and access to EA Play. Game Pass has heavy hitters like Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Halo: Infinite, the original Doom and its modern follow-ups, Forza Horizon 5, Mass Effect Legendary Edition and Microsoft Flight Simulator, as well as indie games including A Memoir Blue, Kentucky Route Zero, Outer Wilds, Death’s Door and Spelunky 2.
Microsoft has sole access to some of these games because it owns a significant portion of the video game industry. Xbox Game Studios comprises 23 development teams, including id Software, Bethesda Softworks, Arkane, Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Double Fine and Mojang. All of this ensures Game Pass has a bank of exclusives to draw from — in practice, PS Plus won’t get games from these studios unless Microsoft allows it. The inverse is also true for Sony’s roster of exclusives, but Microsoft simply has more to work with in this regard.
343 Industries
Game Pass has PC-only and console-only tiers providing access to the library and not much more, and these cost $10 a month each. Neither option includes cloud gaming or Xbox Live Gold, which is necessary to play some titles online and costs $10 a month on its own. Microsoft doesn’t do much to market these standalone tiers, instead directing players to Game Pass Ultimate, the main focus of the Xbox subscription scheme.
Game Pass Ultimate costs $15 a month and offers Xbox Live Gold, cloud gaming features, and access to every game in the console and PC lineup. This is the all-inclusive option, operating on Xbox consoles, PCs and mobile devices via the cloud.
PS Plus vs Game Pass
There are a few glaring differences between the new PS Plus and Game Pass. Sony’s subscription plan has fewer games (for now), it doesn’t include mobile streaming and it won’t provide day-one access to new first-party titles, meaning serious PlayStation fans will have to pay for these big drops separately.
In terms of pricing, let’s focus on the top tiers: PS Plus Premium runs $18 a month or $120 a year, and Game Pass Ultimate is $15 a month. The cost is comparable, but at its most flexible pricing level, Sony’s plan is $3 a month more than Microsoft’s. That’s an extra payment of $36 a year. Annually, though, PS Plus Premium is $60 less than Game Pass Ultimate.
Of course, cost isn’t the only consideration here. With rival subscription services, Sony and Microsoft are doubling down on exclusives as a main source of momentum, and maintaining a rich and unique library will be key to the success of these schemes. Xbox may own more than 20 studios, but Sony can still provide games that Microsoft can’t, and titles like Demon’s Souls, Gravity Rush Remastered, Tokyo Jungle, Ico and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are a significant draw for longtime PlayStation fans.
That said, the decision to not include first-party games day-one in PS Plus could lose Sony subscribers, as well as some goodwill. The new PS Plus also seems to be missing some meat from its classics catalog, a move that could turn off potential Premium subscribers, but Sony is just getting started and there’s plenty of room to grow. That is, if Jim Ryan and his team see the value in adding content to the service.
The wait is over. Next month, Sony will release three new PlayStation 5 console covers. As you may recall, the company announced at the end of last year it would begin producing PS5 plates in five additional colors. At the time, Sony said the Midnight Black and Cosmic Red plates would go on sale at the start of 2022, with the three remaining colors – Nova Pink, Starlight Blue and Galactic Purple – to follow during the first half of the year.
Sony left the release to the last moment, but starting today customers in US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg can pre-order the new plates through the PlayStation Direct website – with general availability to follow on June 17th. The console covers are easy to install. All you have to do is pop off the white ones that came with your PS5 and install the new ones. You can also mix and match two different sets of plates to make your console stand out even more – though that will cost you extra to do so.
Sony has revealed the first games set to arrive with the launch of its new PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium subscriptions services, and it's an impressive lineup. PlayStation Studios titles include Demon's Souls (PS5) and Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut (PS4/PS5), along with third-party games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla (PS4/PS5) and NBA 2K22 (PS4/PS5). Those games will arrive in the "launch time frame," starting May 24th, according to Sony, on the PlayStation Plus Extra ($15/month) and Premium ($18/month) tiers.
Along with the main lineup, PlayStation Plus Premium members will get access to classic games "with some titles that will show improved frame rates and higher-quality resolution compared to their original launch versions," Sony wrote. Some of those include Ape Escape, Hot Shots Golf, Tekken 2 and Worms Armageddon, along with remasters like Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy and Borderlands The Handsome Collection. Premium members will also get access to PS3 games like Infamous, Hot Shots and the Ratchet & Clank series.
As part of all that, Ubisoft announced that Ubisoft+ is coming to PlayStation Plus starting on May 24th. On top of Assassin's Creed Valhalla, titles arriving include The Division and For Honor, "as well as beloved classic games like Child of Light, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon, Watch Dogs, Werewolves Within, and more," Ubisoft wrote in its blog. Again, all of these titles will be available on the PlayStation Plus Extra and/or Premium tiers, but not the Essential ($10/month) plan.
Sony will also let Premium (aka Deluxe in certain regions) members get time-limited trials with two hours of gameplay available before purchasing. Some of those on offer include Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Horizon Forbidden West, Cyberpunk 2077 and Tiny Tina's Wonderland.
All tiers including Essential, Extra and Premium/Deluxe will see monthly games, much as you get right now on PlayStation Plus. "We have yet to announce the monthly games for June, but stay tuned to PS Blog," Sony wrote.
On top of all that, new games will be added regularly, with updates on the first Tuesday of the month for PlayStation Plus Essential, and in the middle of each new month for Extra and Premium/Deluxe plans. The service is launching in Asia on May 24th, followed by Japan on June 2nd, North and South America on June 13th and Europe, Australia and New Zealand on June 23rd. There's more information available at the PlayStation Plus website and for a full list of games coming on launch, check Sony's announcement post.
The streaming device, which can be plugged into a TV or monitor, will have either a stick or a puck design, according to GamesBeat. In other words, it'll look like an Amazon Fire Stick or a Chromecast. It's believed that you'll not only be able to stream games from Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with the device, but also use it to watch movies and TV shows.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is said to be working with Samsung on an Xbox app for that company's TVs. Some of Samsung's 2022 models support game streaming services like Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce Now. It wouldn't be surprising at all to see an Xbox Cloud Gaming app on those TVs too.
Both the TV app and streaming device are expected to arrive within the next 12 months. They form part of Microsoft's Xbox Everywhere strategy. The name is self-explanatory — the company wants to reach gamers wherever they are, even if they don't have an Xbox console or a capable gaming PC.
What makes this different from other streaming games from Xbox is that it's free. You don't need an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription to stream Fortnite — just a Microsoft account. Microsoft says it's interested in offering more free-to-play titles via the cloud, so perhaps the likes of Apex Legends, Call of Duty Warzoneand the multiplayer side of Halo Infinitewill be available at some point.
We might not have to wait much longer to hear about the next steps for the Xbox Everywhere initiative. A big Xbox and Bethesda showcase will take place on June 12th, and there could be more than game announcements and trailers in store.
You now have the chance to own a truly one-of-a-kind Nintendo Wii... provided you have the well-stuffed bank account to match. Kotakureports Dutch collector and Consolevariations owner Don is auctioning an infamous 24 karat gold-plated Wii bankrupt game developer THQ intended to deliver to Queen Elizabeth II in 2009. The system was meant as a promo piece for the forgettable mini-game collection Big Family Games, but never made it to Buckingham Palace due to an "understandably strict" royal gift policy. It returned to THQ, and popped up in 2017 after a collector obtained it from a studio contact. The unnamed owner eventually sold to Don.
Don first tried to sell the golden Wii on eBay in October 2021 with an asking price of $300,000. The marketplace shut him down, however, as a policy change flagged accounts that sold items at prices far outside of their usual range. The new auction is at Goldin, which doesn't have similar reservations.
You'll want to brace yourself if you're considering a purchase. Bidding has already reached $2,000 as of this writing, and we'd expect it to climb much higher (if not necessarily to $300,000) by the time the auction closes the evening of May 21st. This also isn't a mint-condition item, as there are signs of "scattered" gold chipping. And given that Nintendo shut down online multiplayer and Wii Shop services years ago, you probably won't do more with this machine than stare at it lovingly through a glass case.
Nonetheless, it won't be surprising if someone snaps up this Wii. Unlike many special edition consoles, this is a genuinely unique device with a story behind it. And like Nintendo World Championship cartridges or similar rarities, it's as much a snapshot of a moment in gaming history as anything else. The 24K gold Wii was the product of an era when audacious publicity stunts were still relatively commonplace in the game industry, and the new owner will likely remember that period for a long time to come.
Source tells me PlayStation Store team will create the 2 hour timed trials for developers, so it shouldn't be extra work, though I've heard concerns from others about Sony monetizing a perk and not sharing that revenue with studios https://t.co/0fYZZSVQxq
This would put less strain on studios and prevent them from having to dedicate precious resources to create trials. However, Gach said some developers expressed worry that Sony will not share revenue related to game trials with them. Engadget has contacted Sony Interactive Entertainment for clarification.
Earlier this week, Game Developer reported that studios were informed about the new policy through Sony's developer portal. It appears that games with a wholesale price of at least $34 will need to have a time-limited trial that runs for at least two hours and must be available to PS Plus Premium members for at least a year. The measure reportedly won't apply to previously released games or virtual reality titles. Developers are said to have the option of offering custom game demos instead, as long as Sony gives them the green light.
Apple's Self Service Repair program is now available in the US. If you have an iPhone 12, iPhone 13 or third-generation iPhone SE, you can buy replacement batteries, cameras and displays from a dedicated store and use the company’s official repair manuals to fix it yourself. You can even spend $49 to rent a toolkit for a week if you'd rather not buy tools.
The program will expand to other regions later this year, starting in Europe. If you’re looking to repair your Mac, you’ll have to wait a little longer. Like iPhones, currently only the very latest models — powered by Apple Silicon — will be self-repair friendly.
Conveniently, for Apple, it timed the launch alongside a new white paper, which says the company has "nearly doubled" the size of its repair network, and eight out of 10 of its American customers live within 20 minutes of an authorized repair provider. The company also outlined the rationales, again, behind its design and repair decisions, including its emphasis on using official parts — to protect your privacy and security.
It’s not a flawless repair scheme. To buy a part, you need to enter your iPhone’s serial number at checkout and get that part activated through a pairing software tool.
As iFixit points out, other parts will come with an "unable to verify" warning, which could limit (or put off) people thinking of repairing their device.
Talking of preservation, Sony is trying to ensure games from decades ago will live on. When Sony's expanded PlayStation Plus service starts rolling out next month, it’ll fold in PlayStation Now, which offers access to hundreds of games from older console generations. Sony has hired at least one engineer to work on a new game preservation team.
Sony has struggled to preserve games over console iterations. Many PS1 games worked on PS2, and the original PS3 models could run many PS1 and PS2 games, but you were unable to play discs from older generations on PS4.
It's still facing multiple lawsuits and a House Oversight committee probe.
CNBC reports Amazon won't face fines and other penalties following the collapse of an Illinois warehouse that killed six workers during a tornado. However, the US Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) asked Amazon to review its procedures after discovering issues with its Emergency Action Plan. Despite tornado warnings from the National Weather Service 36 hours ahead of the event, Amazon continued to operate the Edwardsville, Illinois, warehouse. It was in the middle of a shift change when the tornado touched down with wind speeds up to 150 MPH, destroying the south side of the building.
While Amazon avoided penalties from OSHA, it's facing a separate probe in Congress and multiple lawsuits.
Bloombergsources say Twitch is considering multiple proposals to rethink payment structures, including one that would cut top streamers' share of subscriptions from 70 percent to the usual 50 percent. Another would establish multiple pay tiers with different requirements.
The reported proposals come after Twitch implemented multiple efforts to boost long-term profits and satisfy its parent company, Amazon. The service recently introduced a program that motivates frequent streamers to run more ads.
Disney’s latest video game,Dreamlight Valley, appears to be a blend of a life sim and an adventure game packed with Disney and Pixar characters. In metaverse style, you'll be able to customize your character with T-shirts, dresses, hats and other gear you design yourself. There's also the option of kitting them out with Mickey Mouse streetwear or a ballgown inspired by a Disney princess. (Why not both?)
Disney Dreamlight Valley will be available on PC, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. It’ll formally launch in 2023 as a free-to-play game.
When Sony's expanded PlayStation Plus service starts rolling out next month, it will fold in PlayStation Now, which offers access to hundreds of games from older console generations. Now, it seems the company is getting even more serious about game preservation.
Today is my first day as a Senior Build Engineer at @PlayStation, working as one of their initial hires for the newly created Preservation team!
Game Preservation was my first career passion, so I'm ecstatic that I get to go back to those roots 😊
According to Twitter and LinkedIn posts spotted by Video Games Chronicle, Sony has hired at least one engineer (Garrett Fredley, a former build engineer for mobile developer Kabam) to work on a new preservation team. "Today is my first day as a Senior Build Engineer at @PlayStation, working as one of their initial hires for the newly created Preservation team! Game Preservation was my first career passion, so I'm ecstatic that I get to go back to those roots," Fredley wrote. "Let's go and ensure our industry's history isn't forgotten!"
It's not entirely clear what the preservation team will be working on or what Sony's goals are for it. Engadget has contacted Sony Interactive Entertainment for clarification.
Sony historically hasn't done an incredible job with preserving games. Aside from the original PS3 models being able to run many PS1 and PS2 games, backward compatibility seemed like an afterthought until the PS5, which supports all but a few PS4 titles.
The company shut down the digital PSP storefront last summer, though it backtracked on a plan to close the PS3 and Vita stores after a significant backlash. There's no guarantee that every PS3 and PSP exclusive will be added to the new PS Plus service, which won't include Vita titles, so some games will be lost to the sands of time.
In a 2017 interview, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan talked about seeing Gran Turismo titles on PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 at an event, and said something that has dogged him ever since: "The PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?" Ryan clarified last year that he was trying to make a point about how good the more modern entries in the series look and that he didn't intend to be disrespectful to the history of PlayStation. Still, many took his initial comment to mean that Sony didn't care about older games.
It's good to see Sony putting more emphasis on game preservation. Non-profits and fan-led projects have led the charge on that front. PC gamers, of course, have access to titles dating back several decades (for instance, I've been dipping in and out of Half-Life recently).
Microsoft understands that folks still want to be able to play old games on modern platforms and has put more emphasis on backward compatibility in recent years. Xbox Series X/S can run games from as far back as the original Xbox.
Like Sony, however, Nintendo hasn't exactly been great at game preservation. It will shut down the 3DS and Wii U stores next year, and likely won't port every game from those consoles to Nintendo Switch. Many of those games will be inaccessible to future generations of players.
