Subscription services seem to be the future of the gaming industry, as they currently are in the television and movie industries, and everyone wants in on the action. Now that Xbox Game Pass is a bona fide proven success, everyone is waiting to see how Sony responds with its PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services. PlayStation Plus will undoubtedly continue to exist in the future, but there have been rumors of new tiers coming that allow it to more directly compete with Game Pass.

There have been hints at change already. In 2021 Sony stopped selling 12-month subscription cards at retails stores in the UK, hinting that there will be more expensive tiers coming and that it didn’t want to grandfather subscribers into them.

Also, an eagle-eyed PlayStation fan on Twitter noticed that Sony has changed the wording on the promo image for PlayStation Plus’s February 2022 lineup. For January 2022, it said that the games were for PlayStation Plus members, but for February it’s “Available this month at no extra cost.” It’s a small change, but could hint at the possibility of more subscription tiers to come.

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service has quickly become one of the best deals in gaming, and gamers have taken notice. Game Pass has gained over 25 million subscribers so far, and with the addition of Bethesda and now Activision to Microsoft’s first-party empire, the deal just keeps getting better.

Even Nintendo has been trying to get as much money out of its online subscriptions as possible by offering new features and games for more money, even if the new Nintendo Switch Online Expansion pack was plagued by a rocky launch. It’s obvious that Sony is playing catch-up at this point, and it will need to pull out some surprises in order to compete.

There is a lot of potential for 2022 to be a big year for PlayStation Plus. Backward compatibility is a big thing that gamers want, and PS3 games have been spotted on the PS5 store, hinting that they’re going to pad PlayStation Plus with a big library of older games. But that wouldn’t be enough to really impress gamers. Sony Interactive Entertainment President Jim Ryan has hinted at the big changes for Sony in the future, most specifically how the importance of cloud gaming will just grow. Xbox’s Game Pass has continued to lead the way with these innovations, so Sony will have to come out swinging with something truly impressive if it hopes to retake ground in these new streaming subscription wars.

Source: Push Square