PlayStation Plus: Where should it go next?

PlayStation Plus was first launched in 2010 primarily as a way for Sony to get revenue from their PlayStation Network. The service soon became a success as it offered free games, discounts and a variety of other deals as long as you kept the subscription. It was a surprisingly successful consequence of backing themselves into a corner (which was not charging for the use of the PlayStation Network but needing people to pay for it). It then came as a bit of a shock, which in hindsight probably shouldn’t have been, that Sony made the PlayStation Plus compulsory on the PS4. An analyst, reported in 2013, suggested that Sony could make $1.2 Billion from making the service compulsory (reporting Sony made $140 million in 2012 of Plus) [1]. The introduction of PlayStation Plus and the move to make it compulsory on the PS4 forced Microsoft’s hand when it came to their service Xbox Live. Their Games with Gold service first offered free games as a way of one upping PlayStation Plus. The move was met with mixed responses [2][3] since publishers were not whiling to give their games away for free for ever. Microsoft changed tactic by going with the PlayStation Plus model. This move has meant the games have improved in quality [4]. The rise in these services has meant publishers want a piece of the pie and EA has made the first move with EA Access. I have expressed my opinions on how this move could be a disaster for the industry [5] and this isn’t the point of this blog. Sony is in a position to do something they should have done a long time ago. Something Microsoft and third parties will struggle to implement and see the benefit of. Sony needs to broaden PlayStation Plus to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

Sony has a lot of non-gaming products and services they could bring into plus. One of their biggest products that could benefit from appearing on PlayStation Plus is their film and TV. Sony distributes a large quantity of films and TV shows. Sony Pictures has distributing over 20 films so far this year [6]. This is even when we ignore other studios owned by Sony and their TV show business [7]. This could benefit Sony at the other end if done at the right time. Sony could release the first film with its sequel coming out a short time later or release part of a TV series just to encourage the consumer to buy the complete series. There are potential benefits that Sony could receive above encouraging non gamers to sign up to PlayStation Plus.

There is a major downside to allowing these products on PlayStation Plus as the process getting them there may be trickier than it appears. The problem arises with multi company partnerships that help produce a film or TV share might get in the way of giving films and TV shows away for free. Broadcasting/distribution rights might always cause chaos and a long term commitment Sony many not want to get into with PlayStation Plus (something I will touch on later). But the rising star that is Netflix has managed to circumvent said issues while maintaining profit and popularity [8]. A lot of Netflix’s cost is down to paying other studios for content [9][10] which is something Sony would entirely have to do since they are a part of that process.

The benefit of TV shows and films appearing on PlayStation Plus is one thing but Sony could benefit more from another big division of theirs which comes with very little strings attached. That is their music division. Sony is highly regarded in the music industry and they are a big player in the industry [11][12][13][14]. The benefit to offering free music via PlayStation Plus is PR that could have a monetary benefit. The idea to give out part of an album or a track from an upcoming album could do wonders for publicity. Giving away tracks via PlayStation Plus could be used as a way to push Music Unlimited. The latest total number of users figure I could find for music unlimited was one million users back in January 2012 [15] when it had 15 million tracks. All Sony has to do is make these tracks available through the Music Unlimited/Walkman app (the latter of which is a lot better) with no subscription cost but have the other tracks on that specific album there to encourage users to buy into the service.

Overall getting PlayStation users on board is one thing but Sony needs to use PlayStation Plus to get non PlayStation Owners to buy more PlayStations which could be done via giving away free tracks and films could be a fairly cost effective advertisement avenue no other company is doing. The fear I have is the only reasons Sony hasn’t already made such a move is because they will eventually move film, TV and music services under the PlayStation Now roof. PlayStation Now is a game streaming service which has been met with a lot of mixed opinions nearly all relating to its price [16]. Currently it is in the beta stages but the potential is there to shift how we play our back catalogue and how people approach the micro console climate. Presently the services is being stunted by a lack of a reasonable subscription model and I feel, even with a subscription model, the price would be too huge (for the move I previously just said) unless they introduce bolt on style services. All of Sony’s subscription services could be managed in a bolt on style model with PlayStation Plus being less about allowing users to play PlayStation 4 games online and more about being the discount/freebie service it was originally designed to be. It could be used as a low cost PR move where people are encouraged to buy into the service which in turn could encourage users to buy into other Sony products hence creating a more connected ecosystem (which is clearly something Sony wants to do as the PlayStation TV is coming out in August and with PlayStation Now being shown off at CES)

Sources:
[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites...
[2] http://www.gamezone.com/ori...
[3] http://www.gamesradar.com/g...
[4] http://news.xbox.com/2014/0...
[5] http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
[6] http://www.boxofficemojo.co...
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
[8] http://www.wikinvest.com/st...
[9] http://www.wired.com/2014/0...
[10] http://www.thewire.com/tech...
[11] http://wallstcheatsheet.com...
[12] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/b...
[13] http://www.sonymusic.com/la...
[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...
[15] http://www.hypebot.com/hype...
[16] http://kotaku.com/playstati...

[Godmars290]

The whole point of Plus is to offer something gamers. Adding non-gaming related things makes no sense, unless they introduce separate tiers, set up a Netflix-like option that gives a certain number of "free" streaming movies per month, which means or boils down to increasing the price of Plus. So again, no.

I think if Sony is going to try and make the PS brand more appealing to non and semi-gamers, its going to be with PS TV and the TV studio arm they're trying out.

If they can get cable channels on board with ala carte servicing, let people dump the current "everything including junk channels" cable system, give people cable bills which include HBO but be under $100, that would be exactly the thing.

[darthv72]

I've thought, why hasn't sony offered free movies or music from their library of titles/artists??? It only adds more to the + service instead of just gaming.

Ms (many years ago) did give away free tv shows and movie rentals. i used to have music videos from Ozzy, seether and a few others before that all changed from the zune marketplace.

Ms was giving away freebies long before + but they are not as much of a content provider as Sony. So it only makes sense for Sony to add in some of these non-gaming perks. Even if its older content like spiderman 3.

It doesnt hurt to add these things to test the water and see what happens.

[kingvendrick]

Just to clarify, PS Plus is only compulsory for online play. Apart from that nice blog.

[Tetsujin]

I know at E3 they mentioned some cartoon being free for plus members to watch (forgot the name) which is a start towards "other" options.

I have plus for gaming only however yes I am open to other avenues for moments I have college projects to work on and I need some sort of back ground noise outside gaming. What Sony could do is have a service like plus but for media, or offer an option to integrate media into plus for those who want more than just gaming and let the fanbase decide what they want.

[Paprika]

Offer their music unlimited as part of the plus service, or at least a version similar to the free version of spotify.

Also, possibly change how they supply the igc instead of saying you will be getting crysis 3, fez, road to nowhere etc, maybe have those but then throw in 3-6 other titles and start an end of month voting process to allow us to choose from a selection of titles.

Imagine the first big game in plus for ps4, a vote between killzone and infamous for the next months igc.

[iamnsuperman]

I think a "free" music unlimited is needed anyway so the could bring that in as a part of plus though people might get annoyed with paying for plus and getting adverts (we know what angry Internet consumers are like). But Music unlimited needs to copy the Spotify model to be successful anyway.

I don't think a voting system would work. The problem is games that appear on the igc are planned as deals are needed to be made with publishers and developers who want to maximise their exposure (DLC coming? Put it on igc and more people we up the dlc). Sony can only realistically do it with their own developed (note not publisher titles as it could piss off indie developers) titles. They could do that later on but not now. Voting works on steam as their sales are set periods in the year and where else do PC gamers buy PC games? Valve can make deals a head of time and the probably take a little hit with the voted games

[equal_youth]

very informative and well written. i think ps+ has shown how well a service can work if it is build around the needs and wants of a community.