PlayStation Plus Vs Xbox Game Pass
Almost two months ago, Microsoft and the Xbox Team announced that they were upping the subscription price of both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for Console. The former of which would go from $14.99 USD to $16.99 USD, and the latter from $9.99 USD to $10.99 USD. This increase was planned for some time, as Phil Spencer hinted at the increase nearly a year ago at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference. Head of communications for Xbox, Kari Perez told The Verge in a statement that, “these Game Pass price adjustments are not related to the Activision Blizzard deal, and are intended to match local market conditions.”
PS Plus VS Xbox Game Pass – No Contest?
Almost two months ago, Microsoft and the Xbox Team announced that they were upping the subscription price of both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for Console. The former of which would go from $14.99 USD to $16.99 USD, and the latter from $9.99 USD to $10.99 USD. This increase was planned for some time, as Phil Spencer hinted at the increase nearly a year ago at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference. Head of communications for Xbox, Kari Perez told The Verge in a statement that, “these Game Pass price adjustments are not related to the Activision Blizzard deal, and are intended to match local market conditions.”
The reaction to the increase was—at least from my vantage point—fairly tame. Xbox have kept the same pricing structure since 2017, and in that time have significantly bolstered their Game Pass offerings across console, cloud, and PC. Couple that with the fact that a little game by the name of Starfield is days away from release as of writing and one could argue that the couple dollar increases are justified.
What the community find far less justifiable, however, is Sony’s recent (and drastic) uptick of their own subscription service, PlayStation Plus. In a blog post that revealed the monthly games that would be available to PS Plus subscribers in September, SIE nonchalantly added at the very bottom of the post an update to their service prices. The updated pricing, which takes effect on September 6th, pertains only to the 12-month subscriptions of the PlayStation Plus tiers. A year of Essential will now run you $79.99 USD, Extra $134.99 USD, and Premium $159.99 USD. Upticks of $20, $35, and $40 respectively.
Thankfully, the monthly and quarterly prices for the service will remain unchanged; though that I suspect is by design as users that choose to “downgrade” from the yearly subscription to the others will inevitably pay more in the long-run. With these significant increases, it’s hard not to question whether or not the price hike is justified when seeing PlayStation’s offerings compared to that of Xbox. So let’s take a closer look to see what players are getting for their money, and which platform offers more value per dollar.
Tiers, Tiers, and more Tiers
At the bottom we have Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC, both of which allow users to access the massive Game Pass library, giving them the opportunity to download any game from said library onto their system. This tier doesn’t have any cloud functionality, which means no streaming of games or access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. Another notable omission at this tier is the inability for online play. Players still, at least until September 14th, have to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold for an additional $10 to get access to online multiplayer. Xbox are rectifying this, however, with—you guessed it—another tier titled Xbox Game Pass Core, which will come in at $1 cheaper than regular Game Pass. Core will effectively replace Live Gold, though now giving subscribers access to a rotating list of 25 downloadable games—most of which I’d assume would be from Game Pass.
If this sounds confusing, I don’t blame you. Why Microsoft wouldn’t simply merge Xbox Live to the existing Console/PC Game Pass and bump up the price to say, $14 USD, is beyond me. Though, I assume, it’s because there may be players out there who don’t care for the Game Pass library and simply want access to multiplayer, and then the 25 “free” titles is essentially a nice bonus for them. Nevertheless, it’s an inelegant solution.
PlayStation, on the other hand, are a bit more streamlined. Their Essential tier gives players access to online multiplayer as well as three games each month that they can download straight to their system. As far as value goes, personally I think both Xbox Core and Console/PC Game Pass are better propositions than PlayStation Essential, though an argument could be made that the omission of online multiplayer on Console/PC Game Pass makes it far less appealing. We’ll also have to wait and see what type of games are included in the 25 titles Xbox promises on the Core tier.
PlayStation Essential’s monthly offerings thus far have been somewhat mixed. Notable titles like Yakuza: Like A Dragon, Death’s Door, and Alan Wake Remastered have made it into the lineup, but no single month since the service’s release particularly stands out. Both Core and Essential come in at $60 USD/month, and if Xbox Core’s monthly offerings are even slightly more compelling than PlayStation’s, then it’s a no brainer of which tier wins out.
Next, we have PlayStation Plus Extra. Coming in at the new price of $135/year, this tier opens things up quite a bit. In addition to online play, users now have access to over 400 PS4 and PS5 titles, all of which can be downloaded straight to their system. It’s an impressive list, though unlike Xbox not all of Sony’s exclusives are a part of the package. God of War Ragnarok and The Last of Us Part II being a couple of notable omissions. Still, it’s an impressive offering at $15/month. Microsoft, on the other hand, don’t have a middle tier (though I guess with the introduction of Core, Console/PC Game Pass will fill that role).
Instead, for $17/month users have to jump straight into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which gives players access to online multiplayer, the entire Game Pass library, and the ability to stream all of their games via the cloud instead of having to download them on to their system. Additionally, players get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which gives them the ability to play their games off of Microsoft’s Azure datacenters on any mobile device of their choosing, wherever they have a stable internet connection.
As far as value goes, I feel one could go either way on this one. At $100/year PlayStation Extra was a great value, possibly more-so than Game Pass Ultimate, which comes in at roughly $204 once you add up all the individual months. But at $135, Extra’s value begins to diminish. Yes, the library could be comparable to that of Game Pass, but you’re not getting access to the slew of titles from generations before the PlayStation 4, which is something only the $160/year Premium tier gets you, and even then notable titles like Metal Gear Solid and Crash Bandicoot are missing.
Game Pass, though more expensive than even PlayStation’s highest tier in Premium, gives you access to a bevy of Xbox 360 and even some original Xbox titles. Couple that with all the cloud-enabled features you get with Game Pass Ultimate, and it’s tough to argue Premium’s value over Xbox’s offering; especially now with the sizeable price hike.
There have been some recent rumblings that a State of Play may be on the horizon. Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb wrote on X this week that this price hike could be tied to something Sony are planning to announce in this supposed State of Play. Though I’d be curious to see what exactly this announcement could be, as the only thing that could make the price hike a bit more digestible would be bringing in ALL of Sony’s exclusives to the Extra and Premium membership tiers. If that happened, and Sony began expanding their cloud offerings—something they’ve already begun testing last month—then the value proposition would definitely be competitive with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
If said cloud offerings were then made available to their soon-to-be-released PlayStation Portal (something that currently isn’t a feature on the system), then that would only further justify the cost of annual entry. As it stands, however, Sony are just not there yet.
PlayStation Plus Vs Xbox Game Pass
Both Sony and Microsoft decided to offer Netflix-like subscriptions for gamers. You pay a monthly fee and get access to thousands of games on your PlayStation or Xbox console. In fact, both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass let you choose games from a library so extensive it’ll take you months if not years to fully explore.
There are different benefits and drawbacks to PlayStation Plus and Game Pass. This article will explore them all so it’s easier for you to choose which one to go with if you also can’t decide which console to buy. Some aspects of these two services are different and you should be fully aware of where you’re putting your money.
PlayStation Plus
The first form of Sony’s subscription service was known as Sony Now, and it came out in 2015. This standalone subscription allowed its users to stream hundreds of Sony titles, old and new. But in June 2022, Sony decided to change its subscription service and expand it into three tiers. The new subscription plan was named PlayStation Plus, and the tiers are Essential, Extra, and Premium.
The Essential PS Plus plan gives you one PS5 game and two PS4 games every month. But you have access to online multiplayer and cloud storage. With it, you’ll have exclusive discounts on all games available for the Sony PlayStation console.
The PS Plus Extra plan gives you access to a catalog of over 400 PS5 and PS4 titles, all of them downloadable. Ubisoft+ Classic titles are included in this plan, so you can play some of the most famous Ubisoft games for no extra cost.
The PS Plus Premium plan is a combination of Essential and Extra tiers and more. You’ll be able to stream and download PS5 and PS4 games and only stream PS3 games. The catalog expands to PS1, PS2, and PSP games, adding over 340 titles to the already existing library of over 400 games. Ubisoft+ Classic titles are also included.
To stream games using the PS Plus Premium tier, you’ll need an internet connection. Sony recommends at least 5 Mbps for your stream to be smooth. Use the streaming service only if you don’t want to bother downloading the game. The only downside is that you can expect some lag and sudden fps drops on occasion.
Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass is available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. But you can also get the Game Pass for PC if you have Windows 10 or 11. Until recently, Game Pass games were download-only. But Microsoft decided to offer their users a streaming service, and now you won’t have to fill your storage with games you want to try out. However, if you want to play online games, you’ll need Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Unlike PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass has no tiers, and it’s a pretty straightforward service. All the titles from any Xbox generation will be automatically available to you, and you can download and play as many as you want. That is, provided you have enough storage on your Xbox console.
To keep your Xbox Game Pass subscription valid, you have to check in with Xbox Live at least every 30 days. Some titles will leave Xbox Game Pass, the others will join it. Unfortunately, you can’t predict the games that’ll be in the Xbox catalog. However, as a subscriber, you get a discount on buying any game from the catalog, or any game’s DLC.
PlayStation Plus Vs Xbox Game Pass Pricing and Plans
Both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass plans start at $10 per month. However, since PS Plus has three different tiers, it has a slightly different price for each of them. PS Plus also lets you pay monthly, quarterly, or per year. Check out the price comparison in the table below:
| Xbox Game Pass for Console | $10/month | PlayStation Plus Essential | $10/month, $25 quarterly, $60/year |
| Xbox Game Pass for PC | $10/month | PlayStation Plus Extra | $15/month, $40 quarterly, $100/year |
| Xbox Game Pass Ultimate | $15/month | PlayStation Plus Premium | $18/month, $50 quarterly, $120/year |
Xbox Game Pass for Console and for PC costs only $10 per month. You have access to the whole Xbox game library and you can download any game you want. But you can’t stream the games. In order to stream, you’ll have to go with the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is $15 per month.
PlayStation Plus plans we explained in the section above. The Essential, which is the basic plan, is $10 per month and it gives you three downloadable games and access to online multiplayer support. For $15 you can upgrade to PS Plus Extra and get access to the whole Sony PlayStation game library. To stream the games however, you’ll have to pay $18 per month for the PS Plus Premium subscription.
PlayStation Plus Vs Xbox Game Pass Game Library
The whole vision behind both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass is to give users access to a Netflix-like library of content. In this case, the content is games that you can download or stream, depending on the plan you choose. Both platforms have extensive video game libraries, but they have different approaches to maintaining their catalogs and how they add new titles.
While Sony waits a few months to add the newest titles to their PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers, Microsoft adds the new titles to their Xbox Game Pass on their release date. This is a big deal if you like playing the newest games as soon as they’re released. On the other hand, if you prefer indie games, you’ll be happy to hear that Sony adds these titles to all their PS Plus plans on day one.
Both service providers also partnered up with various game studios and offered their games. For example, if you love EA Games and their titles such as Need for Speed, the Sims, or Star Wars, you might want to go with the Xbox Game Pass as you can play them on the Xbox console. Microsoft is also in partnership with Riot, and you can use their Game Pass for PC to play League of Legends. On the other hand, Sony partnered up with Ubisoft, and their catalog as well as the Ubisoft+ Classic games list, is accessible through the PlayStation console. If you love Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and the Tom Clancy franchise, you might want to go for PS Plus.
Not all games are permanently available in Microsoft’s or Sony’s game catalog. That depends on the publisher. For sure, all first-party games, developed and published by Microsoft or Sony, will stay in the catalog permanently. But the games made by third-party developers will rotate out of the catalogs. This is especially true for new games that have a set timeframe for how long they will be available. Classic first-party titles tend to stay available permanently.
That said, here are some of the most popular and successful games available on each console subscription service.
Most Popular PS Plus Games
- God of War
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Doom Eternal
- Final Fantasy 16
- Spiderman
- Death Stranding
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Assassin’s Creed franchise
Most Popular Xbox Game Pass Games
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Minecraft Legends
- Goat Simulator
- Watch Dogs 2
- Among Us
- Forza Horizon 5
- Mass Effect
PlayStation Plus Vs Xbox Game Pass Game Streaming
Game Streaming, or Cloud Gaming is supported by Xbox Game Pass Ultra and PlayStation Plus Premium. You can use this feature to stream the games on your console, or other devices in case you don’t own Xbox or PlayStation.
Xbox cloud gaming with Game Pass Ultra lets you stream games on Xbox consoles, PC, tablets, smartphones, and some Samsung smart TVs. Some titles are even optimized for touchscreens, so you won’t need to use a controller to play them on mobile devices.
PlayStation Plus Premium offers streaming only on PS5 and PS4 consoles, and PC. For now, there’s no option to directly stream to smartphones or TVs. Games that were specifically developed for PlayStation 5 cannot be streamed yet. However, you can always download these titles to your host PS5 console, and then stream them to your PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.
The advantage of the PS Plus Premium plan is in its Play Share feature. Use it to share your screen with online friends and play games together as if you were in the same room. Xbox Game Pass doesn’t offer this or any similar feature.
PlayStation Plus Vs Xbox Game Pass Verdict
For now, the Xbox Game Pass wins over PlayStation Plus, but PlayStation Plus is catching up and offering some nice benefits to their subscription service too. Getting premium game titles and releasing them on the same day is a huge plus for Xbox Game Pass.
Although both Sony and Microsoft offer their subscription plans for PC gaming, Xbox does it with smartphones too and allows mobile users to enjoy some of their titles without even having to bother with the controller. Sony has yet to expand its offer of exclusive high-profile titles and device support.
Although Xbox Game Pass is a better bang for your buck, it’s only because it was on the market much longer and it had time to develop. Given time, Sony will catch up and it’s already catching up reasonably quickly. You can already spend thousands of hours with a PS Plus subscription.
That said, the ultimate decision about which to choose will depend on the games you want to play. Check out the full libraries of both Sony’s PlayStation Plus and Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and look for the titles you want to play. In this area, it’s worth mentioning that the PlayStation Plus catalog is larger than the Xbox Game Pass catalog, and Sony has some of the most attractive and award-winning titles that are exclusive to the PlayStation console.
Nicolae is a Jack of all trades technology writer with a focus on hardware, programming languages, and AI image-processing software. Over the last five years, he has ghostwritten numerous tech how-to guides and books on a variety of topics ranging from Linux to C# programming and game development. Nicolae loves everything that has to do with technology and his goal is to share his knowledge and experience with others. Read Nicolae’s Full Bio
Did you enjoy this tip? If so, check out our very own YouTube channel where we cover Windows, Mac, software, and apps, and have a bunch of troubleshooting tips and how-to videos. Click the button below to subscribe!
]]>