During Sony’s State of Play event on 2 June, many games were showcased to gamers. It was an especially good event for VR gamers, as a trailer for Horizon Call of the Mountain was shown, and it was also revealed that Resident Evil Village will be making its way to PS VR2. Plenty of third-party PlayStation games were also shown, including the cute indie game Tunic and the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 16. Gamers also got a closer look at Stray, a curious game that lets players take control of a cat in a cyberpunk society.
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Stray has faced delays, but the developers have confirmed that it will be released in July on PlayStation and PC. Surprisingly, it was also announced that the game will be free to play for players who are subscribed to PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium. Although PlayStation originally led gamers to believe that they should not expect games to launch on its streaming service, Stray suggests that there may be third-party studios willing to do day one releases on PlayStation Plus.
Sony’s Original Stance on Day One Releases on Playstation Plus
When Sony announced that it would be merging PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Extra into a single service, gamers immediately started comparing PlayStation Plus to Microsoft’s Game Pass. One of the most notable features that gamers zoomed in on is Game Pass’ day one releases of many AAA games, allowing subscribers to play the latest games as soon as they launch. Day one releases are a very attractive offer, especially when games such as MLB The Show 22 and Trek to Yomi receive the day one treatment on Game Pass.
Unfortunately, Sony does not seem too keen on the idea of day one releases on PlayStation Plus. According to Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO and president Jim Ryan, PlayStation has no plans for day one releases on PS Plus because it believes it would hurt the quality of its games due to the level of investment its studios need to make games. However, Ryan was also careful to note that he is open to changing his mind, and he stated the following: “the way our publishing model works right now, it doesn’t make any sense. But things can change very quickly in this industry, as we all know.”
Third-Party Studios May See Opportunities Where Sony Does Not
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Sony’s reluctance to launch games on PlayStation Plus stems from fears that it may hurt sales, reducing the ability for games to make back what studios have invested in them. This is an understandable stance to take when some of the most expensive games in modern times can cost up to half a billion dollars to develop and market. However, for smaller third-party developers, making games available on PlayStation Plus on day one may be a golden opportunity.
The benefits of releasing a game on PlayStation Plus were revealed in August 2020 with Fall Guys. Developed by Mediatonic, Fall Guys is an online battle royale game where players control cute little beans across a series of obstacle courses. Most of the obstacles are silly, and there is much more fun to be had just laughing at the beans falling rather than trying to be hyper-competitive. Upon release, the game was available for free for PS Plus subscribers, and it contributed greatly to expanding its player base.
Within a day of launching, Fall Guys had over 1.5 million players, and by the end of the month, it was the most downloaded PS Plus game of all time. Although Mediatonic may have missed out on potential sales by releasing the game on PS Plus, the sheer amount of exposure the game received more than makes up for it. Stray, which is also a smaller game, could also benefit from being released on PS Plus where it could gain popularity through word-of-mouth. Its release on PS Plus also hints that while it is unlikely that Sony will release its first-party games on its streaming service on day one, there may be third-party studios who will be willing to do it.
Although it is a smaller title, Stray has managed to grab the attention of gamers thanks to its unique premise. However, as a relatively small game from a small studio, it is very easy for it to fall into obscurity when there are so many big games being released in 2022. By launching on PS Plus, Stray may get the chance to be enjoyed by a wider range of gamers who might have otherwise missed the game completely.
Stray is scheduled to release on 19 July 2022 on PC, PS4, and P5.
