- In an interview, Nick Maguire, the VP of PlayStation global services, confirmed that first-party games will arrive on the subscription on day one.
- The exec added that the company plans on sticking with its approach of adding first-party games after at least 12 months of their release date.
- Maguire also stated that PS Plus is growing faster on the PS5 as compared to the PS4, with first-party titles leading the race.
Releasing first-party titles day and date on Xbox Game Pass has resulted in considerable growth for the subscription service, but PlayStation isn’t keen on adopting that business model anytime soon. A company executive recently confirmed that Sony plans on sticking to its current approach for the PS Plus offering, while also revealing some interesting tidbits about the subscription service.
Details on the subject surfaced via a GameFile interview with the VP of PlayStation global services, Nick Maguire. In it, Maguire reiterated Sony’s ironclad vision for the service: “We’ve sort of stayed true to our strategy across the board, where we’re not looking to put games in day and date.”
These comments fall in line with former CEO Jim Ryan’s statements, who famously said that Sony’s “virtuous cycle will be broken” if first-party games start popping up day one on PS Plus.
These comments confirm that PS5 exclusives, such as the newly released Death Stranding 2 or the upcoming Ghost of Yotei, won’t be added to PS Plus until 12 to 18 months (or longer) after their initial release. On the subject of third-party games joining the service on day one, Maguire had this to say:
“Our strategy of finding four or five independent day-and-date titles—and using that to complement our strategy of bringing games in when they’re 12, 18 months old or older—that balance for us is working really well across the platform.”
While the statement sums up Sony’s plans for the service, Maguire also spoke on the growth and engagement for PS Plus. According to the exec, PS Plus is growing faster on the PS5 than it did on the PS4, with its most expensive $160/year Premium tier being more popular than its $135/year Extra variant.
Both Sony and Microsoft have been hesitant about sharing subscription figures, meaning this is all we have to go off on to gauge PS Plus’ popularity.
The interview provided another peek behind the curtain in the form of official data from Sony. As it turns out, the most popular PS Plus game this spring (April 1, 2025 – May 28, 2025) has been Dead by Daylight, along with Ghost of Tsushima and God of War Ragnarok making up the top three. In fact, four of the top ten most-played games are first-party titles, meaning the demand for PlayStation Studios content on PS Plus is substantial.
With that being said, would you prefer if the service went down the Game Pass route? Let us know in the comments.
