Sony is gearing up to announce Project Spartacus - its long-rumored rival to Xbox Game Pass - as soon as next week, according to the latest reports.
The news comes via Bloomberg which says that sources familiar with the project are expecting it to be unveiled very soon. If true, PS5 owners could finally be able to enjoy many of the same benefits that Xbox players have experienced since Game Pass launched in June 2017.
While Sony has yet to announce any kind of showcase for next week or the near future, that doesn’t dampen the leak quite yet. The company has a habit of announcing shows just days before it hosts them - so we might only find out about the rumored PlayStation showcase for Project Spartacus on Monday or Tuesday if it's happening.
Even so, we should still take these latest leaks with a pinch of salt. Nothing is confirmed until Sony makes an official announcement, though thankfully we won’t have long to wait to find out if these latest rumors are bogus or the real deal.
What do we know about Project Spartacus?
We’ve been calling Spartacus "Sony’s answer to Game Pass", but what can PS5 players actually expect from this service?
Obviously, official details are still up in the air, but multiple leaks and rumors suggest that it will effectively combine PlayStation Now and PS Plus into a single subscription with multiple tiers.
We’re confident that it will be available on the PS5 as well, and PC seems likely too, though we’ll have to wait and see what platforms are announced if there is a showcase next week.
At the highest subscription levels, players will apparently get access to a catalog of games from modern hits to older PlayStation classics as well as extended demos, and the ability to stream games over the internet - much like Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Unfortunately, it’s also been suggested that subscribers won’t get access to new PS5 games on the same day that they launch. Given that this is easily the best reason to use Game Pass, we’ll have to wait and see if this rumor turns out to be true or not. If this is correct, Sony could be about to give Microsoft an easy win.
That said, even if Spartacus (or whatever it gets called) ends up being the worse deal of the two subscriptions, Sony’s service could still be incredibly popular. It’s no secret that the PS4 and PS5 have massively outsold the Xbox One and Xbox Series X, so Sony would have a much larger user base to tap into for subscribers.
If Project Spartacus is announced and launched next week (or anytime in the future), then be sure to check back here for all the most important details that you need to know. We'll have you covered.
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