Update: Sony has confirmed that ‘PlayStation Plus Video Pass’ exists and will be tested in Poland for one year. Sony VP Nick Maguire told Polish website Spider’s Web that the streaming app will be available to PS4 and PS5 owners with an active PS Plus subscription, at no additional cost. Users will have access to 15 movies and 6 TV shows, with more titles added throughout the test.
PlayStation Plus may be getting an update, bringing video streaming to the subscription service.
VGC first spotted a logo for ‘PlayStation Plus Video Pass’ on the PlayStation website, with the description “A new benefit available for a limited time on PlayStation Plus… PS Plus Video Pass is a trial service active 22.04.21 – 22.04.22. The subscription benefit is available to PS Plus users in Poland.”
The timing would make sense for Sony, as the company prepares to remove movie and TV sales and rentals from the PlayStation Store at the end of August. An announcement about the change noted that video was being removed due to a “shift in consumer behavior” toward subscribing to streaming services rather than renting or buying through platforms like the PlayStation Store. Adding video to PlayStation Plus would give Sony a platform for streaming the content it owns, including content from Sony Pictures and anime service Funimation, while adding value to the PlayStation Plus subscription.
The potential video content add-on sounds somewhat similar to the Bravia Core streaming service Sony touted for its new Bravia line of TVs earlier this year. The marketing for that service also focused heavily on Sony’s own movie properties, including Venom and Spider-Man Far From Home.
Alongside the PlayStation 5 console launch last November, Sony also debuted the PlayStation Plus Collection, which gave PS Plus subscribers access to 20 PS4 hits. A video service add-on could be seen as another way to increase the perceived value of a PlayStation Plus subscription, as Sony looks to counter the game library offered by rival Microsoft’s Game Pass service.
The logo and description for ‘PlayStation Plus Video’ have since been removed from the website and Sony hasn’t yet offered a comment.
Image: Sony via VGC