Shuhei Yoshida says PlayStation Plus should be used to manage the lifecycle of a game
"We believe in the premium release of a title at launch."
Sony's head of PlayStation Indies Shuhei Yoshida has said PS Plus should be used by publishers to manage the lifecycle of a game.
Speaking at GI Live: London (thanks GamesIndustry.biz), Yoshida discussed Sony's approach to a subscription service, reiterating that the company still believes in the "premium release of a title at launch".
Yet with PS Plus, Sony is offering a different approach as added value to developers and publishers.
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"The new PS Plus has tiers and essentially it's like the old PS Plus, we still release two or three new games every month and a new tier, Extra, has a catalogue of hundreds of games for people to play," said Yoshida.
"For Extra, our approach [is] we like to help the publishers [with] lifecycle management. I was managing first-party [at PlayStation] so I know that it's like in the movies - a movie comes out at the theatre first, then goes to pay per view, or a subscription service, or free TV, every time generating new revenue and reaching out to a broader audience.
"In the same kind of way, we believe in the premium release of a title at launch and after maybe six months, or three months, or three years, when the game's sales come down, inclusion into this service, PS Plus Extra, can help introduce these games to new, broader audiences. Some people might have missed these games when they came out and it's a great chance to play and generate word-of-mouth or if there's DLC or a sequel going, we can help elevate interest to a broader audience about the franchise.
"So we are encouraging publishers to make use of these services in managing the lifecycle of each title."
Sony has been adamant that new games won't be added to PS Plus on day one, unlike competitor Microsoft with Game Pass.
"We feel like we are in a good virtuous cycle with the studios," said PlayStation boss Jim Ryan when PS Plus was announced, "where the investment delivers success, which enables yet more investment, which delivers yet more success. We like that cycle and we think our gamers like that cycle.
"We feel if we were to [add games on day one] with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment that we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we think the knock-on effect on the quality of the games that we make would not be something that gamers want."
Since its launch, players have speculated as to when first party games may be added to the service. Returnal, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut and Final Fantasy 7 Remake were all added around a year after initial launch.
It's clear from Yoshida's comments, though, that this all depends on the lifecycle of each individual game.
Watch the full interview with Yoshida below.
