Sony’s first attempt at a cloud gaming service, PS Now, was folded into the much larger PlayStation Plus subscription service when it was upgraded to better match the tiers of Xbox Game Pass in June 2022. However,that as of the quarter ended March 31, PS Plus subscribers total 47.4 million across all tiers, the same number as a year earlier when the service only granted a few free games each month.
Sony observed a 14% year-over-year increase in network services revenue for its most recent quarter, suggesting that while overall PS Plus subscribers haven’t grown, more of its existing subscribers are opting into its higher tiers to save on games, rather than pay for them individually. While this isn’t at all bad for PS Now, the impact on software sales is pronounced.