PlayStation says it still has no intention of competing against Xbox Game Pass with day one PS Plus launches

Screenshot from Stray, the game about a lost cat — (Image credit: BlueTwelve Studio)

Sony hasn't changed its mind about holding back its first-party games from Xbox Game Pass-style day one launches on PS Plus.

"We're happy with our strategy," PlayStation subscription boss Nick Maguire tells GamesIndustry.biz. "Putting games in a bit later in the life cycle has meant that we can reach more customers 12, 18, 24 months after they have released. We're seeing customers still get excited about those games and jumping in. For us, that's working. Occasionally, there will be an opportunity to invest in a day-and-date like Stray and we will jump on those when they come in. But for us, letting those [first-party] games go out to the platform outside the service first… that's working and that will continue to be our strategy moving forward."

That's pretty much the same line Sony's been putting forth since the relaunch of PS Plus last year. CEO Jim Ryan said at the time that putting first-party games up on the subscription day and date would cause "that virtuous cycle" to be broken. Ryan did leave the door open to that strategy changing in the future, but it seems the time has not yet come.

Of course, PS Plus does feature some day one releases - just not of first-party games. Maguire notes that one such release is the service's biggest success story, too: "Stray has brought in the highest number of players that have accessed that title over the first 12 months." A post-launch first-party addition, the multiplayer Ghost of Tsushima: Legends got the other big subscription metric, with the "highest number of hours of gameplay."

If you're still confused about all those PS Plus tiers - and really, who could blame you - you can get a breakdown at that link.

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.