By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Sony (NYSE:SONY) stock traded 1% higher Tuesday after the company revealed plans to launch a new video game subscription service to take on rival Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass.
The company said it will bundle its existing PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now services into one single subscription service called PlayStation Plus. The new service will be available in June and come in three tiers, according to a blog post by Sony Interactive Entertainment President & CEO Jim Ryan.
The basic package, PS Plus Essential, will cost $10 a month or $60 annually. It offers two free games every month and access to online multiplayer.
The next is a $15 monthly or $100 annual PS Plus Extra package that includes a selection of 400 downloadable PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 titles.
The most expensive package PS Plus Premium costs $18 a month or $120 annually. It includes 340 more games than Extra, and lets players stream a wide selection of games.
Ryan said the service will initially be launched in Asia, followed by North America, Europe and the rest of the world.
Sony has been caught a little off guard as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has blazed with some big-ticket acquisitions like those of ZeniMax-owned Bethesda and Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) to push its gaming software.