PlayStation 5 owners will finally have the opportunity to beam games to their console without downloading, though the service is still only available on the PS5 itself, and you’ll need to pay $160 a year to access the feature and the few games available to stream at launch.
Sony first introduced its cloud streaming beta to players back in June, but we haven’t heard anything about the company’s initial tests since then. It’s exclusive to those who pay for Plus Premium subscriptions which first added game trials and back catalog games for download. All DLC and microtransactions will be available to players through streaming, and users should be able to have relatively good picture quality at 4K or 1440p, as well as lower-end 1080p and 720p, all at 60 FPS with SDR and HDR.
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As far as sound goes, PS5 cloud streaming has access to 5.1 and 7.1 audio as well as the custom Tempest 3D audio engine first introduced with Sony’s latest console back in 2020.
The new streaming rollout arrives just a few months after PlayStation raised the price of Plus across the board. Players used to spend $120 for Plus Premium, but now the annual price is $160. The PlayStation Plus streaming will be available automatically for all Premium subscribers starting Oct. 30 in North America. Folks in Japan will get it starting on Oct. 17 and in Europe on Oct. 23.
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“Hundreds” of titles already available in the Plus catalog will be streamable at the start, though most of them were first released in the past three to four years. These titles include Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, Ghost of Tsushima, plus games that already have sequels like Mortal Kombat 11, and Saints Row IV. If that doesn’t sound too enticing, you’ll be able to access game trials for more recent titles like Hogwarts Legacy, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and The Calisto Protocol. These are time-limited downloads of between one to five hours as a kind of demo, and it’s disappointing that Sony hasn’t made a deal to fully stream newer releases.
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If you own a select few recent titles such as the Resident Evil 4 remake and God of War: Ragnarok, then you can stream them as well. Still, the game selection to start is disappointing, especially compared to what Microsoft has been doing. Xbox Game Pass streaming beta has a few more new or recent games in circulation like A Plague Tale: Requiem. While it’s similarly full of older titles from the Xbox 360 era and later, Microsoft has been more willing to offer exclusive titles, most recently the blockbuster Starfield.
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Game Pass is also able to stream to PC and Android phones, something that PlayStation won’t have at launch. Half of what makes streaming so enticing is the ability to play games without needing to purchase expensive hardware (though you will need a decent internet connection to not risk undue lag or interruptions).
Sony may be trying to entice users into new Premium memberships as it now has a slimmer version of the PlayStation 5 going up for sale later in November. Though Sony also has a new “Remote Player” called the PlayStation Portal going on sale this holiday season, it won’t have any ability to stream games natively. Instead, the Portal can play games over wifi through a PlayStation remote access. Additionally, it won’t have any Bluetooth connection, instead relying on Sony’s proprietary PlayStation Link to connect to new Sony-brand earbuds and headset.
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