PS5 Game Pass rival could be revealed next week — what you need to know

Sony PS5 with PlayStation DualSense controller
(Image credit: Rokas Tenys | Shutterstock)

PlayStation’s answer to Xbox Game Pass, codenamed Spartacus, could get an official reveal as soon as next week, reports Bloomberg

A previous Bloomberg report claimed that the service will launch this Spring, and will be available on both PS5 and PS4. The same report suggested that Spartacus will combine Sony’s existing subscription services, PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus, with the former being entirely phased out as a result. 

The new service could offer the current features of PlayStation Plus, such as the ability to play online multiplayer games and access cloud storage. Furthermore, subscribers will get access to a large library of games including titles from the PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP. Games locked to these platforms are not currently playable on Sony’s current consoles, except via PlayStation Now.

The same report suggests that the service will be split into three tiers. The first tier will be similar to a standard PlayStation Plus subscription, offering the ability to play online and download a small selection of rotating monthly games. The second tier adds an additional collection of PS4, and eventually PS5, games. The third level will offer all of the above, plus access to games from the classic Sony systems mentioned above.

Industry insider Jeff Grubb has suggested that the tiers will be called “essential,” “extra” and “premium,” and that pricing will start at $10 a month for the first tier, $13 a month for the second and $16 a month for the premium membership. Grubb was quick to acknowledge that these prices may be placeholders, but we expect the final prices to be in roughly the same ballpark, at least. 

Tom's Guide has cited Xbox Game Pass as “the best deal in gaming,” and Microsoft announced that the service surpassed 25 million subscribers in January. As a result, it's not a surprise that Sony feels PlayStation needs a stronger competitor in the subscription space. However, Sony may not replicate the biggest benefit of Game Pass: all first-party Xbox exclusives being available on the service at launch.

Upcoming PlayStation exclusives, such as God of War Ragnarok and Spider-Man 2, may not be a part of the service when they launch. However, as a sort of compromise, Grubb has suggested that Sony could instead offer Spartacus subscribers full game trials, which could include first-party PlayStation titles. 

This offering would pale in comparison to Microsoft’s willingness to allow flagship titles, such as Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5 and the upcoming Bethesda RPG Starfield to hit Game Pass at launch.   

Further indication that the reveal of Spartacus could be just around the corner comes via Greg Miller of Kinda Funny who has tipped PlayStation for as many as three big announcements this week.

TOPICS
Rory Mellon
Entertainment Editor (UK)

Rory is an Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team. 

Read more
PlayStation logo on a phone in front of a State of Play logo.
PlayStation State of Play live updates — Metal Gear Solid Delta, MindsEye, and more announced
Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming titles shown with Xbox controller and Xbox Series X menu
The best cloud gaming services in 2025
Helldivers 2 screenshot
Every PlayStation movie and TV show confirmed at CES 2025 — 'The Last Of Us' season 2 update, Helldivers movie and more
The PlayStation logo on a PS5 Pro
PlayStation 6 rumored for late 2027 release — 3 PS6 spec clues I've picked up from reading between the lines
PlayStation Plus
Quick! Sony Presidents' Day sale takes up to $60 off a year of PlayStation Plus
The PlayStation Portal on a counter with the start screen for Horizon Forbidden West
PlayStation Portal just got upgraded cloud streaming features — here’s what’s new
Latest in Playstation
The PlayStation Portal on a counter with the start screen for Horizon Forbidden West
PlayStation Portal just got upgraded cloud streaming features — here’s what’s new
God of War Ragnarok
PlayStation’s epic March sale is live with PS5 games from $3 — here’s 17 deals I’d buy
Horizon Forbidden West on PC
AI-powered PlayStation characters are being tested at Sony — what we know
The Last of Us Part I screenshot with a Tom's Guide deal tag
PlayStation launches new sale with big discounts on essential PS5 games — here’s my 17 favorite deals from $2
PS VR2 headset with PS VR2 Sense controllers
PlayStation VR2 getting a $200 price drop in March — is it worth buying now?
The PlayStation logo on a PS5 Pro
Ex-Sony executive predicts the PS6 will arrive in 2028 — what you need to know
Latest in News
Bill Gates in 2019
Bill Gates just predicted the death of every job thanks to AI — except for these three
NYTimes Connections
NYT Connections today hints and answers — Wednesday, March 26 (#654)
Gemini screenshot image
Google unveils Gemini 2.5 — claims AI breakthrough with enhanced reasoning and multimodal power
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 design just teased in new cases leak — and the outer display is huge
Google Chrome
Chrome failed to install on Windows PCs, but Google has issued a fix — here's what happened
nyc spring day AI image
OpenAI just unveiled enhanced image generator within ChatGPT-4o — here's what you can do now