Sony proudly unveiled their new PlayStation Now streaming service, which will come to the PlayStation 4 this summer.
However, industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks it’s a really terrible idea. Speaking to Game Informer (as cited by VideoGamer), Pachter says Now is “joke” and no publisher is interested in participating. That would be a serious blow to Sony if the prediction proved accurate.
“PlayStation Now is a joke. There is no publisher that is going to license content that’s less than two-years old because they would be concerned that they can’t sell as many copies if they make it available for subscription or rental.”
SCEA marketing vice president John Koller disagrees, claiming that thus far, publishers have been “exceedingly bullish” on the concept of Now. That being said, Sony hasn’t yet announced any third-party partners for the service.
“This has no prayer of working. None.”
If you weren’t aware, PlayStaiton Now lets users stream PlayStation titles to devices like the PS4, tablets, smartphones and Bravia TVs. Right now, they’re running a beta test that appears to be going along well.
Pachter may have a point
It’s a strong statement, but maybe he’s not far off the mark. Publishers will have to consider the prospect of sacrificing sales if they make a game available for subscription or rental. Furthermore, gamers will have to embrace yet another streaming service on top of ones they’ve already got, such as Netflix.
