Phil Spencer Says Sony's Rumored Xbox Game Pass Competitor, Spartacus, Is A 'Good Idea'

Phil Spencer commented on Sony's alleged upcoming Xbox Game Pass competitor, and he's mostly all praises about it.

The Xbox head honcho thinks that PlayStation's rumored version of Game Pass, codenamed Spartacus, "makes sense," as reported by PCGamer.Spencer further added that he doesn't consider Sony's efforts as some sort of "validation" for Game Pass' success over the years, instead calling it "inevitable."

Spencer mentioned that one of the best things to do in the gaming industry these days is to allow gamers to play whatever they want to play, wherever and whenever they want it. That's basically what Game Pass offers right now, and not something that PlayStation offers with PS Now.

Speaking to IGN, the current head of Xbox also mentioned that big industry players like Sony should keep on innovating and competing to bring games to players almost regardless of what platform they're playing on.

These comments from Spencer comes after rumors started floating around regarding Sony's massive overhaul of PlayStation Now.

Among the earliest reports came from Bloomberg, who wrote about the project codenamed Spartacus. In the report, they mentioned that the new service will be a combination of both PlayStation Now and PlayStation Plus. The rumored release window is next Spring.

What this could mean is that PlayStation Now's streaming library (which includes PS2, PS3, and PS4 titles) will be combined with PS Plus's online multiplayer and free monthly games. It essentially is Sony's own version of Xbox Game Pass in all but name.

The speculation about Project Spartacus was also further intensified when Sony announced that they're phasing out PS Now gift cards in the UK. Official reasoning states that the decision is to "streamline gift card offerings," but many fans on the web beg to differ.

Is Phil Spencer Right About The 'Inevitable' Comments?

Xbox Game Pass couldn't dominate the airwaves on its own for long. Sooner or later, Sony will have to compete, considering how Game Pass has been lording it over PS Now and PS Plus in recent times. This means that Phil Spencer's comments make a lot of sense, whether or not Project Spartacus is real.

However, some publications are saying that Spartacus won't be beating Game Pass anytime soon-the gap is allegedly that wide. Among these publications is Inverse, who says that Spartacus' weakness will be Sony's desire to make people buy their exclusive games "the old fashioned way."

This statement comes from Japanese game industry analyst Dr. Serkan Toto. He doesn't seem to be confident that Sony will be offering their biggest first-party games (i.e. "God Of War Ragnarok") for free if you pay a monthly fee.

That might be because the company apparently takes so much pride in making these said games exclusive on their consoles (at least for a limited time, with regards to 2018's "God Of War" recently launching on PC).

Looking Ahead

Sony still hasn't commented on anything related to Spartacus as of the moment. For now, nothing is confirmed or denied about the service. But maybe it is only a matter of time before the service is revealed.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce