The PlayStation Now open beta begins tomorrow for North American PS4 owners, but there's still a ton of questions surrounding the rental streaming service. For starters, whatever happened to the Netflix-like subscription plan?
Currently, PS Now only offers gamers the ability to rent games on an individual basis for a fixed amount. Prices vary depending on the game and publisher, but the amount of time you can rent a game ranges anywhere from a few hours to 90 days. That's fine and all, except that there have been complaints over the pricing for these rentals — mostly people bi*ching about how expensive it is. The alternative, a subscription plan, would presumably be cheaper. But we've literally heard nothing about such a plan. That doesn't mean Sony isn't still considering the option though.
"We're working diligently to bring a subscription option to gamers to compliment our rental offering for PlayStation Now," PlayStation Now senior director Jack Buser told IGN. "We believe that offering both of these options would provide gamers the freedom to discover and play games in ways that weren't before possible."
Unfortunately, Buser didn't offer any details as to when the option might become available. He did say, however, that current prices aren't set in stone and that Sony will be looking at user feedback throughout the beta process. Buser also mentioned that a "rent-to-buy" option is also being considered.
The PlayStation Now beta will be available starting tomorrow on PS4 in the U.S. and Canada. From there, Sony will expand it to PS3, PS TV and Vita.
