Sony this week confirmed reports that it has began testing a new PlayStation-based video streaming service to users in Poland.
The new service is called PlayStation Plus Video Pass, and allows users in that country to stream TV shows and movies to their PS4 and PS5 consoles. It’s noted that the service is still being tested, and that it only provides access to 21 titles now, though Sony has plans to refresh its library on a quarterly basis, Polish media reported. The service is being introduced through the PlayStation Plus network at no additional cost to users.
"We want to see how players will benefit from such a service," Nick Maguire, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s global services VP, told Polish site Spider's Web. "What titles do they watch, what do they care about, how often do they use them."
The move shows how keen Sony has become to take advantage of the explosion in video streaming that has arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Services such as Netflix and Disney+ have seen a huge jump in subscribers in recent months, and Sony, which has access to tons of content through Sony Pictures Entertainment and its recent acquisitions of animation studios Funimation and Crunchyroll, is well positioned to jump on the bandwagon.
What isn’t clear is if Sony intends for the PlayStation Plus Video Pass to play second fiddle to its main video streaming service, the newly launched Sony Bravia Core offering that provides access to what it says is the world’s “largest selection of IMAX Enhanced movies and the latest box office releases from Sony Pictures.” Sony Bravia Core is currently only available, via a subscription service, to Sony Bravia TV owners and it seems likely the service will retain some exclusivity in order to make Sony’s TVs a more compelling purchase.
The PlayStation Plus Video Pass meanwhile could serve as more of a mass market option for Sony, while also replacing the PlayStation Store. The company recently announced that the PS Store will stop selling and renting TV shows and movies in August this year.
One thing we can be sure about is that movie streaming is becoming a very big business. In other news this week, Samsung Electronics said its free TV streaming service, Samsung TV Plus, is being launched on Galaxy smartphones in the U.K. The Samsung TV Plus can now be accessed from Google Play, but note it only works on the Samsung Galaxy S10, S20, S21, Note 10 and Note 20 devices.
