Official PlayStation Plus Copy of Best Xbox Game Pass Feature
By introducing a new feature to PlayStation Plus to better showcase the titles users should pay attention to, PlayStation seems to be mimicking Xbox – and more particularly, Xbox Game Pass. This week, PlayStation Plus members observed that the company’s subscription service now appears to designate a game as a “Day 1 Release” if it will be made available through PlayStation Plus Essential, PlayStation Plus Extra, or PlayStation Plus Premium on the same day that it becomes generally accessible. In addition to the feature’s usefulness, the fact that it exists is positive for PlayStation’s future PS Plus plans.
PS Plus members may have seen the “Day 1 Release” badge recently when PlayStation announced the free games for December. Divine Knockout, one of those titles, is “Launching right into PlayStation Plus,” according to PlayStation. The emblem that was attached to the game’s artwork in the tweet below also made this clear.
If you also have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you probably already know that day-one releases are a thing there. For instance, three of those games are coming to Xbox Game Pass in the first half of December alone, and they are always identified as such in the Xbox Wire postings that promote them.
This is not the first time that a PlayStation game has been launched in this manner, to be sure. For instance, Bugsnax was a PS Plus title from the beginning until the tiers were altered, while Stray was made available to subscribers from the start. The fact that both of those games were available for free to members probably contributed to their success upon release and the positive reviews they received.