The Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus discussion:

There is an obvious comparison to be made between Game Pass and PlayStation Plus (PS Plus), right? They are both provided by console makers as part of their gaming selection and online availability. They are both marketed as something that adds value to your product. They both add games to your library for free(ish) with monthly additions to the catalogue that rotates in and out as the year goes on. They are both seen as a way for you to play games for a small fee with little monetary investment on your part as opposed to buying games outright with the premise you don’t own said games. The list of similarities is evident. What isn’t evident is how different these propositions are.

When you look at the games that are available with these offerings you can start to see the differences in how these services operate. Game Pass offers 75+ day one releases whereas PlayStation Plus offers fewer smaller 3rd party games day one. Game Pass offers all their first party games as day one releases (including COD) whereas PlayStation Plus does not. PlayStation Plus offers games to keep each month (this month it is I believe it is Alan Wake 2, Cocoon, and Goat Simulator 3 all decent games) whereas Game Pass does not (not directly but possibly through Microsoft Rewards program where you can get Gift Cards to buy them?) Game Pass includes a discount on games around 10% (but not on all games I don’t think but often new titles as well) whereas PS Plus offered discount on selected games.

Still similar though, right? This has been brought to the forefront again with the increase in Game Pass pricing. The decider as to whether it is worth it is essentially a personal decision in my opinion and every person needs to weigh up and dissect for themselves if the value is still there for them or in fact if it ever was. I feel the discussion as to whether one is worth more than the other or is better than the other is pointless as I believe they are fundamentally different things and making false comparisons or correlations are nothing more than clickbait, rage baiting or plain arguing for the sake of arguing.

My first and for me the most salient point is the one is not available on the others platform (or in the case of PS Plus not available on the PC). Now you can use the argument to try for some unfathomable reason sell more of your console of choice’s devices but why you would want to do that when there is no actual benefit to you is beyond me. As a PC gamer I will not fight you to try get you to buy a NVidia graphics card or CPU over AMD’s version, or to promote a Samsung SSD over Corsair one and so on. I do not get any incentive from doing so. Trying to get people to buy your device as a validation for your choice is irrational but from what I can see is the only reason to do so. Highlighting why you prefer one choice over another is valid but denigrating someone who’s choices are different from yours doesn’t make sense.

The reports you see on websites and on content creators’ videos are comparing PS Plus to Game Pass. They are not the same thing. It is like comparing a sports car to a normal car and claiming the either car is better the other, rather than just different. The sports car is great for speed and cornering but the normal car shines in the cities and day to day driving where a sports car is overkill. But if you like the sports car and enjoy what it offers you then why would you not buy it to use around town, and a normal car still gets you where you want to go perfectly fine. The discussion should be around what these different subscriptions offer you and not comparing them to each other. Again, what the PS Plus offers is of no use to me as a PC gamer and this goes for the Xbox console gamers as well as the product is not available to me on these devices. It is all sales pitches and advertising which in 2025. After all the marketing we have been subject to our whole lives, we really should be more aware of and be less susceptible to it.

As an overview, Xbox Game Pass gives you access to 75+ games on day one a year (including Indianna Jones, Gears of War, Expedition 33, Blue Prince, COD, Silksong, Outer Worlds 2 and so on), 400+ games on the subscription, Cloud gaming  up to 1440p (which in my experience has been very good but I know it is dependent on your internet connection), EA Plus, Ubisoft classics, Fortnite Crew (a weird edition if you ask me but there are millions of players that will benefit from this) and a few other minimal things like Microsoft rewards which are less impressive now.

PlayStation Plus Gives you 600+ games (not sure what games these are as I don’t have a PlayStation but I believe newer PlayStation classic games like God of War, Horizon, Spiderman are all on there), very few day one games that specifically does not include their tent pole titles, cloud gaming on the Premium Tier, it includes Ubisoft classics as well as some PS1&2 and PSP games and the Sony movie pictures catalogue but I don’t really know what this is.

Unsurprisingly you get more with Game Pass for more money. I have been trying to figure out what exactly people are annoyed about with this price increase and the only thing I can deduce is they want more for less. People seem to want to pay the same for Game Pass that offers more as they would do for PS Plus. The increase of 50% is a bit stark I agree, but people have been saying for years it is the best deal in gaming with some caveats about game ownership and the ruination of the gaming industry. Game Pass started in 2017 8 years ago at $9.99 (£7.99), increased to $14,99 (£10.99) in 2019, increased to $19.99 (£19.99) in 2024 and now $29.99 (£22.99). That is an 200% increase from inception around 13.9% per year over the 8yrs. I will say that the £7.99 ($9.99) would have been a subsidised incentive to get people involved but the increase is the increase. In that time, they have added more tiers to choose from, EA Play titles, Play Anywhere between Xbox and PC, an increase from 100 or so games available to the 400+ now, Xbox Cloud gaming, Ubisoft + and Ubisoft Classics and most recently Fortnite Crew (which is not everyone’s cup of tea to be sure). In that same time PS Plus has gone from £39.99 yearly (£3.34 monthly) to (£99.99 or £13.49 monthly) for the Premium product (closest thing to Game Pass Ultimate) but the value has not increased nearly to the same amount with PS Plus Premium offering free games to keep, 600+ games (not including their first party tent pole titles day one), cloud gaming and trails (but I am sure Game Pass and Xbox in general have Game Trials which may be a similar thing).

I know the reports like drama, so they only detail the Ultimate price as it is the most socking. But I think people will move from Ultimate to another plan depending on what they need. I would love to see details of the breakdown of how many people have what plan. I imagine most people have the plan that is tied to where they play games (console or PC Game Pass) and a minority had Ultimate. How many people play on both devices and how many use the Xbox Cloud Gaming platform? I have a PC (my main device) and an Xbox console (my son’s main device) and a Steam Deck and, yes, I know, I am going to but the Xbox Ally X when it comes out so Ultimate makes sense to me. But if you have a PS5 and a PC the PC Game Pass would be your option as there is no need for Ultimate.

The closest I can come to really dissecting the difference between the two is to compare them to Netflix and Prime Video. Not to compare them as subscription services but rather as value propositions. The two video streaming services are essentially the same thing in offering on demand movies and TV series. They have a selection of 3rd party shows and movies as well as a selection of their own self-made shows. The similarities are there compared to the gaming subscriptions. You can choose whichever service suits you based on availability of the shows where you are (there are locational differences in viewing options not unlike people having an Xbox, PS5 or PC), the price of the service (Game Pass vs PS Plus pricing) and of course the most important the content you prefer to watch (or games you prefer to play as there are still exclusives between the different platforms). You would choose the service you want based on your personal preferences and what is important to you. I personally wouldn’t go out and buy a PlayStation as I am not sold on the games as such. I wouldn’t have bought an Xbox if I was on my own as PC is where I prefer to play my games.

Essentially there is no real discussion to be had here. If you are on PlayStation, you get PS Plus at the tier you want, if you are on Xbox, you get Game Pass at the tier you want and if you are on PC, you either get Game Pass or you don’t as PS Plus or any PlayStation service is not available. Comparing the two is pointless as you are set based on what your device is and what either your budget is or your own value incentive of what they tiers afford you. That is it. If you feel that the Xbox ecosystem offers you more (from it being where your friends are or games available) or you feel the PlayStation is where you get your value, then that will dictate where you game and by proxy will dictate which package you choose.