Sony is withdrawing PS Now cards, perhaps preparing the Game Pass rivals

PS Now and PS Plus could be merged to form a kind of Game Pass subscription service from Sony.

Sony is apparently withdrawing physical PS Now prepaid cards. Corresponding reports are now piling up from Great Britain, but this is also said to have happened a few weeks ago in the USA. That is why well-known industry insiders such as Jason Schreier now suspect that this is preparations for Sony’s new subscription service. Allegedly, PS Plus and PS Now are supposed to merge and come onto the market as a kind of Game Pass competition.

Sony is apparently taking PS Now prepaid cards out of the market

What is this about In the UK, news is currently making the rounds demanding retailers to withdraw physical prepaid cards for PS Now. Apparently the chains have until January 19th to comply. From this point on, the old cards should apparently no longer be offered (via: VentureBeat).

After that, there will probably no longer be any way in Great Britain to buy a PS Now subscription in retail or to expand or top up the credit. The same thing is said to have happened in the US about a month ago, but without attracting too much attention.

Link to Twitter content

PS Plus and PS Now: Preparations for a new subscription service could be underway

Fusion vs Game Pass? As well-connected journalist and insider Jason Schreier notes on Twitter, this could be done in preparation for Sony’s new streaming and subscription service. It trades internally under the name “Spartacus” and some time ago it was said in a Bloomberg report that a combination of PS Now and PS Plus awaits us:

A corresponding subscription service with some additional functions and expanded scope could actually be put in place by Sony as an answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. The fact that the physical PS Now cards are now disappearing from the market would also fit and possibly point to an imminent start.

When is the new PS Plus coming? There is no official date yet. Jason Schreier apparently thinks this spring is likely and writes on Twitter that April would be “not surprising”. So far, the new subscription has not even been officially announced. We don’t know what the service is called, and we don’t yet know whether it’s really a combination of PS Plus and PS Now. Neither is it certain with certainty that the thing with the prepaid cards has anything to do with it.

How do you feel about the matter? How would this service have to be to be attractive to you?