PS Now Could Bring PS5 Games and Rival With Xbox Game Pass
- PS5 games could land on the PS Now service thanks to a new patent.
- The technology uses multiple NVMe SSDs to store video game data.
- This change could bring PlayStation Now on the same level as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Sony could soon bring PS5 games on its PS Now service, considering the company registered a new patent in April 2021. It's called "Ultra high-speed low-latency network storage" and reveals how they want to implement a technology that uses multiple NVMe SSDs to store video game data reports DualShockers.
PS Now is a paid membership service offered by Sony, and it gives access to a selection of a few old PS2 and PS3 games and many PS4 ones that can be streamed and downloaded - except for the PS3 games (Sony decided these cannot be downloaded and to discontinue the PS3 console this year). Since Sony added NVMe SSDs that can dynamically stream the stored video game data between the SSDs to deliver it without delay in case there are any problems with the drive, we could only believe that PlayStation Now could be using the same drivers as PS5.
This means PS Now could soon get games made for the latest edition of the popular console. If this would come to pass, PS Now could become a rival to Xbox Game Pass - and also a delight for customers, especially for the PS4 Pro owners who would like to access PS5 games but don't want to get the new console or just don't find it since it's mostly out of stock.
Microsoft revealed during Gamescom 2021 that it's planning to let Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members stream over 100 games, including Xbox X/S games, on Xbox One from the cloud. In the latest news, they also announced Xbox Insiders can now test Xbox Cloud Gaming, and the roll-out plan for this is between September and December.
In the first part of 2021, Xbox Game Pass had roughly six times more subscribers than PlayStation Now, and it's not hard to see why - Microsoft often offers day one releases, access to all its first-party games, and many Xbox Series X/S optimized titles. On the other hand, Sony struggles to offer games at a much later date and doesn't include its own first-party games and no PS5 games (for now).