PS4 Games Head To PlayStation Now

Sony announced that its PlayStation Now service will be updated with PlayStation 4 games some time in the future.

PlayStation Now currently allows you to stream games originally made for the PlayStation 3 to your Windows PC or PS4. Sony said in today's announcement that 483 titles are currently available on the service, including smash hits like The Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption, and more are released on a regular basis. That's great if you missed these games on the PS3, but it offers nothing if you're intrigued by the PS4's growing library.

That's about to change. Sony said in its announcement:

We’re excited to announce that PS Now’s catalog is set to grow even further, as we’ll be expanding to include a new platform: PlayStation 4 games. All of the games in the service, including PS4 games, will be included with a single PS Now subscription. We’ll share more information as we get closer to launch, so stay tuned.In the next few weeks we’ll kick off a private test with PS4 games on PS Now. If you’re an active PS Now subscriber, keep an eye on your email in case you get an invitation.

The news comes shortly after Sony announced that PlayStation Now will drop support for Blu-ray players, TVs, and other devices on August 15 so it could focus on Windows and the PS4. Maybe the company didn't want to deal with the hassle of streaming PS4 games to legacy hardware; maybe it was worried too many people would flock to the service once it added PS4 games; or maybe it was just sick of working with everything but toaster ovens.

No matter the reasoning, it's clear that dropping support for those devices wasn't a sign that Sony was planning to nix PlayStation Now. We suspect Microsoft's announcement of Xbox Game Pass in February might also have played a part in getting PS4 games onto the service. Xbox Game Pass is a lot like PlayStation Now--it streams Xbox games to Windows and Xbox One users for a monthly fee--but it was more committed to current releases.

Microsoft's service also seemed like a better deal. The company wants just $10 per month for Xbox Game Pass, and subscribers will also receive discounts on games they decide to purchase after giving them a test run via the streaming service. Microsoft also said that both last- and current-gen titles would be available, so even though it will have only 100 games at launch, Xbox Game Pass could be more enticing for many gamers.

Bringing PS4 games to PlayStation Now appears to be Sony's answer to Xbox Game Pass. It still has a few downsides, given its $20 per month price tag and the lack of discounts on games, but the service could also use the PS4's growing catalog of critically acclaimed exclusive titles to lure in anyone who's interested in games like Nioh, Horizon Zero Dawn, Bloodborne, and others but doesn't want to purchase a PS4 or PS4 Pro to play them.

That's assuming Sony taps its exclusive library. That would remove some of the best arguments for buying a PS4, though, so we expect the company to either stick with multi-platform games or slowly add exclusives to PlayStation Now when they're a few years old. Neither seems that appealing, but maybe Sony will surprise us by making some of those titles available soon. Until then, at least it's clear that PlayStation Now isn't going anywhere.

Nathaniel Mott
Freelance News & Features Writer

Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.

  • zahan
    Sony, just stop it, PS4 was promised BC - we get PS2 on PS4, and how small a library we have. PS3 titles are ok but PS4 streaming isn't the way to go, go all out PS1,2,3,4 games on NOW and have it setup for 15 a month. Every game every made on one service..............{Drops Mic}
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    This is definitely a response to the Xbox Game Pass announcement. However, PS Now remains a streaming-only service at this time. Xbox Game Pass titles are downloaded and run locally - and this will include XB1 titles and in the near future 360 games. I much prefer local installs over streaming, when possible. At $10 a month it seems like Xbox Game Pass has the potential to be really good.

    With that being said, it's nice to see PS4 titles come to PS Now. One thing Sony fans should consider: if Xbox Game Pass does well, it benefits you too. The better XGP performs, the more likely Sony is to step up and introduce features, as well as drop price. They should drop price and offer a discount program similar to Game Pass. They should also let you can download and play PS4 games locally on an actual PS4. They can't do so with PS3 games on a PS4 because the system isn't capable of backwards compatibility, but at least PS4 titles would be nice.
    Reply
  • Dosflores
    Xbox Game Pass is a lot like PlayStation Now--it streams Xbox games to Windows and Xbox One users for a monthly fee

    That statement is incorrect. Xbox Game Pass doesn't stream games; it lets you download and play them while your subscription is active. Which means that Xbox 360 and Xbox One games only work on Xbox One (and future Scorpio) consoles. You can only play on Windows those games which feature Xbox Play Anywhere, and there's only a handful of them right now (Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3...).

    I think Microsoft's approach is more attractive. I'd rather download than stream. And this approach has the potential to sell more Xbox One S consoles. If you've got a gaming PC, and subscribe to Xbox Game Pass to play some Xbox Play Anywhere games, you might be tempted to buy that console in order to be able to play the older games too. Sony's approach, on the other hand, has the potential to prevent owners of gaming PCs from ever buying a PlayStation console again.
    Reply
  • clonazepam
    I installed the Playstation Now app and was immediately alerted by virus protection that a couple of the program's javascript files were highly suspect. I haven't looked into it any further but that took the wind out of my sails. I'm not giving Sony my CC info just yet.
    Reply