Sony has announced that it will expand its video game streaming service to stream PlayStation 5 games over the web. It’s a capability that already exists for PS3 and PS4 games.
The Japanese firm said this week it has already begun testing the new feature, and said the plan is for users to be able to stream both PS5 games they own, plus PS5 games from PlayStation Plus, which is its video game subscription service.
Sony explained that when the feature launches, cloud game streaming for supported PS5 titles will be available directly on PS5 consoles. The benefit, Sony added, is that as a Premium PlayStation Plus member, it’ll be easier to jump into new games without first downloading them onto your PS5 console.
“Our goal is to add this as an additional benefit to PlayStation Plus Premium as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance the value of PlayStation Plus,” Sony explained.
PS Plus subscribers can already access PS4 and PS3 games, but as users will be well aware, streaming games does require that they already own a PS console. Some might assume that this pretty much defeats the purpose of cloud streaming altogether, especially as Sony’s rival Microsoft now offers game streaming to Xbox Game Pass subscribers on both consoles and Samsung Smart TVs, and has plans to bring its app to additional Smart TV brands later.
Sony did previously support game streaming via apps for a number of select TV brands, but later removed those apps and stopped supporting them.
It’s not clear if Sony’s PS5 games will also require users to own a PS5 console, or if anyone else will be allowed to access them. For now, we’ll just have to wait for additional details promised closer to launch.
“We’re in the early stages right now, and we can’t wait to share more details when we’re ready, including a launch time frame. Stay tuned,” Sony said.