Shuhei Yoshida says PlayStation Plus should be used to manage a game’s lifecycle

Sony PlayStation Indies head Shuhei Yoshida says PS Plus should be used by publishers to manage a game’s lifecycle.

Speaking at GI Live: London (thanks GamesIndustry.biz), Yoshida discussed Sony’s approach to the subscription service, reiterating that the company still believes in “premium release of a title at launch. “.

However, with PS Plus, Sony offers a different approach as added value to developers and publishers.

“The new PS Plus has tiers and it’s basically like the old PS Plus, we always release two or three new games every month and a new tier, Extra, has a catalog of hundreds of games for people to play” , Yoshida said.

“For Extra, our approach [is] we love to help publishers [with] life cycle management. I managed the first part [at PlayStation] so i know it’s like in movies – a movie comes out in theaters first, then goes to pay-per-view, or a subscription service, or free-to-air TV, each time generating new revenue and reaching a wider audience.

“Similarly, we believe in a premium release of a title at launch and after maybe six months, three months or three years when the game’s sales go down, the inclusion in that service, PS Plus Extra, can help introduce these games to new wider audiences Some people may have missed these games when they came out and this is a great opportunity to play and generate word of mouth or if there is a DLC or an ongoing sequel, we can help spark interest in the franchise for a wider audience.

“We therefore encourage publishers to use these services to manage the lifecycle of each title.”

Sony has been adamant that new games won’t be added to PS Plus on day one, unlike rival Microsoft with Game Pass.

“We feel like we’re in a good virtuous cycle with studios,” PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said when announcing PS Plus, “where investment is successful, which allows even more investment, which leads to even more success.We love this cycle and we think our players love this cycle.

“We believe that if we were to [add games on day one] with the games we make at PlayStation Studios, this virtuous cycle will be broken. The level of investment we need to make in our studios would not be possible, and we believe the ripple effect on the quality of the games we make would not be something gamers want.”

Since its launch, gamers have speculated on when first-party games might be added to the service. Returnal, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake were all added about a year after the initial launch.

It’s clear from Yoshida’s comments, however, that it all depends on the life cycle of each individual game.

Watch the full interview with Yoshida below.