San Francisco (AFP)
Sony has halved the price of its subscription to PlayStation Now, its online video game service, just weeks before Google's release of Stadia, a competing service.
The monthly subscription to the Sony platform will now cost $ 10 per month in the United States (nearly 10 euros in Europe), a price equivalent to that of some "pro" subscriptions in Stadia.
The Japanese group has also added new titles to its library of 700 games, accessible on its consoles or on computer (via a Windows software).
Sony is trying to strengthen the advent of the battle of the video game in the "cloud" (remote computing).
Google has taken a step ahead with its Stadia platform, which will allow from November to play streaming from any device connected to the Internet, on the model of Netflix success in the video.
Microsoft and Sony announced in the spring their alliance in streaming to better fight Google, which is also a giant of the "cloud", such as Microsoft and Amazon.
"We have accumulated a lot of knowledge in the game streaming since the launch of PlayStation Now in 2014," said Jim Ryan, head of Sony Interactive Entertainment, in a statement released Tuesday.
"With 25 years of experience in the gaming industry and strong partnerships with publishers, we are well positioned to set the pace and continue to innovate in this industry as it evolves." he added.
New titles added to Sony's catalog include "God of War" and "Grand Theft Auto V".
The French publisher Ubisoft, future partner of Stadia, also launched in September its own subscription platform, Uplay +, in the United States and Europe, which allows to play the titles of its catalog on Windows computers.
© 2019 AFP