The number of PlayStation Now subscribers was announced by Sony in a recent corporate strategy meeting. The game-streaming service for the PlayStation ecosystem has hit 700,000 subscribers as of March 2019. What’s more, Sony believes that they can get 5 million people subscribed to the platform after they deploy the PS5.
Although the PS5 is likely to have a disc drive, a growing number of gamers are happily adapting to the digital era and subscribing to PlayStation Now. More than 700,000 people have joined Sony’s streaming service since its launch in 2016. This is a pretty clear indicator that there’s a market for games as a service in this respect, and Sony believes that they can grow their subscriber base by more than 600% in the coming years with the next console generation.
The number of PlayStation Now subscribers is particularly impressive considering that the service doesn’t cover the entire world just yet. Only a bit over 70% of the PS4 install base can access the PlayStation Now service, a fact that leaves quite a few customers out in the cold. The service recently expanded to seven European countries in March of 2019, bringing the total number of countries where the service is available to 19. The number of PlayStation now subscribers is sure to increase as more populous countries are added in the coming years.
Although Sony hitting the 700,000 mark is certainly impressive, the Japanese-based software and hardware developer isn’t content to rest on their laurels. Sony believes that they can bring 5 million people onto the platform throughout the next generation. A slide in their corporate presentation makes note of “Portable client devices” contributing to this growth, hinting that Sony may be bringing PlayStation Now to phones. Of course, this could also be interpreted to mean that they’ll be launching another handheld or possibly partnering with Nintendo in some fashion.
Game streaming services have been attempted several times in the past, but the number of PlayStation Now subscribers shows that Sony has done something right with their take on the idea. You can see some interesting stats about the history of PlayStation Now in the below slide from their presentation. The future certainly looks bright for game streaming services!
