Xbox boss Phil Spencer says a PlayStation Game Pass competitor is “an inevitability”

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has responded to the recent rumours that PlayStation is working on a Game Pass competitor, describing it as “an inevitability.”

In an interview with IGN, Spencer gave his thoughts on the rumours, calling it “the right answer” in terms of how to get games to players. The new PlayStation service in question is reportedly named Spartacus and is set to replace PS Now as well as PS Plus. 

The Xbox boss also said in the interview: “I think the right answer is allowing your customers to play the games they wanna play, where they wanna play them and giving them choice about how they build their library.” He also added, “so when I hear others doing things like Game Pass or coming to PC, it makes sense to me because I think that’s the right answer.”

Rumours surrounding the PlayStation Game Pass competitor began in December 2021 when it was reported that a new service would be launching in the Spring of 2022. The rumours were reignited as recently as last week when it was reported that a new PS5 patent – which is related to backwards compatibility – had been filed by the console’s lead system architect Mark Cerny. It was also recently revealed that PS Now cards are being pulled from retailers as Sony prepared for some kind of service revamp. 

If rumours are to be believed, it is said that PlayStation’s new service will offer three tiers of membership. The first contains all the standard benefits of PS Plus, the second with PS4 and PS5 games, and the third will feature an extended streaming library including the likes of PS1, PS2, PS3, and potentially even PSP games. Unfortunately, nothing has been confirmed yet so we will have to wait and see what Sony eventually ends up bringing to the table. 

In the meantime, find out what you should be playing on Xbox with our list of the best games on Xbox Game Pass.

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at University, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became GamesRadar’s trainee news writer where I get to spread the word about the goings-on in the video game world. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing related topics after spending the last 15 years immersing myself in island life. I also know a thing or two about The Last of Us, and way too much about the Kingdom Hearts series.