As part of Sony’s revamped PlayStation Plus service, the highest available tier (Premium) will offer exclusive timed trials for select games. It’s since been claimed that this applies to any game priced at $34 or higher, making it mandatory for developers.
According to a report by Game Developer, Sony has only begun informing developers of this via an update to Sony’s developer portal. Going forward, these timed trials must be at least two hours long, although they don’t have to be made available before a game’s launch. Developers will have up to three months after their game launches to release a trial version. The policy won’t apply to any games less than $34 nor do they need to be added retroactively; it’s only for future releases.
While mandatory demos sound like they can only be a good thing for consumers, this will mean developers must dedicate time and resources to making these trials. This may not necessarily be a problem for larger third parties or Sony’s own studios, but it may not be ideal for smaller studios with fewer resources.
Plus, a two-hour trial could offer a sizable amount of content depending on big or small the game is. Not only would there be a risk of showing too much of the game off, but there is also no guarantee that the trials will attract more consumers. Not to mention the trials will only be exclusive to PS Plus Premium subscribers. Regardless of how many do subscribe to this tier, it’ll still be a fraction of the PlayStation userbase.
Sony has yet to comment on the report.
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