Everything you need to know about PlayStation's game subscription and streaming service.
Update (06/13/2022): As of June 2022, PlayStation Now is no longer offered as a standalone subscription service, and PlayStation Now’s features have been incorporated into PlayStation Plus. You can learn more about PlayStation Plus in our guide to the service.
Original Story:
PlayStation Now, also called PS Now, is a video game subscription service that gives subscribers unlimited access to a large selection of PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 games that can be played on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Here’s everything you need to know about PS Now.
PlayStation Now gives subscribers unlimited access to hundreds of PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 video games, which can be streamed to your PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, or Windows PC over a high-speed internet connection. The service also allows subscribers to download over 300 PlayStation 4 games that can be played on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5.
To be clear, PC users can only stream games in the PS Now catalog. PC users can’t download games from the PS Now catalog.
So long as you have an active PS Now subscription, you can play these games as often and as much as you’d like. New games are added to the service each month.
While there are many family-friendly games in the PS Now catalog, there are also many games that have received an M for Mature rating from the ESRB, meaning they aren’t appropriate for anyone under the age of 17. You can view the full PS Now catalog on PlayStation’s website.
Keep in mind that streaming games through a high-speed internet connection may use a significant amount of data, depending on how often and how long you play.
It’s also worth noting that some games are only available in the PS Now catalog for a limited time. If a game is removed from the PS Now catalog and you want to continue playing it, you’ll need to purchase the game itself.
There are three membership tiers available for PS Now:
All of these are recurring subscriptions. This means if you choose the three-month subscription (for example), it will automatically renew at the end of the three-month period, unless you cancel your subscription beforehand.
You can also give a PlayStation Now subscription to someone else as a gift by purchasing a PlayStation Now gift card.
There are a few more things worth mentioning about PS Now.
First, PS Now subscribers are allowed to play the games they’ve downloaded from the service while their system is offline. In order to continue playing these downloaded games offline, your device will need to connect to the PlayStation Network at least once every seven days to confirm that you still have an active PS Now subscription.
Second, if you have purchased downloadable content (DLC) for a game that you’re playing through PS Now and your PlayStation Now subscription expires, you will still own the DLC but you won’t be able to access it again until you resubscribe to PlayStation Now or purchase the full game itself.
Next, if you cancel your PS Now subscription, your save data in the games you’ve played won’t be deleted. If you downloaded a game through PS Now, your save data for that game will be stored on your system automatically. If you streamed a game through PS Now, your save data will be saved in PlayStation’s PS Now cloud storage. If you resubscribe to PS Now or purchase a game outright, you can pick up where you left off with your save data intact. You can read more about accessing your PS Now save data on the PlayStation blog and PlayStation’s website.
Finally, some PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 games in the PS Now catalog offer online multiplayer gaming. If you play one of these games through a PS Now subscription, you can access its online multiplayer features without having a separate PlayStation Plus subscription. To be especially clear, this only applies to the games you’re playing through PlayStation Now. If you want to access online multiplayer features in other games, you’ll still need a PlayStation Plus subscription. To learn more about PlayStation Plus, check out our guide.
You can learn even more about PlayStation Now, and read answers to some frequently asked questions, on PlayStation’s website.
Top image via PlayStation.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
