Since Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus have become things in gaming, gamers have argued the value of both services and naturally with any Xbox vs PlayStation debate, which one is better. There's no real right or wrong answer as its all about ones perspective, but both have value in their own right.

Over the weekend a clip went viral of IGN's Next-Gen Console Watch podcast where the host asked the 2 guests (who both work for IGN) if they were to recommend a console to a consumer would it be an Xbox Series console or a PlayStation 5 console. Both said while the PlayStation 5 is a great console, they'd say the Xbox Series X or S. Why? Because the value of Game Pass and the ability to get a catalog of games cheaply.

As I said this of course sparked a lot of debate because neither guest mentioned PlayStation Plus. PlayStation Plus actually has a bigger catalog of games (true) and has better games (subjective). But what really is the value of the 2 services, and why would they recommend a service that has less games in it when talking about value? The answer is because both services are much more than just the sheer amount of games in it. Infact I'd argue the number of games is the least important piece of the "value" proposition. Let's discuss.

What They Both Have Going For Them

First let's get the similarities out of the way. Both Game Pass and PlayStation Plus have extensive catalogs, and many of them are the same game. Chances are good that if you want to play an older third party game and see it in Xbox Game Pass, you will probably see it in PlayStation Plus. This isn't to say all of those games are there, but there is a fair bit of overlap.

And if one game is on Xbox Game Pass and not PlayStation Plus or vice versa? Chances are those games were either already in the other service, or will be coming to the service. Even when it comes to third party day 1 Game Pass games many have shown up later on PlayStation Plus.

I've never really considered the sheer number of games as holding much value in either service. While it is true that PlayStation Plus boasts a bigger number of games, especially when you consider their extensive classic catalog, the majority of these games are simply an added number to help with marketing. Sure, every game has an audience to a degree and bring some value to those few people, but most aren't subscribing to either service so they can play a 3 year old $10 indie game. What drives subscriptions are a handful of bigger games and the odd indie game that breaks out.

The other major thing you get with both services in online multiplayer. Both Xbox and PlayStation require you to have one of the services in order to access multiplayer. While both offer various tiers that give you different things, almost everyone today wants to play online games in some capacity, so tying it to their subscription service is one easy way to get more games into their hands and add perceived value.

Xbox Game Pass Value Lies in First and Third Party Day One Games

Now as for what separates the 2 services it really at the moment boils down to 2 things. For Xbox pretty much all of Game Pass's value is tied it's first party games being available day 1 for those with ultimate and PC game pass as well as their offering of day 1 third party games in both those tiers. Xbox over the years has done a great job when it comes to securing third party deals for Game Pass, and quite honestly with the concerns of game sales on the platform, founded or not, we might simply see more third party deals on the service going forward.

All in all, the day 1 games amount to about 40 games per year. They vary in sizes from big games such as Indiana Jones, Black Ops 6 and Stalker 2, to smaller games such as Dungeons Of Hinterberg (do not sleep on this game!) and Magical Delicacy. How easy is it to get value out of this though? Game Pass Ultimate here in Canada costs about $275 a year if you don't get any deals. A typical AAA game costs $90 and less for indie's. Essentially if you can find 3 day 1 games a year, or some combination of AAA and indie games that you were planning on purchasing that is equal to that, the service pays for itself and would be deemed good value. Anything else after that, or anything from the rest of the catalog is a bonus.

The other potential added value is EA Play which is an add-on for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers. For those unaware, EA Play is  EA's subscription service which includes all their published games. While none of them come to Game Pass on day 1 pretty much all of their non sports IP's come within about a year after launch, and all their sports titles about 6 months after launch. So if you were really interested in say Dragon Age The Veilguard but didn't want to purchase it, you can safely assume that a year from now you can play via Game Pass.

EA Play is an overlooked addition to Game Pass on its own as its subscription cost alone if you were to sub to it without Game Pass is $7.99 Canadian.

When you look at the 2 combined factors above, it's easy to see why many say Game Pass has a ton of value. If you project into 2025 and look at whats already announced in South Of Midnight, Fable, Sniper Elite Resistance, Atomfall, Doom The Dark Ages and 33 Immortals just to name a few there's already a lot to like.

PlayStation Plus Main Value Lies Almost Solely In It's First Party Catalog

When it comes to PlayStation's service on the other hand the value more or less lies in how much you are willing to wait for their offering of first party games. The biggest different between the two services is that while Xbox offers all first party games day one, PlayStation takes at least a year (with a few exceptions) before they put any of their own games into the service. That in my opinion is a big blow to value as most gamers want to play the games when they come out.

Having said that, if you are willing to wait it out, PlayStation is arguably the best publisher in the world when it comes to high quality games so there absolutely is value in their service from the first party games alone. Being able to play Horizon Forbidden West, Returnal, Ratchet & Clank and so on and so forth is a great incentive, especially if you are just getting onto the platform.

It should also be noted that PlayStation is starting to dabble more and more into adding day 1 games to the service. While for the most part they have been smaller games, I think the biggest to date has been Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, the fact that they are cutting more and more of these deals can only help boost the value. How hard they push for more day 1 games remains to be seen. My guess however is it's a slower build to get these deals as games generally sell better on PlayStation, meaning they'd likely have to spend more money to get the deals to outweigh the publishers losing out on sales.

So Who "Wins"?

As for which of these services ultimately wins on the value front, that is subjectively up to each individual. Both services offer great value for different things. If you value playing more day 1 games, Game Pass is definitely the better bang for your buck if the games they offer are of interest. If you prefer PlayStation first party games and can wait it out while getting a sprinkling of new games, then PlayStation Plus is absolutely worth it for you.

If it was me and it was strictly a value proposition, I'd say the Xbox Series is the right choice. Getting 40ish day 1 games is hard to say no to in my opinion. Even if you are only interested in a quarter of them it's great value.

Of course these services are only part of the reason to buy one of the consoles and not the only reason. If you aren't interested in services and simply want to go where the games are it's hard to argue against a PlayStation 5. With Xbox starting to ship games on PlayStation and the potential for even more, you can potentially get the best of both worlds. And even if they don't ship everything PlayStation has an incredibly strong lineup.

With both consoles turning 4 years old this week I discussed the past, present and future of each. To give you a bit more insight you can read the PlayStation article here and the Xbox article here.

At the end of the day both consoles have a lot going for them and I don't think you can go wrong with either one. The real winner is you and I getting to enjoy this hobby.