PlayStation Plus bonus freebie is a genuine hit with subscribers

If you’re a PlayStation Plus premium tier subscriber, you’ll now have access to PS5 cloud streaming - and it’s a feature that’s proved to be a genuine hit with subscribers.

Cloud streaming essentially allows you to play selected games without downloading them to your console, saving on precious storage space. PlayStation Plus premium tier users can now stream certain extra tier catalogue titles, plus a variety of non-PlayStation Plus games - including Resident Evil 4, Genshin Impact, and Fortnite. Resolution options include 4K, 1440p, 1080p, and 720p, and both 60fps and SDR/HDR are supported. The feature rolled out in Japan on 17 October, followed by the European release yesterday, with the North American release planned for 30 October. Many subscribers are already full of praise though.

Take a look at the PlayStation Plus cloud streaming explainer below.

Reddit user flipkick661 kicked off the conversation, writing, “The latest update is leaving me pretty optimistic [...] First of all, it no longer feels like I’m compromising by playing a last gen version of a game that’s available for current gen. [...] Secondly, the fidelity is pretty impressive, and the surround sound and HDR works great as well. I haven’t had any pixelation or artifacting so far, although the compression can show more at times, but mostly in the form of something akin to a little film grain.”

They continued, “Thirdly, and what I found to be the biggest game changer, is the streaming library available. Being able to cloud stream games I own without them having to be in the [PS] Plus catalogue is amazing, and I can already see myself returning to a bunch of older uninstalled games in my library for quick sessions, simply due to the ease of access. Doing a quick sorting of my library, I have 241 PS5 games, out of which 113 are streamable. [...] I don’t think streaming will or should ever replace local play, but I do find it a great addition to the way I can access my content.”

Nicely summed up. The user garnered plenty of upvotes, although many comments highlighted that they’d love to see PS5 cloud streaming land on PC or in a wider array of territories. Seeing as the feature is brand new, I’m imagining we will see this happen in due course once the dust has settled.