Sony has just made an official announcement regarding PlayStation Network PLAY, “a new program showcasing four of the season’s hottest action titles”. Essentially, it follows the same model as Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade, which is going on right now.
There will be four games as part of the program, including:
Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition – Aug. 23 ($15)
Deathspank: The Baconing – August 30 ($15)
Renegade Ops – September 15 ($15)
Bloodrayne Betrayal – September 16 ($15) – a delay for PSN in comparison to XBLA
One final game associated with this promotion is Payday: The Heist, which will be available for free to those who purchase the other four titles during a set period. However, users must be eighteen years of age to receive a downloadable voucher for the title, which is set to release at a high price point of $20.
PlayStation Plus subscribers receive a 20% discount on each of the titles, which is pretty good incentive to pick them up.
One difference is that you can pre-order these titles unlike what the XBOX Live service allows you to do, though I don’t know why it’s necessary. Sony also will gift players with free presents when they purchase games, most-likely being extra content in the form of weapons or characters.
Unlike the titles in the Summer of Arcade promotion, none of the four listed games for PLAY are Sony exclusives. Payday: The Heist is an exclusive property that is in-development with the help from Sony, however.