14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation Store, part of the official Sony network, might soon be getting ready to deliver rentals to gamers, although the company is not yet ready to offer any sort of information on the service.
The North American version of the store currently shows rental options for some of the featured games, according to information from PSNstores, and one of the titles that gamers will be able to get for a limited period is Caherine from Atlus.
The information says that players will be able to rent an experience for one, seven or 30 days.
A connection seems to exist between the rental service and the soon to be launched PlayStation Now streaming service, which will be powered by technology created by Gaikai.
Sony has not offered any sort of comment on the possibility of renting games rather than buying them outright and it’s unclear how other publishers will react to such an option.
The addition of the new options might be linked to the delay that affected the PlayStation Store in North America this week.
The PlayStation Now service is at the moment in closed beta and will be officially launched in the United States in the first few weeks of summer.
The streaming solution is designed to allow all gamers who are interested in older titles for the PlayStation 3 to play them.
A pricing structure has not been announced, but Sony might integrate the service into its PlayStation Plus concept.
Game rentals would represent a major evolution for console gaming and the industry in general because they would offer more flexibility than ever for the public, while potentially reducing the overall revenue that publishers get from their titles.
Sony has promised that its recently launched PlayStation 4 would be one of the most connected consoles ever and would offer more options for all gamers.
Microsoft has also talked a lot about its cloud-based server infrastructure and the ways in which it can be used in order in order to improve the experiences of gamers.
But rentals are not even offered at the moment on the PC, where the digital distribution concept is more evolved than on home consoles.
If Sony managed to launch a complete game rental solution, it might attract a number of players that would otherwise be uninterested in next-gen home consoles and might increase the lead that the PlayStation 4 has over the Xbox One from Microsoft.