Sony PlayStation Now finally getting its own Day 1 title, to compete with Xbox Game Pass

Sony has just released its very first launch title for PS Now, Shadow Warrior 3. The company announced via its PlayStation Blog that Shadow Warrior 3 will be available for free on its PS Now game streaming and download service starting March 1st. This is the same date when the game goes on sale in the traditional way. Also read – Sony PlayStation Plus March 2022 Free Games: Ghost of Tsushima: Legends, Ghostrunner, more

Apart from that, the company also announced that people who pre-order the game through the PlayStation Store will also get the Shadow Warrior (2013) and Shadow Warrior 2 games for free. These two legacy games will not be made available to PlayStation Now subscribers. Also read – Sony PlayStation VR2 (PS VR2) revealed: Here’s a closer look at the upcoming VR headset

This move comes as a bit of a surprise considering that many leaks and reports suggest that the company is currently working on a full-fledged competitor to Microsoft’s Game Pass service, which will see PS Now subscription cards disappear from retailers once it’s released. Also read – Sony shows off its PlayStation VR2 for PS5

This decision is currently seen as a soft start and an indication of Sony’s plans for its new offering, or maybe Sony just decided to merge its ongoing service with the upcoming one and keep the name. Either way, this is a huge win for PS Now subscribers, as now they don’t have to wait to take advantage.

As a reminder, Shadow Warrior 3 was originally scheduled to release sometime in 2021. However, developer Flying Wild Hog pushed back the release date to give it more time to “sharpen its blades”. This pushback was supposedly done to iron out some kinks and bugs before the game is released to the public and to avoid a Cyberpunk 2077-like fiasco.

Shadow Warrior 3 will be a first-person shooter set in a neo-feudal Japan, where you take control of a corporate enforcer-turned-freelance mercenary to track down and defeat an ancient dragon and demons that you accidentally awakened.