Sony just announced that Spotify will be coming to PlayStation 3, 4, and Xperia smartphones and tablets, reports Engadget. This service would come in the form of the PlayStation Music.
This marks the first time that Spotify, the commercial music streaming service, has crossed over to a game console. This is also Sony PlayStation's answer to new major home entertainment apps taken up by other gaming consoles.
The Spotify-powered music service would replace Music Unlimited, which had previously accompanied Sony devices. Similar to Spotify, Music Unlimited has its own enormous music catalog.
Just like any other Spotify-enabled devices, PlayStation Music will require a paid subscription to avail users of premium membership. This will enable both playback on the devices and the ability to listen to music in the background during games.
No pricing has been released yet for the PlayStation Music. Moreover, Sony has not come out with any images or videos to show how the new service will work on the game console.
The Music Unlimited service will end on March 29, 2015 in all 19 countries. Nearly all of these countries will be among the 41 markets where PlayStation Music featuring Spotify will be available at launch, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
Sony pointed out that paid users who are still signed up as of February 28 will receive free access through the end of the run.
In a review posted on Engadget, Ben Gilbert wrote that Music Unlimted was the only option for playing music on PlayStation 4. He added that one cannot set up a media server, or play MP3s or audio CDs on the device.
Gilbert said that it was rather cumbersome to subscribe as a paying customer after the free 30-day trial of the service ends. He wondered why users cannot play their own music on a "super-powerful PC-esque" game console.
He noted that Music Unlimited "takes a shockingly long time to load, and navigation within the app is similarly sluggish."
Meanwhile, game developers revealed that new exciting games will be coming to PlayStation 4.
On Gamespot, it was reported that publisher Square Enix, which was behind "Final Fantasy" and "Tomb Raider," has launched a teaser website for an upcoming game with the working title "Project Code Z."
Square Enix plans to formally unveil the official title during the Tokaigi 2015 event on January 31.
Destructoid reports that game developer Daedalic is releasing the sequel to 2010's The Whispered World, titled "Silence: The Whispered World 2." It will come to PC, Mac, Linux, and PlayStation 4 early this year.
