PS4 News: PlayStation Now Open Beta Begins Plus a Look at Sony’s Profitability

PlayStation 4 Controller is Displayed at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Known as E3, in Los Angeles — A PlayStation 4 controller is displayed at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, California, June 11, 2014. Reuters

Sony may have opted out of the EA Access that will be made available for the Xbox One, but it's finally ready to roll out its own cloud service, which is the PlayStation Now.

As promised by the company, the PlayStation Now is finally offered on Open Beta for PS4 players in the U.S. and Canada.

Over at the PlayStation Blog, PS Now senior director Jack Buser has detailed what fans should expect over the course of the open beta for the PlayStation Now. First off, the PS Now titles have been integrated into the PlayStation Store with the various rental durations offered as was leaked before during the private beta. A walkthrough video has been provided below.

As far as numbers go, the PlayStation Now will feature over 100 titles up for rent, and Sony is set on adding more in regular intervals. In addition to this, the PlayStation Now will feature cloud game saves, support for more network features and even seamless online play with your PS network contacts.

One of the more controversial issues that hit the PlayStation Now is the pricing for the rental durations. The final list for the prices are 4 hours ($2.99), 7 days ($5.99), 30 days ($7.99) and 90 days ($14.99). Sony already gave a disclaimer that since it's still on beta mode, the prices for PlayStation Now can still be altered.

But more interestingly, when asked if a subscription is coming for the PlayStation Now, Buser said:

"We're working on the subscription and I'm excited to share more details when I can!"

Best to make use of the feedback option, as Sony did reiterate that it is open for all the feedback coming in with the PlayStation Now open beta.

Sony's Profit Puts the PS4, PS3 and PS2 at 3.5 Million Sold

Despite the boost of PS4 sales that has managed to retain its advantage over the Xbox One for many months now, there has been talk that Sony is still on the red zone with losses.

However, upon revealing its financials for the April to June fiscal quarter, it seems that profit is still in the books. According to DualShockers, the PS4, PS3 and PS2 sales made up 3.5 million of sales combined, while the PS Vita and PSP have not been idle as these also amassed a total of 0.75 million.

This means the loss that was reported back in 2013 has been reeled back to the profit zone, as Sony's total sales reached 390 million.

"This increase was primarily due to the contribution from sales of PS4 hardware which was launched in November 2013, as well as a significant increase in network services revenues accompanying the launch of the PS4. Sales to external customers increased 101% year-on-year," the fiscal report from Sony said, as quoted by DualShockers.

Another surprising driver for profit was its movies, including "Amazing Spider-Man 2" which allowed for the extra boost in Sony's profit.

But ultimately, it goes back to the PS4, as CNet reports that there was finally a big leap in sales for Q1 at 4.3 billion yen compared to the operating loss set at 16.4 billion yen last year of the same quarter.