Sony Swaps Future’s Paid Playstation Video For Free Alternative

After apparently achieving low take-up for FirstPlay, the £0.99-a-week video magazine it launched on PS3 last year, Future is on Wednesday debuting Access, a free alternative, on the console.

Xbox Live had long had its own on-console video shows and game reviews; Sony (NYSE: SNE) is a laggard and needs to offer users the same kind of editorial.

FirstPlay allowed Stevie Spring’s Future, which has long published officially-licensed console magazines in print, to prove to Sony it could do the same for PlayStation Network in video.

Future is not disclosing figures for FirstPlay downloads, though did say that it moved in to profit nine months after launch last year.

Access, the replacement, is hosted by comedian Lucy Porter and runs for 10 minutes each Wednesday, with interviews, previews and features.

Future is already well experienced at producing games magazines. It has managed to secure an arrangement whereby selected Access video will be republished on its GamesRadar.com and Computerandvideogames.com.