Right, some of you won’t want to agree with me here but there’s no use in pretending otherwise – Xbox Live Gold provides a more stable, reliable and feature-rich way to play online multiplayer than Sony’s PSN. I don’t think there’s any disputing that. But it costs money – £40 per year, if you don’t shop around.
[drop2]Now there are rumours kicking about this morning that the PlayStation 4 is going to lean towards a “premium online service” when it is (oh my god, we hope) announced later today. Those rumours suggest that the new online services will come under the moniker of PlayStation World, a name which will even replace PlayStation Plus.I think renaming Plus, a service which has blown away anything that PlayStation’s competitors could offer, would be a bit silly. The subscription service is not only very popular but has captured itself a well-loved place in the minds of many a PlayStation fan. Renaming it would be discarding all of that good will and brand recognition. But regardless, there’s a new slate here so it’s not beyond the realms of possibilities.
More interestingly, though, is the assertion that “most” of the PlayStation 4’s online services will be premium, paid-for subscriptions. Personally, I would have absolutely no problem in paying a fee, similar to Live Gold on Xbox, which ensures a similarly robust network infrastructure. With all the talk surrounding PlayStation Cloud – potentially the new name for Gaikai – there might be a lot more than just online multiplayer up for consideration when weighing up the virtues of any paid service.
So, the PlayStation 4 is widely expected to be revealed this evening. There probably won’t be a price for the console until E3 in June, at the earliest, but what about subscriptions and services? The entire industry is learning the incredibly profitability in monthly fees and microtransactions. What would you be willing to pay for and how much?
xdarkmagician
With the rumours of no used games adding a price to play online will create an increase in what people have to spend to play and that doesn’t include if game prices rise also. The more cash you milk out of people the less they can buy, more specifically the less games they can buy. There are other consoles coming out other than Xbox and PS, just as people compare the costs and features of XBL to PSN and forgive PSN for less features because theres no cost, having a vastly cheaper operating costs with the valve box or Ouya could really hurt MS/Sony next gen.
Personally, theres nothing to convince me to upgrade right away, so I’ll be able to look at all the systems and make a decision that suits me best, and if I choose a console that forces me to pay for online then I’ll be fine with that because it was my choice. Although, there are two things clear for me next gen. 1) I’m no longer going to blindly support Sony, if they want to keep me as a customer they’ll have to convince me to stay. and 2) If I do pay for online I’ll do it by buying less products for that system, whether its a game, DLC, accessories, or whatever.
Deathbrin
Hell no. I expect a premium service would offer cross-game chat and party functionality, leaving the ordinary (“crippled”) online play for free, and i’d use that.
For those who have both consoles and already pay for LIVE it’s going to be tough to justify, as PlayStation exclusives used to be single player oriented while on the green side those are multiplayer-oriented games (obviously)
deadwelsh
I don’t mind paying, but paying for something and then not being able to use it due to maintenance/hack/store update etc would be bloody annoying. This gen has made me lose trust in online services, even steam has it faults. If I own a game then I see no reason why a dodgy server should stop me playing it whenever I want
General Frags
When I buy a console I expect for it to do all that is says on the box even multiplayer gaming, anything else can be subbed to such as the instant game collection and cloud saves. But multiplayer must remain free as a basic point.
coruscant
No.
hunterstryfe
Providing that it would still be PS+ with the new features added I would be more than happy to pay for the service – hell I would even pay the extra (if any) to do so. If it’s just for the premium online service they can neddies!!!