Almost every PlayStation Plus update is met with people complaining that they’ve already got the games being added to the Instant Game Collection, or that they simply don’t interest them in the slightest. That’s all about to change, with a new Vote to Play scheme set to put those decisions into the hands of the community.
Spotted by eagle-eyed NeoGAF user El_Cinefilo in the What’s New section of the PS4’s menu – though I cannot personally find it on my PS4 and VG247 are reporting it has now been removed – there’s a video outlining the upcoming system. Though not giving you free reign to choose, it will let you pick between three potential games for the IGC, with the game receiving the most votes then set to be part of the service, while the two losers will be discounted instead.
Interestingly, the three games in the example are Zombie Vikings, Armello and Grow Home, which is as yet not been announced for PS4 by Ubisoft. Of course, one of the biggest complaints is that, while the service during its early years would consistently feature relatively recent AAA games, there’s been a dearth of blockbusting titles in the PS4’s IGC. Will Vote to Play come to change all of that?
Source:Â NeoGAFÂ (El_Cinefilo)Â via Videogamer
UPDATE: Sony have now officially revealed the Vote to Play scheme and confirmed the game with the most votes will be free on PlayStation Plus with the other two games being discounted. However this will not be a monthly vote.
“To be clear, Vote to Play will not be a monthly feature, but will take place at regular intervals throughout the year,” posted the PlayStation Blog.
camdaz
Sounds like a great idea but still don’t think it’ll make much difference to the amount of PS+ games I’ll play, like the idea of the two ‘losers’ being discounted.
bunimomike
hahaha! Two losers. That sounds so harsh. :-)
Tony Cawley
I’d stop paying for ps+ if it wasn’t essential for online play on ps4. I can’t remember the last time I played any of the games I downloaded for more than 10 minutes before thinking “meh” and going back to destiny!
bunimomike
It’s a shame they don’t create options where you can plump for online and cloud storage for (say) half the price, etc.
gazzagb
Yeah, a tiered selection of PS+ would be perfect. Or you know, they could just let us play online for free…
Amphlett
Get yourself a few games on Rocket League with a few friends. It’s great fun!
I’m like you though, I am not overly impressed with the quality of games on PS+ since PS4 was released. I’m sure I’ve kept only a handful of them at most.
cam_manutd
Shame you feel that way Tony.
Rocket League is probably the best game from PS+. As well as that, Resogun, Rogue Legacy which is a true timesink, Pix The Cat-oddly addicitve, Infamous First Light and Injustice.
One thing I will say in the absence of games on IGC is the better quality of discounts. Some are still odd like the COD sale which was still largely overpriced.
So mixed bag for players. Would like to see more crowd pleasing games like Rocket League on.
double-o-dave
I’m pretty much the same. Apart from Resogun, First Light & maybe a couple of others, I usually play them for 10 mins or so, then delete them.
Saying that, I’m not too fussed with paying £40 for a year. In fact, it’s probably worth it for the discounts and the little I do play of some the games – my Sky bill used to be more than that every month and I hardly ever watched anything.
I gave Rocket League a quick go but couldn’t see the appeal. I’ll try it again online with a couple of mates.
djdustb
I like the idea of this.
Although the updates of late have not been AAA titles for the PS4 I have enjoyed what I have been given and as a result I have played some really good games that would have passed my by otherwise.
That being said this month is pretty poor for me with nothing that jumps out at all. The Lara Croft games are pretty poor IMO and Limbo was fun but not going to play it again just to play the PS4 version.
Forrest_01
Can’t see that this is going to change too much tbh – You’ll still get the situation where people already have the games being offered & this is in no way a guarantee that AAA titles will once again appear on the service.
Only thing I can see changing is that complaints will be earlier (when the voting opens), rather than when content is announced.
NicholasHeathfield
ALICE: “We’ll have to give the VP a second option. Something plausible, yet shockingly bad.”
PHB: “Why do we need two choices?”
ALICE: “Always give the boss two choices, one to approve, one to reject. It gives the illusion of leadership.”
PHB: “You always give me two choices…”
“For you, those choices are always genuine.”
“Oh!”
Andrewww
Well, a choice between two games you’re not interested in, doesn’t really improve the situation.
Sony really messed up with regard to expectation management. They completely failed to communicate that they raised the price of the service. Back then, you payed for the games, so they had to be good. Now, at least of our the PS4,you primarily pay for the online service, but people keep complaining as they expect better games.
Andrewww
… at least on the PS4… (stupid mobile…)
RudeAwakening
This is a terrible idea imo peoples tastes are usually terrible, I can see us missing out on alot of gems. Take Rocket league for example, the whole ps plus for july thread on neogaf was rife with everyone complaing the it was a crap month but in actual fact everyone realised RL was stunning after downloading it, now if the voting system was there RL would of been side stepped for some mediocre game. I for one rather Sony to pick what game we get on plus.
MrYd
I think you’ve spotted the obvious flaw in such a scheme.
Worse still. If there’s 3 games to pick from, we’ll have one of two possible outcomes.
Whichever game is the safest, most boring choice wins and we miss out on all sorts of fun things.
OR… It’s a close vote, with 2 games winning 33% of the vote and the winning game getting 34%. Leaving 66% of people pissed off with the winning choice and the internet might actually explode.
So much like a real election, the results will end up being very dubious and people can’t be trusted to vote for the right thing.
RudeAwakening
Exactly Mr Yd, I resent this whole trying to fix someting that ain’t broke.
MrYd
Yes, my preferred plan is to take it apart to see why it’s not broken, fail to put it back how it was, and then try and work out (a) why it’s broken now when it wasn’t before I started fiddling with it and (b) who I can blame for it.
Stefan L
Don’t forget that there are six games in the service each month, and this, let’s presume, choice of three indie games hardly impairs Sony’s ability to drop Battlefield, Assassin’s Creed, Rocket League or whatever other game they want into the other slot for PS4.
In other words, for those who have complained about the stream of indie games, there’s still just as much opportunity for Sony to feature a blockbuster retail release, but at the same time you get to pick between three indie games, one of which you might like… and if your choice doesn’t win, then it goes on sale anyway.
Pitcher-T
I feel the whole idea of ps+ is to play hidden gems. Anything that’s obviously good Metal Gear Solid GZ for example, I already will buy.
Rocket league is the perfect example, I would never have paid for this, but absolutely love it.
Not too keen on this choice method.
leeroye
I can count on one hand the number of PS4 plus games i have played for more than 10 mins since launch. Giving me the option of choosing between 3 dull indie games is not going to make the offerings any better.
I cant see plus getting back to the heights it was at with the PS3 offerings pre ps4 launch. Those days are well over. Even the ps3 offerings have been utter tosh since the PS4 came out.
cam_manutd
Hmmm don’t think you are right about that-have a look at my post below.
leeroye
Nope im still correct, the only game out of that lot you listed i have spent more than 10 mins on is rocket league.
cam_manutd
Rogue Legacy, Pix The Cat, Infamous First Light, Injustice Gods Among Us, Velocity 2x, Escape Plan, Spelunky, Olli Olli 2, Oddworld, Transistor, Rocket League, Sound Shapes, Strider, Outlast, Dead Nation, Resogun, Don’t Starve.
Looking back at it, there has been some immense quality come our way even if most are indie games. Some of those indie games are much better than most AAA releases. In a year or so maybe then we will see the likes of Killzone creep onto the service.
Oh also for anyone that thinks plus has got worse on other platforms-exc cross buy games above-
Since PS4 release; DMC, Borderlands 2, Bioshock Infinite, Metro Last Light, Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, Hotline Miami, PES 2014, Sly Cooper-Thieves in time, Payday 2, Puppeteer, Dead Space 3, PS All Stars Battle Royale, Lone Survivor, Rainbow Moon, Hitman Trilogy, Prototype 2, Yakuza 4, Dishonored, God Of War Ascension, Soul Sacrifice, Smart As, Muramasa Rebirth, Dragon’s Crown, Fez, Binding Of Isaac, Killzone Mercenary, Geometry Wars 3.
It annoys me to see people whine about a service that is perceived at giving less. 6 games a month across 3 platforms and since the release of the PS4 nearly two years ago nearly 50 quality games have come on the service. Sure, we don’t get a AAA every month but we are guaranteed even through an indie game a AAA experience.
Think of the hours these games can provide. The quality far exceeds anything on Games With Gold. Now, since I made this list its off to play one or two of these in my backlog aha.
MrYd
Will you stop making reasonable, well-argued points there? You’re supposed to just moan about the alleged lack of quality games.
You can’t go arguing that it’s still great value for just £3something a month. People deserve the full £40 worth of games every single month. Or more. We demand more. And a diamond pony called Butt Stallion. And the moon on a stick.
And yes, I’m being sarcastic. I agree with your entire post.
cam_manutd
Ah sorry I should stop being reasonable. I will moan about how spoiled we are and how we should have even more. I want 10 games a month all AAA quality.
beeje13
Choice is better than no choice I would think every day of the week, yet it seems I am in somewhat of a minority here.
MrYd
Look at the amount of moaning every month about the games they give us, and you’ll soon start to wonder if people can be trusted to make the right choice. (Small hint here: They can’t)
But at least when the 2 losing games are inevitably much more interesting than the winning game, they get to go on sale. I know we’ll never find out, but I’d love to know if that works out better for the developer. Win the vote? Big pile of cash from Sony to give the game away for free. Lose the vote? All that publicity and a cheaper price and hope you sell lots?
beeje13
Surely the majority of people bothering to use this voting system will be core gamers like us on TSA? And who will (hopefully :)) pick the more interesting game.
And I think this will be for the lesser(in terms of budget, popularity, etc) game each month, the ‘bug guns’ will still be chosen for us.