Microsoft To Offer Free Live Service Like Sony PS4's PSN? Don't Count On It

Some of the rumors surrounding Microsoft and the Xbox 720 haven't exactly been very flattering. Blocking used games, requiring an Internet connection to do anything? They've been bad enough that some gamers have already been convinced to jump ship and switch to Sony and the PS4.

[GamerzElite]

Might be free cause in year 2013 they gave free XBL access to non gold member more than 2 time.

[josephayal]

I used to like Xbox Live. Then I got a PC and realized I was paying 60 bucks a year to be able to chat outside of the game, tbh xbox live is the best money I spend

[Y_5150]

Ok? I'm confused.

[Thirty3Three]

I wasn't sure whether do agree or disagree with him...

[shivvy24]

Same here , so I just reported him for being gay

[CanadianTurtle]

You know, I wonder...

With all the money that Microsoft is making from their online services and from other industries, can't they at least put a little more effort on releasing some AAA exclusives. They have the budget for more "killer-app" franchises.

After Gears and Halo, what do they really have that makes people go, "oh man I gotta buy the 360."

Their LIVE payments are painful because I can't believe I have to pay 60bucks yearly to play online when another console is giving the service for free.

If the majority of the consumers were a bit smarter and understood that Microsoft is just charging for their online because they "can," not because their online services are 1000x better with no lag.

[dcbronco]

Turtle if you care so much about exclusives, tell me which of these games you own? Or do you own all of them.

Starhawk, Battle Royale, SOCOM, Twisted Metal, Resistance 3, inFamous 2, LBP Kart and LBP 2.

If you don't own most of them please let the exclusives argument. Microsoft started off with some exclusives and after they didn't do well made a sound business decision to stop making so many. It isn't about being greedy. It's about not losing money forever. Sony has now closed studios and stopped some franchises. Because it's smart business. You can't just keep making games that don't sell well.

[Larry L]

When has MS ever put any effort into making their own exclusives? They MAYBE helped fund/advertise a tiny handfull. All the decent exclusives 360 had early on were just 3rd party stuff that MS paid for some times exclusivity on. I'm not a MS fan, and even when I had my xboxes, I wasn't a Halo fan, sO I wouldn't know......were Halo 1-3 even really a first party studio for MS? What about Turn10? Are they first party for MS......or are they more like a 3rd party that is adamantly exclusive? MS has done NOTHING with RARE, and I think/hope they finally sold the developer.

Regardless......nothing MS has for 1st party software con compare to the absolutely incredible ensamble of studios Sony has actually under it's roof. Even the most ardent fanboy of any other gaming platform HAS to be pretty impressed with Sony's own game development studios. And they are all currently in like "showing mf'ers what's up-mode", and have been for the last couple years with no signs of slowing down.

Also, your comment is funny in that you list all those games and say well if you don't own them...then exclusives shouldn't matter to you (paraphrasing). I don't own a single one of those (though I will get all stars when I can get it new for $20 or less.....which is what I think it's worth).....yet I still have bought well over 40 PS3 exclusives either digital or retail. That's the kind of exclusive library Sony offers it's gamers......and that matters.

[dcbronco]

Perfect Dark was MS. Kameo was MS. There were others like Viva Pinata. "Incredible" ensamble. Did you look at that list I have up there. Why don't people buy those games. They have the install base. Most of the consoles are on the free MP system. Why didn't people buy MAG and those listed games.

I know, you'll pretend they sold and that we just don't know it right? Here's the thing. If they sold we would have seen more of them sooner. Well again, Zipper is gone so no more SOCOM or MAG. Even though Zipper did so well and made such a huge profit for Sony.

The reality is far too many of Sony's exclusives don't sell. And you have to wonder about the coming months and years too. For all of the MS abandoned the hardcore nonsense, it looks like continuing to make games for current consoles is plain stupid if sales of Gears and God of War are any indication.

Beyond and Last of US may be alright. But if Sony continues to push three or four poorly selling exclusives each year they will really be throwing away money.

[WUTCHUGUNNADO]

Microsoft completely dismantled RAREWARE... I surprised that there aren't more people upset about that. Rare's rep sheet was great until Microsoft acquired them... N64's best games were from RARE.

[Morgue]

But if people don't care that they're paying to play then make all the applications free.

[DragonKnight]

Why was this even a question? I don't think there is anyone who expects MS to give up the fee. What people should be asking is, why should people continue to pay for it in the next gen?

[JeffGUNZ]

I wouldn't be surprised if they over a bare minimum live service and then gold was all their "real" features. Same thing that sony will probably do with PSN.

[DragonKnight]

Silver is already their bare minimum service. Unless they start a Bronze version. Lol.

I think though they'll go the cable company route and offer a few "packages" which will still mean paying for Live anyway.

[JeffGUNZ]

You can't play online with silver, so that's not what I am talking about. I am talking about Silver changing, allowing one to play online for free, but all their main features will not be available. Look at PSN+, Sony tested the waters to see how their userbase would react to a paid service. Sony will most likely still offer a free PSN version, but all those great features we saw at the reveal will cost something.

[SlavisH2]

This isn't going to win anyone over. PSN was free the entire generation and xbox and psn sales are still neck and neck if anything i wouldnt be surprise if sony charged for ps4 online to lower the initial price and increase the revenue due to their financial woes.

P.S. i know they started psn+ to make money in the online market i was not referring to this.

[Y_5150]

PSN is going to be free with optional services. Simple as that. That's probably why I haven't gotten an Xbox yet.

[MRMagoo123]

Lol ppl disagree with facts thats funny as.

[strigoi814]

i doubt MS will do this..

[Conzul]

If MS started a free service that was equivalent to PS4's free stuff, I'd shit bricks.

[Jek_Porkins]

They wont offer a free version, they make around a billion dollars yearly for the service and it keeps growing year to year, with a whopping 15% this past year. That is a lot of money to leave on the table.

I'm just saying I wouldn't count on it, there is about as much a chance at a free Xbox Live as there is for the next Xbox blocking used games and being DRM.

[MRMagoo123]

So you are saying there is a high chance they will have free xbox live this time round then ? on a side note , dont you ever wonder where all the money they make on live goes ... i mean its not on games right or services because psn does it all for free besides the cross game chat, so what on earth does it go towards?

[Jek_Porkins]

Not a chance for free Live, DRM or blocking used games.

I don't wonder where the money goes because I figure it goes into a secure online network that has never gone down for me in 8 years of service.

I'm sure it goes to the 20+ studios MS now has, early access to beta's and demo's, I get my COD maps first and a lot of other content before anyone else.

There are also lots of things like the fact that they change up the interface often, just the entire way XBL is setup is very easy to use and sociable, I enjoy it.

[kingPoS]

It won't happen unless a whole legions of gold users complain with their wallets.

So... Speak UP ALREADY!!!

Start a thing on twitter, write letters to MS or concert a mass quit. Unless you let them know yourselves that you want more from them, you'll continue to get what you pay for.

[stuna1]

Why would Microsoft kill the golden goose?

From the looks of things it'll probably cost even more this coming generation! Especially with the added features.

If I'm not mistaken the original Xbox had a paid service, maybe not to the extent of Xbox Live, but there was one.

[WUTCHUGUNNADO]

The original xbox live service charged the same amount... $50 for 12 months. I think it was a better value back then along with the first couple years on 360 because they were ad free which is something I would expect from a paid service regardless of what they advertise. It's a long shot to call anything offered on xbox a value though...

[ichimaru]

because its not smart to launch a console with very few games but a joked online service

[punisher99]

lol Microsoft just continue to rob people. And the xbox crowd blindly defends it. What else is new?

[Belking]

While sony continues to go broke. we will see how you feel when you have to pay for BC/Gaikai.

[punisher99]

Sony going broke? lol The Playstation brand as a whole has been profitable for Sony even when they were losing 200$ on each PS3 sold.

[dcbronco]

Hey, I write and read Forbes.

[Mkai28]

Who ever said Sony next gen PSN was free?

[boing1]

Wanna bet?

[Mkai28]

They invested $380 million in the gaikai service. You don't think they want to make a profit outta that and get that money back? Xbox live has an estimate of 25 million paying subscribers, $50 a year is 500,000,000. Sony is not stupid, they know that people are willing to pay for PSN. Sony is not going to have all these severs and services running without making some kind of profit for the sake of the "fans"

[JeffGUNZ]

@ boing1. Yes. I bet they will have a basic, no feature bottom of the line PSN for free, but all those great features with the cloud and gaikai will cost something.

[boing1]

Of course. But basic PSN with online play will still be free, like it is now. Extra features will cost, though. Can't say how much.

[CommonSenseGamer]

I am not against MS charging for live but I am against them charging per profile on the same console. That is plain criminal.

[glennco]

Have a look at which company makes a profit from the game industry

[IK IR Y IP T]

Bitch about xbl all u want it is still 10xs better then the garbage psn and on the ps4 u are going to get a rip off of xbl so u shouls hold ur judgement yes it sucks that u have to pay for it but it is a amazing service none the less psn is coping everything off of xbl like party chat friendlist trophies smartglass im tired of seeing these degrading articles why can't we all as gamers appreciate the services and just be happy we have good games to play

[Larry L]

You are delusional dude......or very nicely brainwashed. Sony has NEVER copied MS. That's the furthest from reality I've.......Sony has gone in the complete opposite direction as MS. Gamers demanded and are demanding trophies and cross-game chat. Sony wouldn't care about those features on their own, otherwise they would have been in. You're criticizing Sony for giving it's fans what they're asking for? Interesting view you have there.........

LOL at Live is 10x better than PSN. WOW. As far as I can see Live has one single feature over PSN that I would possibly make use of, and that's parties.....a group sticking together game to game and always being put together in the same teams if possible. And while that is a feature I might use if I had it......it's not something I'd pay money for. It's something I would expect to be built in to the console itself.

[JimmyDanger]

@LarryL

So basically it's not copying if "the fans demand it". So the fans demanded Move too? Must've, because Sony NEVER copy. Or do they just never copy MS? Like when the fans demanded an ethernet adapter and HDD for the PS2?

Funny - I don't remember Sony fans demanding Achievements when the PS3 launched without them, but rather chastising Xbox fans who liked the idea.

I like both companies - but damn some Playstation fans live in a parallel reality.

[Larry L]

When video game fans demand something, if it makes sense, it's smart to do it or something close to it. And yes, from the start of PS3, it's fans demanded an equivilent to achievements. I was one of them right from the start on the forum and then the Blog. We're getting the same game, and they add to the replayability of games sometimes giving you different kinds of missions than just what's in the game. And they are developer made, not MS made. I was actively saying this to Sony directly along with countless others. It's not like ONLY Sony has a version of achievements, right?

And I didn't say Sony have never copied, yes....I was saying Sony never copied *MS* on anything aside from something gamers demanded. WHat is there to copy that MS ever did that just isn't basic stuff we all pretty much need to meet an online standard of gaming?

Wasn't the PS2 network adapter out before Xbox 1 launched? I thought it was like 2001 maybe 2002. Either way....you kinda NEED an ethernet port to have decent online gaming, right?. How is giving people online gaming copying Xbox? You know what else, I seem to remember SOCOM having awesome online features and communities before a game called Halo, which alot of gamers give credit to for revolutionising online console gaming. I give that credit to SOCOM not Halo.

I don't think it's ME that lives in the parallel reality. I recall that being real reality that people have decided they could change just by saying something else.

And yes, people demanded motion controls with their wallets unfortunately.....with the way they bought the Wii like it was going out of style. So Sony heard that as "we want motion controls". ANd some gamers do......just not the majority, but Sony, just like Nintendo made the same call. They didn't realise people were already over it, it was a 1 generation FAD. Luckily for Sony, they only invested into Move....which may actually turn out usefull in the future since it works with PS4 too for that one investment. Unluckily for Nintendo they actually kept the fad as the concept for their next full console (WiiU), and it's gonna hurt them FAR more than it did Sony.

And btw, Sony has been playing around with the concept of a handheld working with the console directly for FAR longer than MS (remote play), and that concept goes back alot farther than Sony's efforts. Multiple generations back.

Late reply though, so I'm sure I'm replying to myself here.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

You are telling us to appreciate "All" services and yet you bash PSN. You are clearly and absolutely an Xbot. Everytime I see your name you always praise Microsoft even if its a negative news your still there to defend it. That's right defend mother microsoft even if they will admit something bad, to you it will still look positive. your 50% troll and 50% Xbot. Ive never bashed Xbox live unless someone like you started it first or is asking for an argument.

[CEOSteveBallmer]

As long as There's people paying them they will not stop. Its as simple as that. These people need to "realize" something. You know what they say, One of the greatest things in life are free, like example the air you breathe is free. Common sense tells you this since we will all die without air, its as essential as food and water and yet its free. Talking gamewise, Playing online should be free

[ElementX]

Didn't I read somewhere that PS4 will have a tiered online service also?

[JimmyDanger]

Well it might - we don't really know.

It might have BC through Gaikai - we don't really know. Sony said they're "looking into the possibility" of BC through Gaikai.

It might have the ability to play used games - we don't really know - with Sony saying it would, then maybe, then dropping the ambigous "we'll do the right thing".

It might have a worldwide launch Holiday 2013 - we don't really know. But a Sony exec said last week it would launch "in at least one territory".

But don't tell some of the members here that. Because Sony NEVER copy MS.

They may as well have said at theire PS4 launch - "we'll be doing what the 360 does, and more that we'll announce just as soon as MS tell us what it's going to be".

[unworthyBOZO]

I hope so, its a win win for everybody if this happens.

[aman84r]

46 million paid subscribers is a pretty big number.They would be idiots to throw that away.

[from the beach]

I don't think it'll be free, but it'll be revamped with new services.

Release the console at a lower price than PS4 and bingo.

[headblackman]

I don't mind paying for an excellent service. stop being cheepskates. everything in life can't be free. the best things in life aren't always free. Xbox live us the best hands down. the fee is not the issue. pan sux king Kong dong and that's why its free. they get dlc extremely late, but what can you say about it? its free. man up and pay the fee and stop crying like little girls. if money was such q huge issue, SUV's wouldn't sale as good as they do. complain about gas prices. don't complain about an Xbox live 60 one time a year fee. most people in this room crying about it normally piss on 100 bucks a week so why cry about 60 per year for quality. there is no rule or law that says that online play should be free.

[ACESupERIC]

I'm on my 4th xbox because of rrod and I got one first month of release. Live was 50 bux a year plus an xtra month free. Now its 60 a year with no xtra month and its flooded with ads. The people putting these ads on there pay ms for it so why jackup the price? Shouldnt the price have gone down when ms started getting all that advertising revenue? I game across all platforms new and old. I payed for live because I HAD to if I wanted to play online multiplayer. But when they raised the price, that was it for me. To say your paying for such a great service is crap. Live offers nothing more than my pc and that's free. Psn might not have as many"features" as live, but I really couldn't care less about anything other than seamless online multiplayer. And for all you people who like cross game chat so much, I hate when I'm playing something and some guy on my team is too busy bullshitting with a friend not even playing the same game to be any real help to the team he's playing with. You wanna cross game chat? How about you stfu and go play with your buddy or play with the team your with? Its a gaming console! Not a telephone. I like the fact that there's no cross game chat on psn. At least the people I'm playing with have their head in the game they're playing and not bullshitting about what sally did in 3rd period that day. If ms offers free multiplayer on its next console ill getit. Thats the only thing I want from live. All the other"features"are things I don't care about and don't need. And I sure as shit shouldn't have to pay 3 times for services like netflix and hulu. I pay for internet and netflix. I shouldn't have to pay ms to use something I'm already paying for. My pc runs on windows and I don't get charged again for these services so what makes it ok on the xbox? Make multiplayer free and I'm good. Otherwise I'm done with ms and as much as I love the exclusive games that would make me sad.