Why PSN online gameplay should remain free on Playstation 4

Bubblews: "Sony has been silent as to whether or not the PSN online gameplay should remain free for the Playstation 4. Although making gamers play a price in order to play online will no doubt help the company financially in the short term, it may also hurt them in the long run."

[Jaqen_Hghar]

It will along with cross game chat and sharing (since it's on the controller), but streaming, spectating, and taking control is going to be on + for the same $50 fee along with all the current benefits. At least that's what a man would do.

[stage88]

Although I agree, why do you keep talking in the third person?

[Jaqen_Hghar]

A man assumes a user doesn't watch Game of Thrones or read A Song of Ice and Fire?

[sikbeta]

PSN must be free first because it's Sony's bullet point and way to compete against XBL because it's not on par with MS online platform

[neoMAXMLC]

@sikbeta

Lol The social aspects of the PS Vita put Xbox Live to shame.

All these XBL is still teh bestest comments make me chuckle. You're paying for an online service that a freaggin' HANDHELD can match at NO COST. The PS4 will no doubt curb stomp the current XBL to the ground

[RTheRebel]

If a man keeps talking like that I will spoil the show ;)

[Capt-FuzzyPants]

Please don't. I don't have enough time to read through the books.

OT
I don't see why they would add a subscription. If they make enough profits off of Plus anyway. Having free service is one of the most attractive things about the PS3 compared to the 360.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

do your worst! A man has already gotten up to date on the books!

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Is there some intrinsic reason you post every day with this "A man.. Blah blah?"

[--Onilink--]

thats how that character speaks in A Song of Ice and Fire(Game of Thrones)

[M-M]

Asks why he always talks in 3rd person, replies in 3rd person lol.

[SilverFiz]

As much as I would love it to be free, I totally understand if they require payment. I doubt they can just give us all those features for free, and Xbox live has proved that people are willing to pay subscriptions.

[princejb134]

xbox live has proved that SOME people are willing to pay subscriptions
i would hate to pay a subscription especially for services i wont use

but if they do decide to charge i would have no choice since xbox most likely is going to charge also

[GamerzElite]

Why people pay to XBL? Cause they don't have choice. I invested my money on XBox 360 and to play online i need to pay them, I wish I had another option but..... Don't wanna suggestion to buy a PC or PS3 cause I have both.

[BitbyDeath]

PSN has over 90 million accounts that can access online. (inc PSVita and PSP)
http://www.develop-online.n...

XBL has 46 million as of this year and only about 20 million can play games online.

Why restrict your userbase like that?

[thechosenone]

I think the last count put it at 110 million.

[YodaCracker]

Yet most games have more active online communities on the 360. People are willing to pay for a better service. If Xbox LIVE Gold went free, the quality would almost certainly go down.

[--Onilink--]

the whole "90 million accounts" number is and always has been biased and everyone knows that. Most people who have a PS3 have 2-3 accounts, especially with the way you could share games before

[aquamala]

people have multiple psn accounts to access stores in different regions, and to game share. there's no reason to have multiple xbl accounts.

[BitbyDeath]

'Most people who have a PS3 have 2-3 accounts'

Most people who have a 360 have 2-3 accounts too.
What is your point?

'people have multiple psn accounts to access stores in different regions, and to game share.'

That is just not accurate. That's like saying 360 has more duplicates than PS3 due to banned accounts. Each are only a small portion of the total numbers.

'there's no reason to have multiple xbl accounts'

Family maybe? Brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, kids? Same reason as having multiple accounts on a PS3.

[kma2k]

As long as i can still play single player games & access my netflix & mlb.tv without having to pay a fee ill be happy. The reason i resent live (yes i own a 360) is because i refuse to pay for this.

[yesmynameissumo]

I really think online gaming will remain free, but they'll off things like streaming, etc. for a subscription.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

exactly what a man said therefore have an "intelligent" bubble.

[TheUndertaker85]

Probably linked to the next gen Plus system. Why not though? Streaming so much through the system will obviously up the network usage for Sony. In turn things like no downloads and instant gameplay seems more like a perk to me.

Online gaming, services like Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, Amazon, and MLB.tv, and the general network will most likely stay free as rather people like it or not it is a huge advantage for Sony, particularly if they market these factors over Xbox Live. Most people don't like having to pay for their Netflix service & ISP just to be told they have to pay again to use their own ISP & Netflix access. Cross game chat will probably also be free on PS4 since it's already free to use by Vita owners.

Things like instant streaming without a need to download will probably be linked to Plus since it'll be an additional perk of the system. Plus not everybody in the world will be ready to instantly stream in games due to bandwidth caps from ISPs and the fact that not everywhere in the world has higher end networking in place.

To go out on a limb though I could see Sony extending their current cloud save service to non-Plus members, just with a smaller storage space compared to what Plus members have. I'd even wager if they did, they'd sell extended storage space separately so users with bigger needs could get more storage.

[stuna1]

The way I see it Sony will keep psn free to combat Microsft backwards compatibility !

While psn will still be free with the expected ps+ subscription for those who want a little more meat on their bone.

On the other hand Microsoft will probably offer backward compatibility, you'll still be require to purchase Xbox Live to even access the multiplayer portion of any games old or new.

[Jac5al]

Keep online play free and throw in extra features to PS+.

[Majin-vegeta]

Correction Keep online play and Cross chat free.The rest can go along with PS+ subscription.

[fsfsxii]

Gaikai is going to have a subscription to use of course

[Nicolee]

Gaikai actually could use for Demo game so ppl don't need to download big file demo anymore, just steam it

[TheUndertaker85]

Well said there. Didn't even consider demos for a streaming option. If they do stream demos in for free though, I'd expect to see some type of limit on the size. This way it wouldn't cost much on the Sony end of things and it could be offered to everybody without a cost affiliated.

Just gonna say in this that it could be good or bad. If that limitation is there to keep costs down the quality/length of demos could also decrease... On the other hand of things it'd be great for the consumer. Start up the game, no wait, then decide if the product is worth it to you or not. That decrease in time needed could result in faster sales and more users checking out demos to justify their purchases with first hand experience of how the game is.

[MadMen]

Easy, because it isnt as good as Live yet. Its getting there but has about a year to go.

PS3 was shame, SONY was way late to the online party and it shows, but they are working hard to turn that around, lets see how it fares on the PS4 a default mic would be a great start SONY.

[neoMAXMLC]

The Vita already shows that the PSN is on par and in some ways even surpasses Xbox Live... and it's all free.

[BLow]

I think everything that is free now should remain free and include cross game chat and invites. Everything else will require a fee. If people complain or think otherwise, then they are delusional because these services cost money. Everything can't be free. I'm willing to pay the services to keep them going especially if it's part of PS+ then it's a wrap.

[StrongMan]

Don't worry. Sony will not rent free online play to us and rent free apps to us.

[corrupted_sharingan]

I don't see any reason why it won't cause Sony really values their customers unlike other companies

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Maybe because online gaming has been free for years on everything offered up until XBL came around?

[ziggurcat]

useless article, PSN was never going to be a paid service on PS4 to begin with...

[nigelp520]

How Sony should add psn games to ps4 is more like it

[ErzaScarlet]

Sony will probably charge for extra service for PS4. Especially Ustream

[mochachino]

I don't expect any of the bells and whistles being free (like sharing, streams, etc.) but basic online MP and chat better be.

[hazelamy]

ideally they'll continue with the current setup.
online play being free but have a second tier, like Plus, that actually gives you content for your money.

and honestly, that's what i expect they will do.

even if they tried charging for online play, i think they'd find a lot of resistance to the idea from their fans.
a lot would just pay but many wouldn't, free online play is something most PS users have come to expect.

[boing1]

Playing online will be free.

[DigitalRaptor]

When online gameplay is run using P2P technology, why else wouldn't it be free?

That is unless you're Microsoft, of course.

To the inevitable disagrees, you guys prepare for the fact that you're disagreeing with fact.