Analysts: Sony could defray costs by stripping down PSN’s free services

[emmerich]

They do always have the option of not improving it, but that is a very bad idea.

Yup, or they could improve it, and keep it free, and lose a lot more money. I'm not sure that would be an ideal business plan though haha.

[rbrtchng]

Pacter has been wishing for a paid PSN for years now.

[Mo-green28]

Future PSN

Free -
Online Play, Cross game chat, messages, Viewing of PS Store

Not Free -
EVERYTHING ELSE.

Subscription fee should be cheaper than XBLG, Like PS+ and it's features and new features would be the subscription, drop price to anywhere between 29.99 - 39.99(Yearly) no dual prices for different things just 1 price, but add more features to it.

New/old Features included in future that should be part of the payed subscription -

Video Messages/Voice messages or a custom skype version for ps4/vita that can be used in XMB during gameplay
Cloud with more space
Faster server/Download times
An Actual Great Web browser
Sony's own Video stream service with ALL movies and shows in the PS store able to be watched
Music Unlimited a part of the features free if you subscribe
Automatic Updates
More PS2 Classics, Free to play to subscribers




^^^ Now I'm pretty sure if PS4 came with that much heat most of us would have no problem subscribing at that price.

[Sufi]

Future PSN

Free -
Online Play, Cross game chat, messages, Viewing of PS Store

Not Free -
EVERYTHING ELSE.

Subscription fee should be cheaper than XBLG, Like PS+ and it's features and new features would be the subscription, drop price to anywhere between 29.99 - 39.99(Yearly) no dual prices for different things just 1 price, but add more features to it.

New/old Features included in future that should be part of the payed subscription -

Video Messages/Voice messages or a custom skype version for ps4/vita that can be used in XMB during gameplay
Cloud with more space
Faster server/Download times
An Actual Great Web browser
Sony's own Video stream service with ALL movies and shows in the PS store able to be watched
Music Unlimited a part of the features free if you subscribe
Automatic Updates
More PS2 Classics, Free to play to subscribers




^^^ Now I'm pretty sure if PS4 came with that much heat most of us would have no problem subscribing at that price.

Except they won't make any money off that.

[emmerich]

That looks good to the consumer on paper but as a business model that looks terrible. They'd have to put online play and cross-game chat and all those features you listed as free in with the ones you listed as subscription to get enough people to subscribe.

That's the truth of it really. PS+ users are only a fraction of the total PSN users and I don't see that changing until they bundle online gameplay in with it.

I could practically guarantee you that the majority of PS3 owners who played online would pay a fee if they were forced to. They wouldn't just refuse to play it. Maybe a small percentage would but that wouldn't be a problem to Sony.

[TDbank24]

I've never been a fan of paying to play online. I pay for Xbox Live because i have to. I'm sure 85% of gamers feel the same way.

With that said, i say go ahead Sony and charge for PSN. Whatever is going to help them get back to where they were last generation i'm all for. As long as the PSN experience continues to improve they can get away with it and nobody will think twice about paying to play online. Or at the very least keep the online play free and charge for all the bells and whistles.

[Mo-green28]

Except they won't make any money off that.

That looks good to the consumer on paper but as a business model that looks terrible. They'd have to put online play and cross-game chat and all those features you listed as free in with the ones you listed as subscription to get enough people to subscribe. That's the truth of it really. PS+ users are only a fraction of the total PSN users and I don't see that changing until they bundle online gameplay in with it. I could practically guarantee you that the majority of PS3 owners who played online would pay a fee if they were forced to. They wouldn't just refuse to play it. Maybe a small percentage would but that wouldn't be a problem to Sony.

Tough crowd... It was worth a try haha. Well it could possibly work, and the price was because most people just really think they shouldn't have to pay for online. I don't know how else they can do it. Im almost positive if sony starts charging people especially in NA will convert to nextbox.

[Fon]

I'm already paying for PS+ so I'm not too bothered by this. I play more online games on Playstation then Xbox anyways. I want to see more discounts also since they've been doing a fine job with those.

[DreDayDetox]

Technically we're already paying to play online : ISP's


But if it helps, so be it. But if you're gonna charge $60 or higher, then get rid of the online pass found in most games from EA and first party titles or lower new game prices. I think that's fair.

[Vulgotha]

I'm having a hard time buying this. The incentives to pay would have to be immense.. Then again the incentive to pay is already pretty high with PS+, so I'm not sure what else they could do.

Except to start taking things away from us and demanding we pay.

[Fenix]

I only use multiplayer and PS Store, as long as I dont have to pay extra for those I'm good.

[Soldier 95B]

Technically we're already paying to play online : ISP's

You do realize for my $38 a year for XBL, I get more than just access to play a game online, right?

[DreDayDetox]

You do realize for my $38 a year for XBL, I get more than just access to play a game online, right?

Obviously. You do realize I was just referring to one aspect of it (playing online), right?

[AaronSOLDIER]

And that's all I want to do: Play online. I don't care for bells and whistles.

[Dennis Dyack]

Technically we're already paying to play online : ISP's

That isn't actually correct. You are only paying for internet access through your ISP. That entitles you to access the internet, but not necessarily all of it's content.

Many things that we do on the internet is fee based. Playing multilayer games on consoles may be one of those things.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[vegan_mekey]

Charging for something previously free... Yeah this has Netflix 2011 written all over it. Remember how good that worked out for them?

[radgamer420]

Where will they go? They obviously prefer console gaming over PC and they will have to pay for Live if they switch to the 360, so they will stay. They will bitch & moan & threaten to leave, but in the end they will pay. It works for MS and will work for Sony. Sony will start charging to play online. It might not be this year or even this gen, but they will explain how much it costs to run a service like this and to stay competitive with Live they have to make this move.

I totally agree. Most PSN users who play online will pay up despite their claiming otherwise on internet forums. Sony is bleeding massive cash right now and their looking to eliminate sources of loss and seeking out opportunities to collect revenue. Sony will definitely have to start charging for online play. With their financial situation they cant afford to keep eating the costs of providing a free online service. And PS+ subscribers just aren't enough of the PSN userbase to be able to absorb that cost.

[jj03]

depends what the cost to quality ratio is. i tried psn + a while ago and it just wasn't worth it to me...it was turd quite frankly.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[radgamer420]

depends what the cost to quality ratio is. i tried psn + a while ago and it just wasn't worth it to me...it was turd quite frankly. Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Even if they greatly improved PS+ I think the vast majority of people will still opt for the free online play and pass on the PS+ perks. Charging for online play is the only way that Sony will successfully attain the necessary amount of revenue to absorb the costs of running their online service. Of course Sony will have to make alot of improvements to PSN to make it worth whatever they decide to charge. But a PS+ subscription model will not draw in enough users to cover the costs.

[TEJ2025]

I totally agree. Most PSN users who play online will pay up despite their claiming otherwise on internet forums. Sony is bleeding massive cash right now and their looking to eliminate sources of loss and seeking out opportunities to collect revenue. Sony will definitely have to start charging for online play. With their financial situation they cant afford to keep eating the costs of providing a free online service. And PS+ subscribers just aren't enough of the PSN userbase to be able to absorb that cost.

Isn't the gaming division like the only division of Sony turning a profit? They have bigger things to worry about then the gaming division. How about do something to get those TV profits up instead of changing the one thing that is working.

[radgamer420]

Isn't the gaming division like the only division of Sony turning a profit? They have bigger things to worry about then the gaming division. How about do something to get those TV profits up instead of changing the one thing that is working.

Yeah but those TV losses still affect the company as a whole. Thats why Sony themselves have stated that they will be focusing on downloadable PSN games and PSN subscription services. So theyre cutting costs and seeking more revenue in the gaming realm as well.

[Manyforms]

I think my biggest issue with the subscription model as it pertains to say Xbox Gold is that they charge you to be able to use their hardware for things cheaper hardware does for free. With the Roku player, and pretty much every Bluray combo player out there offering Netflix, Hulu+, VideoNow, Pandora etc as part of the standard purchase I think it's unfair that I have to have a gold membership to access the same feature on my much more expensive and capable game console. Those services already carry their own subscription fees and are only available when paying the already painful monopolistic isp prices. And they really don't require any muscle or additional usage of the Gold network.

Especially when these two systems in particular were touted as all in one media solutions rather than just gaming systems. I'm all for the subscription model as it pertains to the gaming community in a sort of opt in type of scenario. I'd be more than willing to pay the Gold price when and if I ever get back into gaming against others. But as is my ps3 is just a convenient way to stream movies. And I often DO throw them a lot of money to buy or rent movies from the ps3 network on date nights. If they started charging me just to browse their catalog on the fly or to use them as the defacto player of Netflix, my ps3 would likely end up unhooked and collecting dust in the storage room the way the 360 is now. And Roku or one of the other cheaper devices out there that can perform the same function without a service fee would be serving its function.

[daLa]

If they start charging for features like online multiplayer gaming they're definitely bound to lose lots of customers.

[Endgame77]

Charging for something previously free... Yeah this has Netflix 2011 written all over it. Remember how good that worked out for them?

Actually, following Netflix's change and the subsequent comsumer whining it's profits soared.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BUGT1MUDJB.DTL

[Sufi]

Actually, following Netflix's change and the subsequent comsumer whining it's profits soared.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BUGT1MUDJB.DTL

Except that's not because of charging for the services more...they actually lost a lot of their share value and money due to that. The reason they're winning is due to their new focus on the streaming part of the service.

Also they don't let more than 2 devices now and I know for sure my family used one account previously and now we all have our own. That is likely what gave them all those profits.