Sony considering Gold, Silver & Platinum memberships for PS4's online services

[claud3]

I guess we all assumed this might happened... This was brought up last year and we all got into a debate over

And i was the one that brought up, the possibility of a payed service... I and got attacked by all sides when i suggested it,

[Bigdoggy]

They are not going to charge for online play or to get trophies. They will more than likely have packages for extra content. This is not going to be a forced to pay to play online.

[radgamer420]

They are not going to charge for online play or to get trophies. They will more than likely have packages for extra content. This is not going to be a forced to pay to play online.

Yep exactly. In fact Sony already made this pretty clear in another article.

[claud3]

so it is for services and not playing... Well i see this being a seller, but how could they compete with MS

Since they have had this in place for years and SONY always had free play... At first go, i do not seeing this appealing to everyone

So i do not see them turning a profit soon on first go

[Kuro]

I'll see what's up I may give in.

[Harr Binger]

hope ththey dont charge for online play but I understand they need more revenue to offset losses and costs so I wouldnt begrudge them if tgey had something like ps plus but with the tier system mentioned( which I think,and hope,is wat they will do anyway).if they charge for oline play that will mean there will only he 1 ps4 in my housr and not three as I cant afford to pay for and both my sons subs and y bother buying a ps4 then when we can just stay online with the ps3 ? As I said tho, I think they will have tier membership for ps plus equivalent and leave online multiplayer free cos lets face it,if they charged for oline multiplayer on ps3 then 90% of ps3 owners would have bought the cheaper xbox

[ps3freak18]

Free online play has always been a mainstay for Sony. They receive a lot of support because of this. Not to mention it is one thing that separates the brand from Xbox. If they dropped free online it would be the ongoing story of the next gen for a long time. Much like the launch price of the PS3 still is talked about today. Sony would be insane to go that route and start off on a bad note just like current gen. The features will be what you are paying for almost certainly.

[Sir_Scud]

Charging for online play would greatly make me reconsider next gen. I used to have a live subscription and felt like it was a complete ripoff. Only did it because I was really big on Halo. But the Live experience on Silver is fucking shallow. I have no issue with Sony doing such a service as long as it means I can game online, use a mic, send basic mssgs and download things right when they are released.

[RyanGT]

I'll be glad to grab the Platinum Membership, Sony has earned .. at least from my perspective.

[MonkeyClaw]

Free online play has always been a mainstay for Sony. They receive a lot of support because of this. Not to mention it is one thing that separates the brand from Xbox. If they dropped free online it would be the ongoing story of the next gen for a long time. Much like the launch price of the PS3 still is talked about today. Sony would be insane to go that route and start off on a bad note just like current gen. The features will be what you are paying for almost certainly.

You are dead correct! I don't see them ever making you pay for online gameplay, if there ever did that it would create a huge backlash!

[mickice]

It makes sense as long as they want to make their online service profitable and not only a resource eater.

I don't think they will take online gaming out of the equation but I do see putting features like cross-game chatting (parties) on them.

PSVita, XGame chat no PS+ required. But I see where your going so maybe game streaming could be restricted. We are on a new level this time round.

[ps3freak18]

I'll be glad to grab the Platinum Membership, Sony has earned .. at least from my perspective.

There are many factors that will play into what tier i get. Price, features, and other perks. I'm just curious how they will go about all this.

[snooper71]

There are many factors that will play into what tier i get. Price, features, and other perks. I'm just curious how they will go about all this.

Platinum will probably have all PSN+ features and include Gaikai unlimited streaming. A lower tier may give you access to Gaikai as well but with a pay per game scheme...

With unlimited Gaikai access they'd get my money for Platinum

[Lefein]

Honestly, I think a lot of the services they introduced with Gaikai would be worthy of some kind of service charge. It almost makes renting games a thing of the past for one thing. Sony could make some scratch off of this without pissing off gamers.

I think that is the important part. Unlike other brands, Sony has always been a gaming first machine in all reality. Sony could flip the service model on its head and use the carroit rather than the stick to lure a userbase. It can't be good from the publisher's perspective to have millions of consoles out there that do not or cannot connect to online service. It potentially drives down sales of their software when you look at it objectively.

I think Sony will not go that route. It wouldn't just give them a black eye with gamers (let's call a spade a spade, that brand that charges for its online has never and probably will never break a 100 million+ userbase). It would also drive their own overall business down respectively. They can seek bluer waters and create a win/win situation, instead.

[Sufi]

I still do not know if i want this... I pay enough for Xbox Live, i do not want to dip into my pocket for another SERVICE

free online play and cross-game chat. all the other stuff like sharing, playing through another person's console, that and content etc. will cost money. so you're fine.

and yes you will still get attacked if you mention that sony will charge for online and cross-game chat lol.

[claud3]

free online play and cross-game chat. all the other stuff like sharing, playing through another person's console, that and content etc. will cost money. so you're fine.

and yes you will still get attacked if you mention that sony will charge for online and cross-game chat lol.

Hey you want to take this online son

On Topic:

Well this is good news, i might consider this more

[Coconut_Crunch]

I remember hearing something about $89.99 for a year. It could be possible that it's like this... Free, $49.99 for silver, $69.99 Gold, $89.99 platinum? I'll more than likely get the platinum if it is at that price and you get everything. Sony has been very good with Playstation plus with a ton of free games and I like that.

[HellsJester]

I hope Sony knows i can just buy a Elgato or Happauge to record and stream for free so im not sure what they are going to be asking for will be fair for just the buddy list interaction.

[Sufi]

Hey you want to take this online son

les go

[claud3]

les go

Right meet me outside with you're phone and a speed dial option... So i can word your ass, as i kick it LMAO

[newf_52]

Something's gotta happen that makes it fair for all, I love PS Plus for it's free & discounted games/cloud/updates..etc.. and it's totally worth $50 a year, I use Netflix a ton, I download plenty of games, tv shows, and movies...I don't, however, play online. And if server maintenance and such is a big cost maybe it should cost money, but only if it makes games cheaper.

Of course though, things never get cheaper.

[sainraja]

You can't expect to get all the features they announced without supporting it (by paying.) Now, hopefully Sony is smarter about it than Microsoft.

Do not add a paywall to services that can be accessed for free elsewhere (Netflix), that have a separate subscription outside of the PSN subscription.

Keep basic online play FREE - charge for things like Cross Game Chat, Clan Support, etc; having a tiered subscription system is OKAY as long as it makes sense.

[radgamer420]

You can't expect to get all the features they announced without supporting it (by paying.) Now, hopefully Sony is smarter about it than Microsoft. Do not add a paywall to services that can be accessed for free elsewhere (Netflix), that have a separate subscription outside of the PSN subscription. Keep basic online play FREE; having a tiered subscription system is OKAY as long as it makes sense.

Well said and I agree.

[keefy]

Anything that allows players to connect to each other such as cross game chat shoul be part of the basic "FREE" package.
Nothing more antisocial than disallowing non paying customers.

[Sufi]

You can't expect to get all the features they announced without supporting it (by paying.) Now, hopefully Sony is smarter about it than Microsoft.

Do not add a paywall to services that can be accessed for free elsewhere (Netflix), that have a separate subscription outside of the PSN subscription.

Keep basic online play FREE - charge for things like Cross Game Chat, Clan Support, etc; having a tiered subscription system is OKAY as long as it makes sense.

Cross game chat is confirmed to be free and I would've been a little pissed off if they didn't keep it free...even though I might never use it...it's always nice to have it there. Along with other features that i would like for free, such as party/clan support. May be expecting too much but a program like roger wilco/teamspeak would do wonders.

I guess party chat would be the same thing...just that they'd have to set it up where people should be able to join in as they please.