Paid PlayStation Network Rumors Rise Again

[modeps]

Over on Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5429592/sony-survey-says-premium-playstation-network-subscriptions-under-consideration), they've got a screenshot of a survey sent out by IPSOS Online Research. Within it are three different payment plans outlining different premium service options for the PlayStation Network, with the following descriptor indicating that Sony is, once again, considering a premium PSN offering:

Sony is considering offering a premium PlayStation Network subscription in the future. The subscription offering would provide new premium features you could choose to pay for and are in addition to the features currently available for free such as access to online multiplayer gaming (current features would remain free).

These rumors crop up too often to be false. Good that they're keeping a free offering, but I'd rather they just keep their entire online service free.

[Coldeath]

I think it would really hurt them ...

As a person that only plays on line a few times a month (i would not pay a monthly subscription, that was also one of the reasons that i picked the PS3.) it would relay kill there "casual market"

I have had my ps3 for 3 years now :) That has saved me $150 if they were to charge the same as Xbox live

[Metal Jesus]

This is happening simply because millions of people seem happy to continue paying for Xbox Live, and see value in their Gold subscription. I was all ready to let it expire this year (now that Netflix is on the PS3, as I have both consoles), but my wife talked me out of it. She loves the Last.fm and Netflix integration on the Xbox and feels it is worth it. Sony sees this and knows it's another revenue option for them.

[BlueBomber]

I think it would really hurt them ...

As a person that only plays on line a few times a month (i would not pay a monthly subscription, that was also one of the reasons that i picked the PS3.) it would relay kill there "casual market"

I have had my ps3 for 3 years now :) That has saved me $150 if they were to charge the same as Xbox liveWell, according to this you still wouldn't have to pay to play online. It would just be for some additional premium features, unless I read that wrong.

[drakkarim]

I think it would really hurt them ...

As a person that only plays on line a few times a month (i would not pay a monthly subscription, that was also one of the reasons that i picked the PS3.) it would relay kill there "casual market"

I have had my ps3 for 3 years now :) That has saved me $150 if they were to charge the same as Xbox live

the current stuff would remain free.

can't imagine what they'd come up with that people would want to pay for, but then looking at 'live' i guess that pretty much means people would pay for anything.

as long as the demos stay free at release for everyone and the multiplayer stays free as it is, i can happily say they're more than welcome to sell whatever they can sell.

[gzsfrk]

I'm sure everyone that owns a PS3 would rather they keep all PSN features free, but that's really just not going to be feasible for Sony to do forever. They're bleeding cash, and from a business point of view, they have to start looking at ways to either cut costs or increase revenues.

That being said, I don't think this would be the end of the world like some people are obviously going to knee jerk react and think. Online multiplayer would still be available for free (the lack of which is the largest criticism against the 360's Silver memberships). However, I do find it hilarious that, based on what I've read, accessing Netflix using a player loaded onto the PS3 rather than having to use the disc, would be a premium feature. :)

[Anenome]

It's guaranteed to happen. I've predicted it, now we're seeing it happen. It will happen because gamers are willing to pay for premium multiplayer. Sony didn't think MS's paid service would resonate with players, but it clearly has. And they cannot compete with a free service and still hope to not lose masses of money. Sony will release a 2-level service, free and paid, similar to Live with their own style twist, with the next console, the PS4, or sooner.

[Kweli]

Its going to happen, there is to much untapped income here...

At the same time, when my friends ask which console to buy, i tell them the PS3 because the online part is free. Once this goes paid i will go back to recommending the 360

[Anenome]

the current stuff would remain free...
as long as the demos stay free at release for everyone and the multiplayer stays free as it is, i can happily say they're more than welcome to sell whatever they can sell.
- They've already announced that new PSN service which is withholding demos as paid content. Someone said that the demos eventually do get released to the free side, but if you want them immediately you have to pay for the Sony podcast, at some $3 a month.

[EvilBob46]

Online play will remain free and that's all that matters. Casual gamers who don't play online often would probably not even use fancy features anyway, whereas the more hardcore players may want to purchase the premium subscription. Makes sense and seems perfectly fair to me, more so than Microsoft locking people out of a part of every individual game they buy if they don't subscribe to their service.

[Anenome]

Online play will remain free and that's all that matters. Casual gamers who don't play online often would probably not even use fancy features anyway, whereas the more hardcore players may want to purchase the premium subscription. Makes sense and seems perfectly fair to me, more so than Microsoft locking people out of a part of every individual game they buy if they don't subscribe to their service.
It will remain free on the PS3, yes. It will not remain free on the PS4. Mark my words.

[t3kl3r]

Things I'm not willing to pay for:
-NetFlix (If I have to keep using the disc, I'm totally ok with that)
-Demos (That's like charging for samples at the grocery store or at an ice cream shop. No. I'm not cool with that.)
-Early access to PSN games (You want me to pay extra to have the privilege of buying your games a little early? Really? Fuck. You.)

I don't do the multiplayer online stuff much at all, so paying a subscription fee to have more features isn't really worth it to me personally. I can definitely see where it would be worth it to someone who games online though.

I just hope the little side features that I actually do use don't fall into some paid tier that keeps me from getting to it without paying more than it's worth (because I won't pay, I'll just be sad).

[Capt_Thad]

Free access to PSOne classics and mini's (and premium themes I guess, couldn't really care about that though) as well as member discounts on PSN store games? I'd pay a subscription for that (so long as the discount was worth it). That "token wagering" might be a nice alternative if it means the subscription were cheaper. Full title trials would be kinda nifty too, like a demo+. Loyalty program rewards might be cool, would have to see what they had in mind. Cloud storage space might be nifty, I'm nearing the need to upgrade my HDD point. Not sure if I'm too keen on "member specific in-game content" or "exclusive experiences with Sony brands," but if I'm paying for it, why not?

It's guaranteed to happen. I've predicted it, now we're seeing it happen. It will happen because gamers are willing to pay for premium multiplayer. Sony didn't think MS's paid service would resonate with players, but it clearly has. And they cannot compete with a free service and still hope to not lose masses of money. Sony will release a 2-level service, free and paid, similar to Live with their own style twist, with the next console, the PS4, or sooner.

I'm guessing you didn't read the article? They say specifically what features they're thinking about including with a premium subscription, and they also say everything that is free now will remain free. This won't effect multiplayer gaming at all, nor will it add a subscription model for any of the other features the PS3 currently provides.

[donkeydrop]

Since many seem to have missed the point, this survey is not about charging for the current PSN! The purpose was to find out what people would be willing to pay for a bunch of extra stuff like free access to PS1 games, the first hour of new games, a monthly credit in points to spend in the PSN store etc.

Now if cross-game chat was tied to this paid service I think people would have reason to be upset, but otherwise it seems like a good idea. In fact it makes me wonder why MS hasn't done something like this already; a subscription service to arcade would be easy money.

[Anenome]

I'm guessing you didn't read the article? They say specifically what features they're thinking about including with a premium subscription, and they also say everything that is free now will remain free. This won't effect multiplayer gaming at all, nor will it add a subscription model for any of the other features the PS3 currently provides.
- Like I said, that you only remain true for the PS3. It's "any of the other features the PS3 currently provides," but there's a loophole in there, in that it excludes applying that reasoning to the PS4. Of course they're not going to let on what their plans are for the PS4, I'm just saying there's a very, very high likelihood of them copying Live with two-tier accounts with the PS4. They're not going to break their promise of keeping the PS3 free, but all bets are off when the PS4 comes around. It's just as easy for them to create a brand new online service for the PS4 with a new name and call it "PSN Compatible" which then doesn't have to fall under the free-terms of the PSN, etc.

[Roman]

Some of the stuff like free access to PS1 games sounds good and would actually be good reasons to pay for the service. Let's be honest: As much as MS adds to Live to increase the percieved value, the only reason people are paying for it is because of the multiplayer. If Silver suddenly offered free multiplayer, no one would be paying money to use Facebook and Last.fm. No one gives a shit about MS's current Gold-only features. Sony seems to be on the right track. They just need to match some of Live's good features (cross-game chat) and ditch some of the crap (Home is a waste of time and money for all involved).

[pwnophobia]

They just need to match some of Live's good features (cross-game chat) and ditch some of the crap (Home is a waste of time and money for all involved).

If Sony could add in cross-game chat and a better notification system for messages and then make Home worth while they'd be in the right direction to compete with Live. Really, a lot of the users of the XBOX love playing the community games like 1 vs 100 and if Sony could turn Home into instances rather than "wait and play" I don't think having a subscription would benefit them. In fact, I think it could diminish the number of online users. I know I would never pay for PSN because I don't use it enough.

[ScottBravesFan]

I would not pay for PSN. It seems like it's slower to get into games on PSN than on Live and it takes forever to download things like movies or demos on PSN. Is it that way for anyone else that has both a PS3 and a 360? I have both right next to each other and both are running using my wifi. When i finally get into a game like Uncharted 2 or Killzone 2 online it's fine it just seems to take forever to actually get into the games themselves.

[Dag-Sabot]

Did anyone say PayStation yet?