Sony Demands Cash For PlayStation 4 Online Play

Earnest Cavalli

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Sony Demands Cash For PlayStation 4 Online Play



The PlayStation 4 requires a PlayStation Plus subscription for online play. Why? Shuehei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, explains the change.

For years now the biggest claim to console war dominance held by PlayStation devotees was that the PS3 allows players to play online multiplayer titles totally gratis. The Xbox 360 by comparison, requires a paid subscription to Microsoft's Xbox Live Gold program. A few years back Sony introduced the PlayStation Plus initiative, a paid subscription service that offers PS3 owners discounts and periodic free game downloads, but anyone wishing to save their cash could still go online via the PlayStation 3 without shelling out a dime.

That's going to change with the upcoming PlayStation 4, a console that, like the Xbox 360, will require a subscription to PlayStation Plus for online play. The reason? Simply put: Providing stable, online gameplay is expensive.

In a recent interview with Weekly Famitsu (helpfully translated by Kotaku's crack team of multilingual geeks), this decision was explained by Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide Studios.

"The main pillar for the PS4 will be online play," Yoshida states.

"We're developing many new ways to play and connect which requires a large investment of resources. Considering the cost, to try to keep such a service free and consequently lower the quality would be absurd."

"We decided that if that's the case, then it would be better to receive proper payment and continue to offer a good service," Yoshida adds.

While we're sure that many are upset over this new, nearly-mandatory fee attached to the PlayStation 4, things aren't quite as grim as they seem. Though online gameplay will require a PlayStation Plus subscription, Yoshida claims that players without subscriptions will still be able to play games that don't rely on "real-time" online interactions.

For example, imagine a game like Gran Turismo which offers numerous online features, such as multiplayer gameplay, online leaderboards and the ability to sell vehicles between players. In theory, while players without PlayStation Plus subscriptions won't be able to play head-to-head with other players, they will be able to access the game's leaderboards and whatever online vehicle shop system the title might feature.

Of course this is just an example to better explain Yoshida's statements. We don't know exactly how the Gran Turismo 6 will function, so it's entirely possible that everything we stated above will be moot by the time the PlayStation 4 hits retail.

Speaking of, we're still waiting on an official release date for the PlayStation 4. Sony's stated that the device will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2013, and we expect a more specific launch date to emerge any day now. We'll bring you that information once it appears.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/sony-wont-be-abandoning-the-ps3-after-releasing-the-ps-595304106]

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Roxas1359

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Aug 8, 2009
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I don't mind paying for online because it is not as much as Live and gets you great deals. Besides, you don't need to get it, and you can still access Hulu and Netflix without being a PS+ member as well as play F2P games without needing to buy PS+.
 

New Troll

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Mar 26, 2009
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And since I'm only using the PS4's online features for non-gaming, I still don't need a PSN+ subscription. Yay!
 

Dendio

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Mar 24, 2010
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Paying for internet twice is something im just not willing to do. Going to stay pc.
 

sid

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Uh, yeah. Isn't this old news? They even went ahead and said free-to-play titles would be available for non-PS+ users. Like a few weeks ago.
 

Doclector

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I can understand. I often wondered how they kept it running beforehand. Despite the fact that PSN isn't as massive as xbox live's community, it's still, well, massive. So I totally understand that they're taking the opportunity of a new console to start charging for online.
 

jdogtwodolla

phbbhbbhpbhphbhpbttttt......
Feb 12, 2009
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So this is just for the PS4 right? this isn't going to affect online play for the 3 or handhelds?
 

Roxas1359

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jdogtwodolla said:
So this is just for the PS4 right? this isn't going to affect online play for the 3 or handhelds?
Through the news stories I'm seeing it seems like it is only for online play for the PS4, I don't think that the PS3 or the Vita will be affected by this.
 

Ferisar

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jdogtwodolla said:
So this is just for the PS4 right? this isn't going to affect online play for the 3 or handhelds?
Nope. PSN stays free for the PS3/PSP as far as they've indicated. You are safe, comrade.

OT:
A bit of old news. I'm pretty indifferent about it, seeing as I don't buy most games to play them online. The only irritating (or at least, potentially irritating) bit about this is the potential to make products to prod the consumer into wanting the service. And by that I mean making features that are reliant on the connection versus those that could be just as easily implemented into the single-player. It's unlikely, and it's not entirely terrifying, but it's something I am personally going to keep an eye on. Provided they stick to their message of offering a lot of cool stuff to PS+ members, it may even tide me over to get it.
 

Frostbite3789

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Not to mention how great a service PS+ is anyways. If you subscribed when it came out...two years ago? You'd have gotten $1400 worth of content by now. For $150.
 

Mylinkay Asdara

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Nov 28, 2010
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Well, I enjoy my Play Station Plus account now with my PS3 already, so it doesn't have a big impact on me personally, but I could see where the mandatory nature would be a rub. On the other hand, they do seem like they are trying to make it as non-mandatory as possible for those who do not wish to avail themselves of online play options already, which - as I understand things - is about as considerate as they can get away with being given the obvious costs of offering the service at all.
 

Tanakh

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And once again I am impressed at how well Sony PR team is handling this launch, a declaration like this
Earnest Cavalli said:
"The main pillar for the PS4 will be online play,"
+ that PS4 camera and the same price as the Xbox would have ended in such a different outcome at E3.

My hat off to them.
 

TheRightToArmBears

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Dec 13, 2008
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I'm not too bothered, it's a pretty good deal although I'd rather be able to opt out of it and play online. Frankly I was surprised that PSN was free for the PS3, it wasn't a massive surprise to me that they were introducing mandatory payments for online.
 

el_kabong

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Mar 18, 2010
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I have no problem with the subscription requirement for online play. As far as I'm concerned, if you have a PS3 and don't use Plus, you're foolish. I hope that the value remains true for the PS4 (with the announcement of a free launch title for subscribers, I think it will). Unless you use it for non-gaming purposes, the free games and various discounts that come with a subscription more than make up for the $50. If you're an avid gamer who looks for a variety of games to play, you're missing out (or spending more money than you need to). Until I got the PS+, I'd probably limit my playing to around 6 games a year. With free/discounted access to games I wasn't willing to pay $60, it looks like I'll triple that number.
 

sethisjimmy

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Very vague bullshitty excuses. Charging for Online on top of game prices and the users own internet service is unjustified. Sony aren't the ones running the servers in online multiplayer. If Developers/Publishers running servers decided to charge to make up for server costs they'd have more ground to stand on than this.
 

omega 616

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May 1, 2009
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Bit of a slowpoke moment here, this was announced on the first day of E3.

It was explained a day or two later.

I'm ok with this, pay for online but I get free games? Why would I be put out by this?
 

Frostbite3789

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sethisjimmy said:
Very vague bullshitty excuses. Charging for Online on top of game prices and the users own internet service is unjustified. Sony aren't the ones running the servers in online multiplayer. If Developers/Publishers running servers decided to charge to make up for server costs they'd have more ground to stand on than this.
Thing is though, right? If that's the case for say MMOs, or F2P games, you don't have to pay for PS+ to play those games online. Poor reporting by The Escapist.