It appears there has been a lot of backlash from many people over the introduction of a mandatory paid service for online play coming to the next generation Playstation.
Let me start by saying I am a PlayStation owner, and have been all my life.
Secondly I should state I have been a PS+ member for around 4 months now and have a fair bit of insight on this topic.
People are up in arms that they now need to pay $60 / £40 to play online. But why?
Let's see what we know you get for your money:
- You get Drive Club, a ps4 launch title, free of charge, for the same price as what the game would have cost anyway.
- Free games every month for the length of your subscription
- The ability to play next gen top quality games in all of their multiplayer / co op modes
- Cross game chat
- Cloud saves
- Automatic game and system updates
These last points are just assumptions as we don't have details as far as I'm aware
- The ability to stream, share videos and photos and connect with social networks
- The ability to use Gaikai when it launches*
* As gaikai hasn't been detailed in full yet, this could mean that over time the entire ps3 catalogue could become available to stream at no extra charge to your ps4.
All of these features for $5 a month is a steal if I ever saw one
Let's not forget this will also benefit Sony as another source of revenue to put back into PlayStation and create an even better service and acquire new games and exclusives.
I write this not to disagree with the people who liked having free multiplayer.
But to point out why it isn't a bad thing, and why it will benefit us all.
Greatness awaits.
Sam,
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
I disagree that it isn't an issue. It is, and I say that as a PS3 and Vita owner who also subscribed to PS+. It's a new requirement. I can sympathize with anyone who doesn't want to participate in this whether it's for moral or financial reasons.
HOWEVER, it makes sense. We're moving into a new generation and with all this cloud/online/integration stuff increasing exponentially, Sony wants to make sure they can cover their butts. They're going to clean up, because once people realize they can get free games (and other bonuses) for all three Sony platforms, people will be hooked.
I didn't ask for these extras. I just want to play online.
If you want those features, then YOU can pay for them. For ME, it *IS* an issue.
Why am I reading the same justifications I read for LIVE the last 7 years with "LIVE" scribbled out and "PS+" written in its place (except with some free B-games, stream features that aren't exactly clarified on yet, and video sharing)?
It is an issue. It's not for you because it it's your console of choice and you dont want to see anything wrong. You are paying for online multiplayer point blank. They could've left everything the same if there were no issues. You better believe they knew they could make "MORE MONEY" if they put multiplayer behind it. That is the only reason it was moved over.
No other reason for them to do so.
Also, No matter how many times the xbox guys kept telling you how much better the live interface was compared to PSN, you guys stated that "paying for multiplayer is still paying for multiplayer". I repeat, no matter how you try to spin it, "paying for multiplayer is still paying for multiplayer".
Lastly, do you actually believe there will not be a separate charge to stream ps3 games to your ps4? You will have to either rebuy the game on gaiki, or there will be a monthly/yearly fee. You could just keep your ps3 of course.
It's an issue. I probably won't get a PS4 for at least two years, if that, to compensate for price drops because of them forcing me to pay to play.
It's the gaming version of a toll bridge.
If I get a PS4 at all, it'll either be:
1. used
2. I win one somehow
3. after a few price drops that will equal the estimated $50/year for as long as I think this gen will last (so you're basically looking at a $300 price-drop)
You get Drive Club...PS+ edition.
"The PS Plus edition of DriveClub, revealed yesterday, will – according to Evolution – be the full version of the game in terms of features and mechanics.
However, it will launch with a cut-back number of tracks and cars."
Sounds like GT5 Prologue.