How much does sony make on the PSN?

[LordChris915]

nightsurge said:

LordChris915 said:
You must consider the influence that the PSN has on consumers, would you buy a console that had no online in this day and age? Financially it would be a complete howler if they had not included an online capability, in this respect its inclusion HAS made them money by keeping the product competitive, It may not be cash in hand, but that is not what matters.

That's also not what he's asking.  Just because they include an online service doesn't mean they had to make it free.  That was their choice and I'm sure it is hurting them quite a bit financially.

As far as pure profit after all PSN costs, what do you think is the outcome?

I think the Store will be in pure profit, I think home is starting to touch profitability, I couldn't tell you if the profit made is balancing out the development and server costs, however I suspect they are probably only covering about 60-70% of their expendature when sales are high and about 20% when sales are low.

"Just because they include an online service doesn't mean they had to make it free"

Very true, but once again, the competitive element that having the online adds is invaluable and the fact that it is free makes it even more of a selling point, If I had to guess, I would say that if they had not made PSN free, the 360 would be around 10-12 million units ahed by now.

I think that the PSN is actually more important than the PS3 at this point because is has to last longer, keeping it free will be very important in years to come and MS may be forced to turn XBL free in order to compete next gen, just a guess however.