KLAMarine said:
So it's essentially console manufacturers charging because they can?.. |
Partly, but it's also becuase they fund themselves differently then someone like Valve does with Steam.
Sticking with the Steam example, they basically make publishers/developers pay for online through a higher cut of the total revenue wheras Sony/MS charge the people using online multiplayer directly for it's use.
Mind you, if either Sony or Microsoft had data showing that they could make up the lost revenue through increased sales by making online free, they would. But it doesn't hurt them to charge for it, which means it wouldn't really help them to make it free.
Bet with Adamblaziken:
I bet that on launch the Nintendo Switch will have no built in in-game voice chat. He bets that it will. The winner gets six months of avatar control over the other user.