It depends on how they define "best". As in a record number of downloads, I am sure. I mean, Red Dead Redemption and what was that other high profile quality game they had for free this month for Plus members?

It certainly must cost Sony something to provide all those games for free. Obviously the publishers gain something too (by selling more DLC and making the franchise stronger in the long run) but you can't just give away a publisher's games for free and not give something in return.

I wish we knew the numbers of PS+ profitability.

I think they said in terms of profitability, because of all the new ps+ members.

first off. software sales have declined in equal proportation to the xbox360 software decline from what i've seen.   i'd say psn+ as of now isn't adversly affecting software, we're just at the end of the gen. 

second off.  sony did boast about psn+ profitability.  before this last E3 psn+ only had psn downloadable games as the "free" games.  post E3 we have full retail releases (LBP2, saints row, ect.) in addition to the smaller games.  they very clearly stated (boasted) at that time that it was the success and profitability of psn+ that allowed them to improve the service.  i'm not sure the was much press on it but as an advid follower of ps3 news i remember that bit.

i'm not sure if you are a psn+ service member but i've noted that many of the free games are make free at the same time a new DLC becomes availible.  i can't speak to the overall numbers but i'll wager more than a few people have ended up paying for the DLC to go along with their free game.

Yeah, it's interesting when they time a free game to a launch of the sequel. Darksiders is another example.

At least they seem to do something smart. But I doubt PS+ a big profit deal overall.

Bottom line is, I'm comparing to MS. For consumers Xbox Live Gold is obviously not great value but for MS it certainly is. I often ask myself, how on earth do they have the stomach to ask $40-50 per year for just the ability to play online? But they do. And what saddens me is that MS is able to nickle and dime costumers so effectively while Sony doesn't utilitize this potential. So many billions lost already.

Does anybody have any info on how many subscribers there are?

Assuming there's 1 million it's made $50-100 million just off subscription fees.

Okay, so perhaps it is profitable.

But my point is, what proportions do we have?

What we do know is that MS is charging $40 or $50 from +15 million people for just the possibility to play online. For something that Sony provides for absolutely free. That's essentially $750 million in free money for MS.

Meanwhile we have Sony who gives a lot of valuable stuff in return for the same yearly subscription fee of $40 or $50. And we haven't heard any announcement of how many members PS+ has so it's pretty safe to assume it's a couple of million tops.

So all in all we have MS who get $750 million in free money and Sony who get a couple of measly millions at best from their respective subscription service.

Sony isn't in the position to start charging monthly for PSN. They completely underestimated the importance multi-player gaming and connectivity would have this gen so they picked a model that isn't the most profitable and now they have to stick with it. It's gonna take a MASSIVE update to convince people PSN is now worth $50 or whatever amount a year after it being free for 6-7 years. I think they'll keep a similar model for next-gen though, as F2P MMOs are becoming more and more popular and just about every game is starting to have multi-player features and having a lot of DLC tied to their multi-player features. If it's free Sony can get more people into these games to be "nickel and dimed" in F2P games and buy DLC in multi-player focused games. And again, it's just a great selling point.

Top: I could be wrong but i was under the impression it is quite a bit more than 15M. 

Bottom:  I have no idea what the actual number is but i'm quite confident to say it is on the rise.  I have around 35 people on my friends list ... well, active friends.  Including myself only 5ish of us jumped on psn+ day-1 and it stayed low all the way until this last E3.  The new psn+ that delivers bigger games.. it's probably closer to 15 of my friends.  ancedocal evidence i know but still... i think the service is growing and i'm pretty sure they've toppled the couple million mark and growing fast.   ...which also depends on what you mean by couple.  if by couple you mean what i take it as (2million) i think it is quite a bit bigger.

..i do wish sony would put some ads out though.  free online and psn+ is completely unknown but non ps3 owners.  i've talked to some of my 360 only friends and they've been A) unaware and B) impressed.  which i guess mean you are essence right, sony isn't getting the returns they shoudl be getting on this service profitable or not.

I Agree, I think the best way for PS Plus to work is with a monthly subsdcription, maybe providing you with plus points you can then use to purchase games. The Plus points can be redeemed when you delete a game, so its still technically an unlimited games collection but  it will put people off downloading every single game they can get their hands own, thus limiting the damage to actual game sales whilst still providing a valuable service. Of course the subscription fee would mean they would have to offer a more robust and update line up of free games.

I think they should try this 1st with the Vita, offer the system on a 12month contract for $79 for the initial payment (excluding memory cards) and a $30 or so monthly fee which includes  "unlimited game collection". WIth Gaikai on board there are so many possibilties with what they could do in regards to a premium online service.

Would World War II have happened if it hadn't rained on Hitler's 17th Birthday?