I can't imagine they'll charge for standard online play. Xbox Live has built the reputation to consumers of being a higher quality service in comparison to PSN, so a premium cost for Live seems more justifiable. PSN however doesn't have this benefit and the lack of a cost is a big incentive for a large portion or PS3 gamers. As a result, if PSN does suddenly stop being free next gen, I imagine a large portion of gamers may switch to Live as they may see it as more valuable.

Not to mention the high number PS3's being used as secondary consoles, especially in the states where the 360 is king. If the PS3's online has a premium, it's likely that many previously Sony-Microsoft duel-console owners may dismiss Playstation altogether and focus solely on Xbox Live (and maybe Nintendo), as they will see no reason to pay for two premiums when they both provide nearly equal experience with one having the clear reputation of higher quality.

Long story short, in order for Sony to effectively charge for online play, PSN will need to be viewed as an equal or superior competitor to Xbox Live next gen, and based on its current reputation I'm not sure if that's even possible. In fact if they do charge for online play, I am pretty confident that they will handedly lose the little marketshare they currently have in USA; as stated earlier, free online access is a big incentive for many users and since the PS3 is a secondary console for many there, it's likely that people won't pay for PSN as it would be a second fee for a service with a worse reputation.

I think it's more likely that Sony will be beefing up their PS+ service perhaps with an entirely different name. I can imagine them continuing their current offerings, while proving new stuff like backwards compatibility, streaming, etc. I'm sure Sony can think of plenty of creative ways to attract people to their premium service without making online gaming require it. But then again, this is Sony we're talking about so anything is possible. They probably already think their service does have the reputation of higher quality and may actually charage more than Xbox Live does.

I guess I just never understood all the fuss about paying $40 a year (assuming you buy live on sale which you should). I used to play MMORPG games for years and years and that averages out to almost $200 a year (12 * 15 = 180).

Sony will do just fine if they charge for online just like MS does. I honestly don't think the free online is that big of an advantage for Sony to part with. The consoles can distinguish themselves on the basis of their games just like the old days.

Depends what will be the offer.  But I'm ready to pay for product.

I don't think the meltdowns would be that powerful. Sure, some people would go on rants about how they hate Sony, but I don't think those people would be very common for a few reasons.

Firstly, fanboys cannot accept when they are wrong. So instead of using the same logic against Microsoft on Sony, its likely that they will change their entire philosophy and claim they were fine with premium costs all along. I doubt that most fanboys genuinely care about being charge for online play. Secondly, a lot of fanboys use the "games should be free" argument as a result of their Xbox hatred, rather than a cause of their Xbox hatred. They use it to make their preferred console seem better. But if both consoles charge for online gamut then the argument will be useless on the entire topic will be forgotten.

Notice I said fanboys since they are the only people who would have these meltdowns. I imagine the mature gamers may admit their feelings about Sony's actions in a non-meltdown fashion.

its funny how alive this thread has made the ms fanbase

multiplayer will still be free.

Only the premium service will cost money. I hope SONY is able to communicate that properly

paid for xbox live and ps+ so no proplem

We have a MS fanbase?

So all 5 are here?

Notice how he says MOST of the features are going to be under a paid subscription (if this is even true). So, what other feature could there be that wouldn't fall under most? Gaming online is the only thing I can think of. So, it will be just like they do, now. Free online multiplayer, but all the better features will be covered under PS+. If they were going to change it to pay to play, then they would have started with Vita, not change their PSN model a year after Vita owners are accustomed to free online.

That would be awesome in terms of this sites reactions lol.