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Forums - Sony - Sony planning paid PSN subscriptions for 2010

selnor on 25 November 2009
thismeintiel said:
@selnor

Do you honestly think Sony provides PSN for free. LOL. Come on, do some research. True it is free for the owners of the PS3. But for companies to put games and demos on PSN, Sony charges them. They also make money off of costumers who buy/rent from the PS Store and Home. Sony is definitely making money off of PSN. I doubt they are going to change their model any time soon. Besides, that is definitely one of the draws to the PS3. Being able to play online for free, just as you would on any PC.

@heruamon

I'm sure DC will be handled just like Free Realms is. Free to play, but it just costs money for the top of the line items and equipment within the game.

Those copanies are only charged when the demo or DLC is actually downloaded. They are charged for bandwidth. Some demos are lucky if they get 2,000 downloads. So no Sony are making nowhere near enough charging companies that. Blizzard are smart and charge alot more than Xbox Live for 1 month of WOW. LOTR online charges as does Dungeons and Dragons. Warhammer Online as well. All the most used games on PC online are charged. Live charges and people obviously feel it's the best online service, as more play on Live and use Live than they do on Wii!!!!!! Which has sold alot more.

What I'm saying is, from a business point it will change and has to. Cetainly the bigger it gets the more maintenace costs are. If they dont charge to play with PS3 they almost certainly will for PS4. As it is there service crashed with MW2 and it had 1 million less online with it than the 360 version at the time.

Think from a business perspective. It's not viable. As a customer it's nice for awhile, but Sony will have to recoop money from somewhere. And it will end up being a paid service.



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Destroyer_of_knights on 25 November 2009

I have a feeling the premium stuff will be more like you pay, and all content is slightly discounted, that way if you buy allot you save money, as well as having exclusive access to multiplayer demos, or even have times exclusives for 1 week over the free users, while the free user still have access to online play as well as the same content just delayed and at normal non discounted prices...well thats what I think.

Either way, as long as I an buy the content I want, and play for free, then this subscription think is meh to me.



Feylic on 25 November 2009
selnor said:
The Velour Fog said:
If PSN becomes a paid for service I will stop using it.

Come on Sony, don't be idiots like Microsoft are.


Cmon really? M$ are the smart ones. Certainly from a business stand point. Sony missed the boat by a mile. Live not only has more features and alot more content, plus handles more people online smoother. It has loads more people on it. Sony should have charged from day 1. Because that would have been business sense. Instead they lose alot of money maintaining something with no cost replenished. How long do you honestly think a service like Live could go on being as good as it is and have as much content as it does without cost being recooperated?

PSN must be a big black hole for money right now, and my bet is shareholders will not like that one bit. Sony will have to have charges eventually to keep PSN afloat. Because PS3's price is now lower meaning less money will be recooperated. It's business. £48/ year for Live is easily askable and a damn fine price. To think Sony made a good move by making theres free is silly. From a business model point of view it would not last being free.

Well PSN has been out for 3 years, so I would say at least 3 years.



thismeintiel on 26 November 2009
selnor said:
thismeintiel said:
@selnor

Do you honestly think Sony provides PSN for free. LOL. Come on, do some research. True it is free for the owners of the PS3. But for companies to put games and demos on PSN, Sony charges them. They also make money off of costumers who buy/rent from the PS Store and Home. Sony is definitely making money off of PSN. I doubt they are going to change their model any time soon. Besides, that is definitely one of the draws to the PS3. Being able to play online for free, just as you would on any PC.

@heruamon

I'm sure DC will be handled just like Free Realms is. Free to play, but it just costs money for the top of the line items and equipment within the game.

Those copanies are only charged when the demo or DLC is actually downloaded. They are charged for bandwidth. Some demos are lucky if they get 2,000 downloads. So no Sony are making nowhere near enough charging companies that. Blizzard are smart and charge alot more than Xbox Live for 1 month of WOW. LOTR online charges as does Dungeons and Dragons. Warhammer Online as well. All the most used games on PC online are charged. Live charges and people obviously feel it's the best online service, as more play on Live and use Live than they do on Wii!!!!!! Which has sold alot more.

What I'm saying is, from a business point it will change and has to. Cetainly the bigger it gets the more maintenace costs are. If they dont charge to play with PS3 they almost certainly will for PS4. As it is there service crashed with MW2 and it had 1 million less online with it than the 360 version at the time.

Think from a business perspective. It's not viable. As a customer it's nice for awhile, but Sony will have to recoop money from somewhere. And it will end up being a paid service.

And what about all those games that don't charge to play online and yet can continue to stay running?  Besides there is a difference between a game company charging to play online on their game, as opposed to MS charging to acces your internet you already pay for, just to connect you to said game.  What happens if a game on 360 decides to start charging for their online?  You'll have to pay the game company to play their game on top of paying MS just to access that game.

The point is they both have different pricing structures.  And neither is going to change it anytime soon.  Sony will continue to offer free play online, while MS will still charge for it.  This new premium service isn't going to change that.  And really it doesn't matter what the business "experts" of this site really think, Sony is going to continue doing their thing. 



 

selnor on 26 November 2009
thismeintiel said:
selnor said:
thismeintiel said:
@selnor

Do you honestly think Sony provides PSN for free. LOL. Come on, do some research. True it is free for the owners of the PS3. But for companies to put games and demos on PSN, Sony charges them. They also make money off of costumers who buy/rent from the PS Store and Home. Sony is definitely making money off of PSN. I doubt they are going to change their model any time soon. Besides, that is definitely one of the draws to the PS3. Being able to play online for free, just as you would on any PC.

@heruamon

I'm sure DC will be handled just like Free Realms is. Free to play, but it just costs money for the top of the line items and equipment within the game.

Those copanies are only charged when the demo or DLC is actually downloaded. They are charged for bandwidth. Some demos are lucky if they get 2,000 downloads. So no Sony are making nowhere near enough charging companies that. Blizzard are smart and charge alot more than Xbox Live for 1 month of WOW. LOTR online charges as does Dungeons and Dragons. Warhammer Online as well. All the most used games on PC online are charged. Live charges and people obviously feel it's the best online service, as more play on Live and use Live than they do on Wii!!!!!! Which has sold alot more.

What I'm saying is, from a business point it will change and has to. Cetainly the bigger it gets the more maintenace costs are. If they dont charge to play with PS3 they almost certainly will for PS4. As it is there service crashed with MW2 and it had 1 million less online with it than the 360 version at the time.

Think from a business perspective. It's not viable. As a customer it's nice for awhile, but Sony will have to recoop money from somewhere. And it will end up being a paid service.

And what about all those games that don't charge to play online and yet can continue to stay running?  Besides there is a difference between a game company charging to play online on their game, as opposed to MS charging to acces your internet you already pay for, just to connect you to said game.  What happens if a game on 360 decides to start charging for their online?  You'll have to pay the game company to play their game on top of paying MS just to access that game.

The point is they both have different pricing structures.  And neither is going to change it anytime soon.  Sony will continue to offer free play online, while MS will still charge for it.  This new premium service isn't going to change that.  And really it doesn't matter what the business "experts" of this site really think, Sony is going to continue doing their thing. 

The point is how long can Sony maintain a service like PSN without recooping costs? I bet theres at least 50 wages involved daily in the running of services like Live and PSN. Then theres the R&D of those services. In many respects it's like the costs of a never ending game development. That cant stay free. It's a cause for bleeding money. And NO company can justify that. That is apparant by this move from Sony. If game playing stays free, the question is will many opt to subscribe for this higher service? If they dont what do they do next? Hmmm.



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dolemit3 on 26 November 2009

If Sony wants to make PSN a real money maker, just like Live, they will have to charge for online gaming. Anything else will be peanuts profit-wise.



Currently playing on PS3: God of War III

Currently playing on Xbox360: Final Fantasy XIII

Currently playing on NDS: Chrono Trigger

thismeintiel on 27 November 2009
selnor said:
thismeintiel said:
selnor said:
thismeintiel said:
@selnor

Do you honestly think Sony provides PSN for free. LOL. Come on, do some research. True it is free for the owners of the PS3. But for companies to put games and demos on PSN, Sony charges them. They also make money off of costumers who buy/rent from the PS Store and Home. Sony is definitely making money off of PSN. I doubt they are going to change their model any time soon. Besides, that is definitely one of the draws to the PS3. Being able to play online for free, just as you would on any PC.

@heruamon

I'm sure DC will be handled just like Free Realms is. Free to play, but it just costs money for the top of the line items and equipment within the game.

Those copanies are only charged when the demo or DLC is actually downloaded. They are charged for bandwidth. Some demos are lucky if they get 2,000 downloads. So no Sony are making nowhere near enough charging companies that. Blizzard are smart and charge alot more than Xbox Live for 1 month of WOW. LOTR online charges as does Dungeons and Dragons. Warhammer Online as well. All the most used games on PC online are charged. Live charges and people obviously feel it's the best online service, as more play on Live and use Live than they do on Wii!!!!!! Which has sold alot more.

What I'm saying is, from a business point it will change and has to. Cetainly the bigger it gets the more maintenace costs are. If they dont charge to play with PS3 they almost certainly will for PS4. As it is there service crashed with MW2 and it had 1 million less online with it than the 360 version at the time.

Think from a business perspective. It's not viable. As a customer it's nice for awhile, but Sony will have to recoop money from somewhere. And it will end up being a paid service.

And what about all those games that don't charge to play online and yet can continue to stay running?  Besides there is a difference between a game company charging to play online on their game, as opposed to MS charging to acces your internet you already pay for, just to connect you to said game.  What happens if a game on 360 decides to start charging for their online?  You'll have to pay the game company to play their game on top of paying MS just to access that game.

The point is they both have different pricing structures.  And neither is going to change it anytime soon.  Sony will continue to offer free play online, while MS will still charge for it.  This new premium service isn't going to change that.  And really it doesn't matter what the business "experts" of this site really think, Sony is going to continue doing their thing. 

The point is how long can Sony maintain a service like PSN without recooping costs? I bet theres at least 50 wages involved daily in the running of services like Live and PSN. Then theres the R&D of those services. In many respects it's like the costs of a never ending game development. That cant stay free. It's a cause for bleeding money. And NO company can justify that. That is apparant by this move from Sony. If game playing stays free, the question is will many opt to subscribe for this higher service? If they dont what do they do next? Hmmm.

Do you have records to show how much PSN costs to keep running?  Do you know if the money that Sony makes off the service isn't enough to keep it going?  We all know that Sony loses money off of sales of the PS3, as they report that.  However, we don't know what it costs to keep PSN up and going.  My guess would be that since they haven't charged to play for 3 years, and have no plans to change that, they at least are breaking even.  This new premium service is most likely a way to start seeing some profit off the service.