Kaz Confirms Premium PSN Subscription Service
Yesterday, the PlayStation Network turned three, with Sony highlighting the free nature of the service. However, data from a Sony slide presentation, viewable here, appears to show that some form of a subscription service will be coming to the PSN as a future source of income for the company.
This “new revenue stream from subscription” was later confirmed by SCEE, who sent out a quote from Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment:
“SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral and PlayStation Network, especially in the online area, we are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.”
As the subscription service is to exist only “in addition to the current free” PlayStation Network, online play, as well as access to demos and betas, should remain free and untouched, without a charge for their use. However, what the “premium content and services” will actually include is yet to be seen.
[Source]
24 Responses to “Kaz Confirms Premium PSN Subscription Service”
hmmmmm well i’ll have to see what that content is before i say anything. this can be interesting.
Looks like Qore may be expanded substantially. Hopefully this will lead to the rapid development of Home, the expansion of services, or maybe even a subscription model for PS Store purchases. I’d love that.
yea, I feel that I am already paying a subscription fee to get Qore. I wonder if this will be another subscription that’s totally separate, or a revamp of Qore? I’m really unsure of what more they could offer that I’d be willing to sign up for…
I have nothing wrong with this, as long as online play and the store remains free.
Looks like Sony is Following M$ instead of leading them down the road to Cloud Gaming. If this goes forward then you can expect the the NA region will be the ones paying since we are looked on by the World as being RICH. I wonder what will happen when they release the information and then users find that they can no longer play their AAA titles online. I wonder if Activision is taking the lead on this and will see CoD online play drop when players are notified that to continue to enjoy the unlockables they have they will have to purchase a coupon/ticket to allow them to be used. Or that going forward that all extra weapons will be available through micro transactions, you will get a default set of weapons but if you want to succeed in the game missions you will need to have access to these items for a small fee.
So is Sony leading or following M$’s strategy of monetizing the online portion of the PS3 consoles.
If they make the online multiplayer or store require a subscription im going to freak.
I’m fine with some shit, but if you take anything away from free PSN then i will be pissed.
I’m going to place my bet on Azariah’s last suggestion. A store subscription. Wasn’t there something added recently about expiration dates, leading people to believe they were going to start renting PSN games?
It would be just like Gamefly and Netflix, only for downloadable games.
Looking at the latest financials from Sony this sort of thing doesn’t surprise me. As well as the Slim is doing, it is really costing Sony a bundle. WIth the massive amount of marketshare Sony has lost this generation simply relying on software sales isn’t going to makeup enough of the huge losses the PS3 has rung up so far this generation.
I have long argued for a paid service similar to live that cost a few bucks a month. In the grand scheme of $60 games and $300(down from $600) consoles, $30 or or $40 per year for a service that trully adds to the experience is not only beneficial to Sony, but it also benefits us, their consumers, because it gives us the opportunity to build a community that is actually unique to the PS3 experience and not just a service made up of a collection of poorly implemented features strung together.
Get rid of Home, its terrible and a waste of valuable resources and refocus those resources to delivering an actual PSN community we can be proud of. I will gladly pay a few bucks a month for that.
To early to tell, but I wish a paid service welcome if it’s good and that demos and online play will continue to be free.
I’m expecting a rental service. They’ll allow you to rent PSP and downloadable PSN games. That’ll be cool.
i bet anything its probably a revamp of Qore but includes stuff like better download speeds or something. Still I wonder what Sony would offer that XBL doesn’t have.
Well I can welcome a subscription fee
I don’t care really, I love to support Sony ^^
As long as the core features of PSN remain free then I see no problem with a V.I.P. type service for those who want to pay Sony to make the PSN a better experience fro themselves.
There’s alot of premium stuff they could add like a qore subcribtion bundled with rentals and other things. This is why I love sony, they say Hey if you want the basics its free! you want to play online thats FREE! if theres more you want you can have it at a price! its up to you. Instead of being like microsoft who just says “YOU PAY ME NOW!!! ALL THE TIME FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!!! THE MONSTER NEEDS MONEY!!!!”
I’m just wondering how much and what’s new about it? I’m not rollin in the dough but it there’s some value you to it, I’ll be on it like I’ve been on Qore since the launch of it.
agree, just keep online gaming free.
If they only let me “rent” games. I will focus full time on my music and comic art. I’m not “renting” video games with expiration dates, period. I’m a collector.
as long as it’s only for things “in addition to” our current services I’m fine with it….I have a feeling this may be the way they start to introduce some of those online features everyone keeps whining about like cross-game chat and that sort of thing….either way I will not be paying unless they have something REALLY SWEET that I have never seen before. There is no service either XBox Live or PSN have right now that I would be willing to pay extra for…which is why I don’t have a 360.
a reasonable “rental” subscription service in addtion to the current ‘sale’ system would be great especially for movies, music and some of the psp games
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i have a bad feeling about this.
To everyone complaining about sony copying M$ just STFU, I don’t think sony would change what’s one of their systems main selling points(Free to play online), i’m glad this little read is here to educate some of the fools sending out ridiculous chain mail on PSN(F*ing Annoying)
Some say this is a bad thing but fail to elaborate why, I see nothing but positives with it……
Has anyone ever thought it would be cool to have, say, a chat service you can use to communicate with someone who’s on a psp while you’re playing your ps3? It’s possible with a unified network like they envision.
The possibilities are endless with what they could do, they’re practically taking a cue from apple but the clinch is that sony is in your home entertainment area already with a multimedia device(PS3) allowing them to pull in more consumers to their other products, a smart business move if you ask me.
The other point is that if they didn’t do this someone else would and i’d rather go with sony, unless of course Apple made a console but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Sony is expanding to fit the future, I think their choices are sound and intentions good. No one should worry about this, in the end Sony making more money = Us getting better stuff.
EVERYTHING WE USE FOR FREE NOW WILL REMAIN FREE SO STOP THE CHAIN MAIL!
Hell, I’d start sending them $5 a month if they’d just speed up the downloads off the PSN. Especially for firmware. Sometimes it’s okay, most times it is death.
You do realize he’s probably talking about psp rentals and MMO subscription right? How can anyone here miscontrude this. PSN has always been free so stop your worrying
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