Masayuki Chatani, Sony’s technology platform boss has told Nikkei that the company will “face difficulties†if it continues to rely on the “sell-and forget model†that they currently employ.
“Servers and the like have running costs… after we sell the hardware, though, we continue to sell products such as content and services,†he said, before continuing “In addition to single-payment packaged software, there are also schemes like monthly fees or per-item charges. I think this variety of payment methods will bring about a diverse range of playing methods, too.â€
What I hope is that he’s reiterating Kaz Hirai’s previous statements about the PSN remaining free, and that they’ll be adding more premium services – much like with Qore – to the line-up. Many people also suspect that Sony may look to charge subscriptions for any MMOs that make their way to the PS3
The PSN is coming along quite nicely for a service that’s only 3 years old – and I’m fairly certain that online play will remain free indefinitely. It is, afterall its biggest selling point against the 7 year old Live service.
Source : CVG
Last Updated: December 15, 2009
Bobby Kotick bathes in baby's blood
December 15, 2009 at 12:59
It’s bound to happen.
Microsoft has showed that consumers will pay for the “privilege” of using their servers. In fact, you can monetize anything, even profile pictures (don’t get any ideas Lazygamer).
Reaver
December 15, 2009 at 13:10
And cue raving, frothing at the mouth fanboys in 3..2..1..GO
LazySAGamer
December 15, 2009 at 14:05
Playing MP games on the PSN will always be free….
Access to the PSN however may be charged for…
RSA-Ace
December 15, 2009 at 14:05
We all know its coming. I still think its not going to have any effect on me… It’ll focus on movies, series and music.
Maybe a kind of digital game rental service using the ‘restrictions’ feature on the PS3 (when you check the information of a downloadable game there is a restriction tag which can have a end date.
So Sony will say $15 a month and you get 3 games for that much (one at a time). So when the first one expires after 10 days you get another one for ten days.