News Article

PlayStation Plus Will Play a 'Prominent Role' on PlayStation 4

Posted by Sammy Barker

Subscription service a core part of Sony's next generation system

Sony’s popular subscription service PlayStation Plus will continue to play a “pivotal role” on the PlayStation 4, according to SCEE executive Jim Ryan. Chatting with the PlayStation Blog, the suit explained that the platform holder is “very happy with the service” and that memberships have “trebled over the course of the past year”.

He continued: "We definitely see that as a core part of the way forward. We're not yet in a position to disclose our plans for the future of PlayStation Plus, but there will definitely be a prominent role to play for it in the PlayStation 4 landscape."

As CVG correctly points out, one of the rumours prior to the PS4’s announcement regarded the introduction of a new online service named PlayStation World. It hinted that many of the next generation console’s features would be locked behind a paywall, but failed to materialise during last week’s press conference.

However, in a recent interview, Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida hinted that the company may be considering different tiers of its subscription service, which would unlock more features. "We could have gold, silver or platinum levels of membership. We can do subscription services when we have more content, especially now that we have the Gaikai technology available,” he said.

We think that you should temper your expectations regarding free use of the PS4’s broadcasting features. Online play will probably remain free, but we have a feeling that you’re going to have to pay to stream your gameplay to other friends. Is that something that you’d be willing to shell out for? Let us know in the comments section below.

[via blog.eu.playstation.com, computerandvideogames.com]

More Stories

User Comments (16)

FullbringIchigo

#1

FullbringIchigo said:

as long as online game play is free and certain apps like netflix also then i'm not bothered about the rest of the things like streaming they can charge for that if they want

XCWarrior

#2

XCWarrior said:

Whether or not online play remains free remains to be seen. I expect non-PS+ people to be able to download games/DLC of course, but beyond that? Hmm, we'll see. I imagine any type of sale will be not available to non-plus people either. I hope I'm wrong. But I've noticed even on PS3, the sales for non-plus people are pretty bad compared to the Plus people. Not enough to warrant me getting the service though.

charlesnarles

#3

charlesnarles said:

Dude, I don't actually know my psn friends, they're all from Near. I don't wanna pay to not actually hang out with strangers, but maybe if I were still in high school and wanted to play multiplayer games with folks I knew at all. It's gonna be interesting to see which services get called platinum or whatecer

Squiggle55

#5

Squiggle55 said:

Even if I did know most of my PS friends, I don't see much reason to watch their gameplay. I wouldn't pay an extra cent for that feature specifically. The only thing I can think of right now that would convince me to pay more for PS+ than I already do is if it unlocked better sales and giveaways, or if it unlocked streaming to the Vita.

saifrocks100

#6

saifrocks100 said:

The only thing that should be free is sharing gameplay, playing wireless on your mobile device, and interacting with friends (Messaging,voice chat, text chat, ETC.).
this is my opinion. After this Sony will decide on what we pay for or what we do not pay for.

Jaz007

#8

Jaz007 said:

I sure hope it's free to do what they showed at the PS4 reveal, cause I ain't paying.

craigun

#11

craigun said:

You shouldn't have to pay for something like Amazon Prime, Netflix Hulu Plus or HBO Go and then have to pay again. BluRay players and TV'S don't charge a second time and neither should consoles!

nathanuc1988

#13

nathanuc1988 said:

I have about a year and some months credit for PS+ right now. Because of those $10 promo thingy, I was going to buy another year.. not really sure if I should now.

No matter what, I'll use PS+ on PS4... but I'm more concerned that if they do use a tier service, my current plan won't carry over to the top tier.

rjejr

#14

rjejr said:

MS seems to have a very successful model with Gold, Sony may as well copy it. Have you seen the new Eye? 9 out of 10 dentists cant distinguish it from a Kinect.
Nobody wants to pay, but everybody is going to. Otherwise thats a $500 system.
And im still not renewing + until the EU folk start complaining about how good the US has it.

Leave A Comment

Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...