When Sony was asked why they decided to start charge for online gameplay, they explained that online new and existing features and services are going to be a “big pillar” of the “PS4 experience”:
“We’ve already talked about the share button, sharing features, second screens…if we continue to invest into online infrastructures, that costs money. If we continue free service for online multiplayer, from a business standpoint, there’s pressure to recover costs. That’s when we decided ‘let’s ask the people who are most active in playing online to share some of the cost so we can invest more. $399 is the price point we always wanted to hit. We carefully looked at the potential of the technology we put in the PlayStation 4. We believe that when PS4 comes out it will be the most powerful system inside.”
Sony also mention that some F2P games will not require PlayStation Plus as well. Being honest, this is quite fair, the PlayStation 3 offered a free online service for over 7 years now and the PlayStation Plus programme is very good value for money so you really do get much more then what you will be paying for. However, this will only hold true is Sony can keep up the good work with the network, but after E3 I believe this is something they can do.
What do you think about Sony now charging for online play? Do you think their reasoning is acceptable? Let us know in the comments below and discuss the PlayStation 4 in our forums!