160°

Is Sony Buying Plus Customers with New Offerings?

PlayStation Euphoria writes: "Having seen many Sony E3 press conferences in the past, I’ve seen a lot of announcements and changes that I have not been happy with. From the PS3 price point, to the first move demonstration, thankfully there have been a lot of good things to keep me satisfied with Sony. The same is true this year; despite the times that Sony disappoints me they always impress me too."

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playstationeuphoria.com
Dante1124360d ago (Edited 4360d ago )

Yeah, Sony has really been picking it up as far as PS Plus goes. Great offers, great discounts, and betas this year.

hellzsupernova4360d ago

im buying in this week
just a question i still get all of those sweet sweet offers if i sign up right now?

FunAndGun4360d ago

Yes, you will get the instant game collection (the 12 free games) and whatever else releases this month.

Whatever you download while you have the subscription will always be available to re-download in the future if your sub lapses.

ginsunuva4360d ago

Ps plus deals last for the entirety of each month

Emilio_Estevez4360d ago (Edited 4360d ago )

The Ultimate deals that people are "getting the middle" finger from have DLC included, so if you want the DLC you would have to pay regardless of what they gave you. So no one gets the finger imo. They paid, but they get more than someone who didn't, and they keep it forever.

+ Is a form of advertising as well. Give you Infamous 2, you like, now you want Fest of Blood.
Like Saints Row 2, wanna go buy 3
Like Ratchet and Clank, think about buying the next.
etc....

This works on so many levels for us as consumers and Sony as a business.

I have plus, but do not think new features should be a part of it. Everyone should have all features. Cloud saves I can understand as that has cost associated with running the servers.

@syanara - absolutely not, making it a requirement would be a terrible idea and they would never do that.

syanara4360d ago

Interesting, Do you think the constant push for Plus will mean that it will be required for PS4 or have a connection with a next gen console?

LOGICWINS4360d ago (Edited 4360d ago )

"+ Is a form of advertising as well. Give you Infamous 2, you like, now you want Fest of Blood.
Like Saints Row 2, wanna go buy 3
Like Ratchet and Clank, think about buying the next.
etc...."

Well put. It's also a way to get people to upgrade to bigger hardrives. You could just play each of those 12 "free" PS Plus games one by one, delete them off your hardrive, then download it again later if you want to play them again....but thats not necessarily convenient. I bet people have been buying new hardrives in droves this week.

Laika4360d ago

how does that help sony? they dont have a branded hdd that is required like xbox. i upgraded mine a couple years ago with a seagate. Sony didnt see any of that money.

LOGICWINS4360d ago

The more hardrive space you have, the more you tend to buy.

Christopher4360d ago (Edited 4360d ago )

LOGIC, the problem is Sony doesn't make money from people buying bigger HDDs...

So, don't really get how that's a goal of Sony.

I just think they're pushing the service the same way Microsoft continues to add new features to their XBL service. I mean, I bet Smart Glass will require an XBL Gold membership, so isn't that the same as Sony adding new, bigger, better games to their service?

Edit: We seemed to post at the same time, so in response to "the more you tend to buy" --

I think that's stretching it. I have 500 GB and I rarely buy anything off PSN because I have PS+... Furthermore, PS+ subscribers haven't shown this to be true so far nor have the big push to put more PS3 digital titles on the store. Sales have grown about in line with market share.

Soldierone4360d ago

Well you might not buy more, but I actually agree with logicwins. I had a 60GB for the longest time, hated buying games and didn't want to touch download games at all. I got a 500GB, and have been downloading and buying like mad. Now that its almost full I'm weary again.

I mean look at the Vita. I currently have a small memory card because of the prices, and I WANT to buy so many games for it. Comes down to it, none of these games will fit on the card with the current space so I pass em all up.....

hellzsupernova4360d ago

i need to upgrade my hdd :(

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4360d ago
TheFinalEpisode4360d ago

June's offerings alone where overkill

Christopher4360d ago

Tell me something: How the heck else would they get new customers if not by proving how great of offerings they have?

Is Microsoft buying new XBL customers by adding NHL, NBA, and other features?

syanara4360d ago

It's just an opinion of giving a quantity of games versus quality features. I'm not saying Sony should not give great content offerings but we should not deny that perhaps giving big features like cross game voice chat and maybe 1 very big and brand new title for free versus giving 12 old games for free would be better. Perhaps buying customers is the wrong way to put it yet it is still applicable in this situation

Christopher4360d ago (Edited 4360d ago )

They're two sides of the same coin. I don't see one worse or lesser over the other.

People who aren't interested in an old game won't get PS+. People who are will.

Honestly, the companies are approaching getting subscribers for the same purpose, extra income, but from completely different ways.

You will get a lot of people who bring up that you have access to NONE of the XBL online features unless you go with XBL, yet you don't lose access to these if you do or don't get PS+, by the way. Furthermore, you can still buy and play any of the 'free' games from PS+ without having to subscribe to it. A comparison I feel completely relevant to the topic at hand. I wanted to just touch on that.

Edit: agree for the discussion to be had.

Ducky4360d ago (Edited 4360d ago )

I'm happier with what they're doing now. I don't think it is ever wise to complain about a company 'trying too hard' to appeal to you.

The games that they did give out for free (or rather, rent out for free) aren't really that old. Infamous2, LPB2, All4One, SpaceMarine and MotorstormApocalypse were all recent games (i.e. 2011). The older games like SaintsRow2 and JustCause2 are also pretty good in their own rights.

If they just pick 1 very big new title, then not everyone would like it. (...and not many publishers would agree with it either)

As for features, not really sure what they could possibly add that would be worth sacrificing those games. Cross-Game chat isn't possible because of memory constraints, and the big pain of updates is already remedied by PS+'s auto-updater.

The only feature that I'd want is the ability to pre-download patches (ex. Suppose I don't own a certain game, but want to download all the patches so that I don't have to wait around when I do buy the game) and maybe install games from disc provided I own a digital version (ex. I have bought both a physical copy of RDR and a digital copy, and instead of downloading the digital version, I just want to install it from the disc)
Still, they aren't a big deal and I'd rather just enjoy me some games rather then have those features.

Sharingan_no_Kakashi4360d ago

DL'd Ratchet and clank, Lara Croft and Sideway (which is surprisingly fun.) Great content. Cant wait to see what's next.

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150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos19d ago (Edited 19d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers19d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken19d ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g19d ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing19d ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H919d ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola19d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66919d ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle19d ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg20d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos20d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola19d ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

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techraptor.net
ChasterMies40d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken40d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga40d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken40d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6440d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long39d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197239d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic39d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 39d ago
DivineHand12540d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91340d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer40d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit40d ago (Edited 40d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91339d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit39d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 39d ago
Christopher40d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6939d ago (Edited 39d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit39d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal40d ago (Edited 40d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher40d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken40d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197239d ago (Edited 39d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic39d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2340d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218340d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit39d ago (Edited 39d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder40d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts40d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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