The president of Sony Computer Entertainment today clarified the company’s recent mentions of a subscription for Playstation Network, allaying some fears that the service may no longer be free.
At an investor conference today, one of the slides Sony presented listed components of Playstation Network, most of it content we already experience except the last one down. “New revenue stream from subscription,” the slide said.
This immediately ignited fears that playing games on Playstation Network would not remain free forever. SCE president Kaz Hirai later however, further clarified the meaning of “subscription,” and it mainly pertained to premium content and services, not the simple playing of games online.
“SCE will further increase sales by offering users new entertainment through the combination of hardware, software, peripheral and PlayStation Network,” Hirai said. “We are studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services.”
The fact that all Playstation Network’s features are free while the service’s functionality catches up to that of Xbox Live’s Gold subscription has been a de-facto rallying point for PS3 proponents.
Currently the closest thing to subscriptions that exist for Playstation Network are video content like its weekly show Qore or the seasons of TV shows available. This could also refer to upcoming specific online games for the PS3 like Final Fantasy
