Sony’s PlayStation Network has grown a lot since its introduction many moons ago, and while the service offers a lot in the form of discounts and even free games via PS Plus, vice president of Sony Network Entertainment and head of global marketing Eric Lempel stated that it’s become hard to keep everything for free. One example is multiplayer on the PS4, which now requires PS Plus to access.
Speaking to Games Industry International, Lempel stated that, There’s a ton of value in the network. We’ve built up the network over the years and made a significant investment… and it’s quite honestly hard to keep everything [free].
“The network’s gotten so much better and it’s completely redesigned on PS4. And the investment in Plus gives the user a ton of value, so putting multiplayer in there will continue to help us build the network up for our users. It’s a massive infrastructure to run this thing, and now with some of these social features there’s a lot going on.”
“What I will say is we kept everything else free to the user. So for example, we’ve got 11 partner apps right off the bat…that are not gated at all. This is something our competition isn’t doing,”
Lemep also revealed that PSN and PS Plus have grown significantly over the years, with about 150 million registered accounts worldwide. “If you really look at the value you get from the instant game collection, especially if you have multiple consoles, it’s an unbelievable value. Right off the bat, these two games [Resogun and Contrast] we’re giving away on day one are over $30, so it’s a great deal for the user.”
The PlayStation 4 will launch on November 15th in North America and November 29th in Europe. Have you booked your own? Let us know below.