Sony Online Discusses Subscription Model Changes

Over the New Year’s holiday, Sony Online Entertainment announced some changes for its game subscribers: starting on February 3, subscribers will receive one free item (of their choice) valued at 2000 Station Cash or less per month, instead of the regular monthly 500 SC stipend.

This stirred up more than a little confusion and discussion with SOE regulars, so today, John Smedley hit Reddit with an impactful statement that not only explained the rationale of this change, but also hinted at the possibility of a network-wide subscription model.

Smedley explained that the goal of the change allows players to pick up larger items on the marketplace, reduce SC accruals, and reduce the disparity between PC titles and console titles (the latter of which can’t use Station Cash).

Smedley went on to sum up the cross-title subscription plan thusly:

We are considering (and are likely going to move forward with) a plan that means if you subscribe to one of our games you are a subscriber to all our games (this applies to PC titles only btw).. all for the current $14.99 a month. That’s a benefit most companies simply can’t offer because they don’t have our portfolio of games. The goal would be to let you pick an item in each game you play. Some of you might say “well who cares..I only play Planetside 2. How is that a benefit to me?” My answer is simple – we’ve got a great lineup of games, some of which aren’t announced yet that cater to a lot of players. We have EQN and EQNL coming along with other….. games… that PS2 players might just like :)

Read more of what Smedley has said on Reddit, including the possibility of changes to boosts, Player Studio items, and more!