PS "exclusive" Helldivers II will require PS Plus Membership (online paywall) while releasing on PC Day & Date, with online play being free!

[KnittedKnight]

There it's. Fuck Sony. That's all.

Welcome PS owners to being a second class citizen... subsidizing other platforms with your money. Gives an all new meaning to sheep. If there was any doubt as to how the GAAS push with multiplayer titles would shape out policy wise when it comes to online play... well, look no further. Your questions are already answered.

Sony can and will get away with this double-standard behavior as long as you don't vote with your wallet. And since we all know the PlayStation install base is scattered and mostly made of sheeple it's par for the course. The execs at the top are definitely counting on that. Of course it won't fool some of us in the hardcore PS community... but then again, what power do we wield? It's all about leverage. Loyalty is for fools.

Looks like the PC version is the way to go. Spread the word.

Value analysis:

$80 (yearly sub) + $40 (title cost) for PlayStation Users vs. $40 (title cost) at best for PC users. No exclusivity window (1 year, 2 year) to compensate as a cope mechanism. Day and Date simultaneous release with PC.

All the AAA "exclusives" that Sony has released on PC prior to today did not have an online component where this issue became apparent. Uncharted and TLOU had their MP stripped for their PC releases. Destiny 2 base is F2P etc.

Helldivers II is the flagship rollout of the middle finger. More to come.

Message should be clear: End to the online paywall.

An edit to the OP to address the Top Low IQ comment I'm seeing being thrown around. The line of thinking behind the question goes something like this:

Question: What's the difference between a third party published title, say ABK's Call of Duty yearly releases and this title, Helldivers II? No problem here?

Answer: Well thank you for not using your neurons. The simple answer is the Publisher in question. Sony is a publisher but also a platform holder and ABK is not a platform holder, just a publisher. The breakdown...

ABK as a third party publisher has no say on on the platform policies of platform holders (MS, Nintendo, Sony, PC (various)). Since ABK is not the owner of PlayStation (Sony is) then ABK is not the company that decides whether online play should be pay-walled with the PlayStation Plus subscription service. When ABK publishes a video game for various platforms, in this case say Call of Duty Infinite Warfare on say Xbox, PC, and PlayStation; ABK is not responsible for balancing platform specific value proposition models that online paywalls represent. It's not ABK's responsibility to level the field and be "fair" by drastically adjusting the pricing of their games to account for the extra cost of an online paywall. ABK is being fair to its consumers on all platforms when they release and charge for Call of Duty Infinite Warfare with uniform pricing - say $70 across all platforms. It's up to individual consumers to judge whether they are willing to put up with the extra entry fee - the online paywalls - in the platforms they chose to buy into and consume Call of Duty at - Xbox, PlayStation or PC.

Sony is different. Sony as the platform owner of PlayStation does decide platform policy, unlike ABK, and decides whether or not there should be an extra entry fee, a online paywall in this case, in the form of PlayStation Plus on PlayStation. When Sony releases Helldivers II as a multi-platform title (PS + PC), with a multiplayer component that requires the PS Plus subscription to play (the paywall) on PlayStation; Sony is making a clear choice to penalize their loyal consumers in the PlayStation ecosystem. Sony is penalizing those in the PlayStation ecosystem financially by making them incur an extra financial burden in order to play and access Helldivers II on PlayStation. On PC Sony is only charging consumers the cost of the game, with no online paywall to speak off because Sony does not have control of the PC platform to impose the extra cost.

Thus the clear conclusion: Sony is extorting those in their captive PlayStation ecosystem more than those who are outside of it - hence being an unequal treatment of their customers, and unfair. ABK, while being a third party publisher just like Sony, is not engaged in the same practice and treatment of its consumers. With Helldivers II, in 2024, Sony has officially created a two-tiered system of treatment of its consumers - by nature, unequal, placed an extra financial burden on their most loyal AND profitable customer base - PlayStation customers

Third Party Publisher that is not a Platform Holder: Ubisoft, EA, ABK etc.

Title cost: $70 (Game Type: SP Only, MP Only, SP and MP)

Title cost: $0 (Game Type: F2P whatever)

Platforms: PS, Xbox, and PC.

= Equal treatment of customers by Third party Publisher.

Third Party Publisher that are also Platform Holders: Sony and Microsoft.

Title cost: $70 (Game Type: SP Only)

Platforms: PlayStation and PC.

= Equal treatment of consumers by Third party Publisher.

Title cost: $70 (Game Type: SP and MP, or MP only)

Platforms: PlayStation and PC.

= Unequal treatment of consumers by Publisher. PlayStation consumers need to pay an extra $80 dollar fee to play the game online. A two-tiered system.

Title cost: $0 (Game type: F2P whatever)

Platforms: PS and PC

= Equal treatment of consumers by Publisher. Paywall does not apply to any form of F2P games.

 

[shrike0fth0rns]

There it's. Fuck Sony. That's all.

Welcome PS owners to being a second class citizen... subsidizing other platforms with your money. Gives an all new meaning to sheep. If there was any doubt as to how the GAAS push and exclusives would shape out policy wise with regards to online play... look no further. Your questions are already answered.

Sony can and will get away with it as long as you don't vote with your wallet. And since we all know the PS userbase is scattered and mostly made of sheeple it's par for the course. They're definitely counting on that. Of course it won't fool some of us in the hardcore PS community... but then again, what power do we wield? It's all about leverage.

Looks like the PC version is the way to go.

PS gamers won’t be the ones waiting a couple years to play Spider-Man 2. Not sure what u are talking about but I feel like ps has always treated me like a king from when I got my first ps in 1995 and I am still treated like a king today.

 

[JAHGamer]

There it's. Fuck Sony. That's all.

Welcome PS owners to being a second class citizen... subsidizing other platforms with your money. Gives an all new meaning to sheep. If there was any doubt as to how the GAAS push and exclusives would shape out policy wise with regards to online play... look no further. Your questions are already answered.

Sony can and will get away with it as long as you don't vote with your wallet. And since we all know the PS userbase is scattered and mostly made of sheeple it's par for the course. They're definitely counting on that. Of course it won't fool some of us in the hardcore PS community... but then again, what power do we wield? It's all about leverage.

Loyalty is for fools.

Looks like the PC version is the way to go.

Yep, disappointing but not surprising, so called "PlayStation fans" will try to defend or downplay this. Either way I'm not supporting this trash. Sony can eat a

 

[KnittedKnight]

Not sure what u are talking about

Thread title is Helldivers II, and online play behind a paywall while free for PC. If you're not sure what I'm talking about then go to your eye doctor for glasses or contact lenses - you clearly need it. But I digress... cause why the rush to damage control for daddy Sony while virtue signaling loyalty like a total corporate slave?

I'm starting to think it's not just Microsoft on the online astroturf business. Folks be putting up quite the performance. No self awareness to how embarrassing it looks is the telltale.

The takes after getting fucked raw from the village idiots:

More! more! please... while crying behind mask... the meme
or
It's all fine. Nothing to see here... the meme!
or
Doesn't look like anything to me.... the meme!
or
Don't care, still feel great cause x,y,z....

First step to recovery is to shut up. Second step is to admit it's BS and wrong, even if you're still taking it from behind and dealing with it cause you love the ecosystem. Third step is to break the chains, whenever the opportunity arises, and they will... (vote with your wallet, hedge with other platforms, leave the platform when a viable alternative arises etc). The last thing you should do and be is a proud corporate slave or pom pom cheerleader with 0 self awareness of the fact.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Many paid multiplayer games release on PC Day 1 and they're all under PS+ or Xbox Live on consoles (literally all of them).

Do you expect them to make an exception for Helldivers 2 only?

 

[Vertigo]

Why would they remove paywall for this game? Why does this enrage you now when it’s been like this for like a decade.

 

[Danja1187]

This isn't really a problem though? They have no control over charging on PC, let's be realistic here. If they could best Believe they would

 

[anonpuffs]

Looks like I'll be picking this up on pc if I get around to it. That release window is extremely rough, with FF7 and Granblue Fantasy launching quite close

 

[Say1nMan]

More like "Thanks, Microsoft" to be frank. This ain't new. Console gamers have been sacrificial lambs to pay for online since Xbox Live. Sony saw the dump truck that MS was getting and jump on that with PS Plus. Online MP should be free. Microsoft and Sony don't fucking own our internet that we're using. Makes no fucking sense.

 

[KnittedKnight]

Why would they remove paywall for this game? Why does this enrage you now when it’s been like this for like a decade.

First, making it about me, the OP and not the issue itself is a misdirection trying to focus on attacking the OP and not the practice at hand. It's silly stuff.

But I'll make it clear, as I did with another poster who embarked on the same line of attack and reasoning before.

With me, in particular, there is no such thing as the "now". My beef with online paywall has been forever, and documented whereever I partake in discussions. And it will continue to be so whenever I feel like it. So coming after the OP with such questioning is idiotic, and will get you nowhere, specially if the intention is to suggest "something"... i.e selective myopia, inconsistency or whatever it's.

Second, the answer is clear as to why in this particular instance, the insult to injury is even greater than before.... it's a Sony exclusive, Sony funded title. Sony is not just any third party publisher, it's a platform owner - and there is a difference, even the name is different if you can't tell. When Sony decides to become a third party publisher, the question becomes whether it's fair policy to provide less value to consumers in the platform you own and fully control, to those who have been "loyal" to your platform and "built you" OR provide more value to another set of consumers in a different platform where you're just a participant and one of many.

In this case, in a value analysis, Sony is providing more value for dollar spent to PC consumers than to PlayStation consumers.

PS owners will have to pay $80 + $70 to play Helldivers II. On PC it will be just $70 at best. The exclusivity windows (1 year, 2 year), aka early access, which is often used as a cope mechanism to compensate the value question is no longer there with DAY AND DATE Multiplayer, non-F2P "exclusives" - it's gone.

All the AAA "exclusives" prior to Helldivers II that Sony released on PC did not have an online component where this issue became apparent. Uncharted and TLOU had their Multiplayer stripped for their PC releases. Destiny 2 base is Free to Play. Hence the relevance of Helldivers II as the flapship rollout of the middle finger.

The obvious ideal solution is no online paywall for the PlayStation ecosystem. Failing that, F2P title release or no PC release at all (as it was before).

Not to mention as well that Sony will be paying a royalty cut to Steam/Epic Games Store here and ensuring PC consumers stay loyal to that ecosystem, or encouraging dual platform owners, PS - PC to buy on PC, or Xbox/Nintendo Switch owners to go PC. This is partly why, amongst other things, the Xbox ecosystem is a dying ecosystem (but MS is also the owner of Windows, and PC's main stakeholder - the catch). Of course Sony, enjoying console market leadership thinks they're different and immune, specially with a moribund competitor like MS's Xbox who decided not to compete along these lines. Particular assumptions about the state of relative competition between consoles and PC also make the calculus easier for Sony. Sony has to thank Nvidia for continuing with their extortion pricing of PC video cards (hauling AMD along), ensuring the cost of enthusiast PC's stays significantly higher compared to consoles. All is "fine" until one day those assumptions change by changes in market reality aka judgement day. When and if that day comes, having the cake and eating it too will backfire....the result will be a brand with diluted and weak differentiation.... until then they'll ride the train for short term $$$$. This runs counter to well established business philosophies out there... heard of loyalty programs? i.e "consumer should get more value and rewarded by going to the source than shopping through intermediaries" - hence "loyalty". But all of this is more of a business analysis, than a consumer facing value analysis anyway. The new suits have clearly concluded all of that is yesteryear orthodoxy and in the way of making a buck. The opinion of their current leadership obviously, not gospel, not in the least.

 

[Entropi]

Is this game free to play and behind PS plus? Or is it like every other online game released on Playstation over the last decade?

 

[KnittedKnight]

^^^^
Behind PlayStation Plus Online Paywall = Traditional retail title. If it were Free to Play it wouldn't have that disclaimer. It will be a traditionally priced title of old.

Sony is risk adverse to F2P clearly. Impending DOA consumer mood made Sony change course on Destruction All Stars only to breed even greater consumer distrust (not an organic move, but a response - a redflag that says lack of confidence). This here is another example where they want instant upfront return. Nothing wrong with that but the addressable market on PS5 will be a fraction of the 47 million PS Plus subscribers. Since it's PS5 only, much less, perhaps a third of that 47 million. Chimps in a suit.

You would think they bought Bungie for some advice as they claim. When Destiny 2 was on the ropes, F2P saved it by expanding the market of people willing to at least give it a try. That move had a community critical mass effect for hype and engagement, with Bungie capitalizing on that by delivering quality content thereafter.

The reason all types of GAAS become very successful on PC, and releasing on PC becomes an imperative, beyond the Twitch/Youtube streamer influencing niche that boosts a title's visibility, is the fact that no matter what, a developer with a PC release is addressing the whole of the PC market (min.specs and up) ....whether a traditional MP title at $60/$70 or F2P release. On consoles, traditional Multiplayer ONLY releases are handicapped to PS Plus or Gamepass Core (formerly Xbox Live) subscription base. In the case of PS5, it's a fraction of the total of PS Plus subscribers. Same for Series S/X.

These Sony suits (Kenichiro Yoshida, Jim Ryan, Hermen Hults) may appear smart, well dressed and polite but they're losing the long game.

A call back to "This man may look smart but in fact is stupid." Deng Xiaoping on Gorbachev after their meeting.

Perhaps Jim/Hermen know and just don't care anyway....pretty sure Sony's new CEO, aka the accountant does not. At any rate it appears as if Jim/Hermen are passing the buck and experimenting as long as it doesn't blow up in their face while in the rotating chair. Short term returns will be positive which is all they need for the next 4 yrs. Beyond that it's someone else's problem - becoming the problem of the new leadership.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Many paid multiplayer games release on PC Day 1 and they're all under PS+ or Xbox Live on consoles (literally all of them).

Do you expect them to make an exception for Helldivers 2 only?

It's not that it's coming to PC Day 1 with free multiplayer. It's that it's coming to PC Day 1 with free multiplier while PS+ is getting a 33% increase on PlayStation consoles. And you need at least Essentials to play this game, so now you're paying an extra $20.

No additional value-add, but pay more. That's the message to PlayStation console owners. I think it's a bit crazy how quickly Sony are adopting some of Microsoft's worst tendencies when it comes to treating the console buyers like second-class citizens in the ecosystem console buyers helped make big in the first place.

 

[Cool hand luke]

I don't get it, sorry. What's different between this and other games with PC and PS cross play?

 

[Ludwig]

I don't get it, sorry. What's different between this and other games with PC and PS cross play?

You have to pay 10 dollars per month or 80 dollars annual fee on PS for online play. On PC online is free.

 

[Cool hand luke]

You have to pay 10 dollars per month or 80 dollars annual fee on PS for online play. On PC online is free.

Not the difference between multiplayer gaming on each platform, the difference between this game and, say, COD MP (not warzone)?

 

[Gods&Monsters]

It's not that it's coming to PC Day 1 with free multiplayer. It's that it's coming to PC Day 1 with free multiplier while PS+ is getting a 33% increase on PlayStation consoles. And you need at least Essentials to play this game, so now you're paying an extra $20.

No additional value-add, but pay more. That's the message to PlayStation console owners. I think it's a bit crazy how quickly Sony are adopting some of Microsoft's worst tendencies when it comes to treating the console buyers like second-class citizens in the ecosystem console buyers helped make big in the first place.

You have to pay 10 dollars per month or 80 dollars annual fee on PS for online play. On PC online is free.

I know but that's true for COD MW3, NBA, FIFA, Madden, SF6 and literally every game.

So you guys don't buy anything on console or just Helldivers 2 specifically?

 

[CloudStrife]

I know but that's true for COD MW3, NBA, FIFA, Madden, SF6 and literally every game.

So you guys don't buy anything on console or just Helldivers 2 specifically?

This. I mean I understand the complaints. They are legitimate. I'm just not sure why it seems like everyone just found out...lol

 

[Ludwig]

Not the difference between multiplayer gaming on each platform, the difference between this game and, say, COD MP (not warzone)?

So you guys don't buy anything on console or just Helldivers 2 specifically?

Then there is no difference between the two then.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

This. I mean I understand the complaints. They are legitimate. I'm just not sure why it seems like everyone just found out...lol

I would think it's the latest FUD for a Sony exclusive but it's not coming from xbots so I'm not sure what's going on?

Yes you have to pay to play online on consoles. For Helldivers and for everything else. Even Smash on Switch.