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

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Fair or Unfair? Should the online PayWall die?


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    38

Hezekiah

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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?
Yeah I mean hate paid online, but this isn't a surprise. One of the reasons I like having a good PC around.
 
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Old Gamer

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who cares its GAAS garbage anyway. Also i agree that free to play online games should be free on consoles without membership. Xbox made that change like a year ago. Sony should do the same.
This is false, as @Gods&Monsters pointed out.
Xbox made that change after the backlash because Sony had it free for a decade. Idiot.

I never said it didnt... i know sony had online free for the ps3. Also this game aint free to play like i thought. You have to pay for it. So i don't why the op is complaining. He made it seem like its a free to play game on pc, while on the ps5 you have to pay for membership to play. But thats not the case. IDK why this guy is complaining
No, they are not talking about PS3. Sony has always kept f2p games free for online play, even when they turned ps+ into an online paywall.
 

Vertigo

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26 Jun 2022
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Once again, did you guys just start playing games online? This has been a thing for over a decade.

It’s worse that f2p games have a playerbase advantage by ditching the paywall because they’re called Fortnite and Warzone and keep themselves dominant … partly in thanks to Sony.

Online paywalls have been a requirement on consoles since they first had the functionality. They’re not gonna ditch this system just because they’re porting to pc.
 

Old Gamer

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It's not about that. It's about this being the fact since 2013 and it's an issue all of a sudden? it feels like complaining for the sake of complaining.
I've always complained about this and refused to pay since then.
 

riesgoyfortuna

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4 Jul 2022
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who cares its GAAS garbage anyway. Also i agree that free to play online games should be free on consoles without membership. Xbox made that change like a year ago. Sony should do the same.
sony did the f2p games free online years and i mean years before ms did,even a shitead like you know that,its sea of thieves online free?
 

Vertigo

Did you show the Darkness what Light can do?
26 Jun 2022
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its a f2p? no so why this FUCKING STUPID thread exists? gtfo with this dumbass hot takes cuco

Free to play shouldn’t even bypass the paywall on consoles. Whether the paywall should exist at all on consoles is another side of the debate tho. With the price increase it’s way too late to backpedal on that it seems.

The convenience and shared living space setup of console in general will always keep me away from pc and since I love my online features and games I have no choice but to subscribe. It is what it is and it’s been this way for ages.

from Destiny to Street Fighter to Monster Hunter etc…. I can’t live without online gaming tbh and all of them require the paywall
 
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Systemshock2023

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Sonys Gaas are doomed to fail if they are not F2P. Too many paywalls to grow an audience. They need both console and PC players to succeed.

Even destiny base game is F2P.
 

Shmunter

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22 Jul 2022
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Standard console approach now in place for over a decade. Nothing to see here.

Complaints about paid online play on console is a seperate and broader topic to discuss. Thread should be closed.

1ST party exists to draw customerS to not only the platform, but also console offerings such as a sub. 1st party should not disadvantage 3rd with rules for thee but not for me.
 
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flaccidsnake

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Consoles are a walled garden for people who just want to game and don't care to fuss with tech. Steam gaming is for people who put in a little extra effort for a better or more specific experience. It makes sense that Playstation games should cater to both audiences.
 
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It's not about that. It's about this being the fact since 2013 and it's an issue all of a sudden? it feels like complaining for the sake of complaining.

Sony wasn't releasing games Day and Date on PC in 2013. They at least had the goodwill of PS4's E3 showing (and XBO's failing presentation) to make the change of paying for PS+ back then a moot point.

You guys have got to start paying attention to actual context, because that is always the distinguishing factor.
 
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flaccidsnake

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Sony wasn't releasing games Day and Date on PC in 2013. They at least had the goodwill of PS4's E3 showing (and XBO's failing presentation) to make the change of paying for PS+ back then a moot point.

You guys have got to start paying attention to actual context, because that is always the distinguishing factor.

The context you're offering is Sony having "goodwill of PS4's E3 showing", something maybe 0.5% of the PS audience is aware of and certainly irrelevant to PS' online policy.
 
OP
OP
D

Deleted member 223

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I see another Low IQ hanging fruit still not getting through the skulls of some.

"It's been like this since 2013".

Yes and No.

Since 2013 the online paywall has existed on PlayStation, but none of the third party publishers releasing games on PlayStation affected by the online paywall are responsible for setting the online paywall - hence third party publishers have treated their consumers on all platforms equally from that standpoint, from 2013 - 2023 (today).

The online paywall debate for the PS ecosystem prior to today is whether it should exist or not based on several other types of argumentation.

What has changed from 2013 to today is that SONY, not any other third party publisher with no control over the paywall, but SONY itself has decided to treat consumers of its published games in a two tiered system. From this day forward, PlayStation owners pay $80 + $70 = $150 for access to Sony's traditional multiplayer games, while consumers of the same Sony published title on PC pay $70. Sony is the company engaged in unequal treatment of consumers, not other third party publishers. Before Helldivers II there was no clear cut instance of Sony treating its consumers in a two-tiered system. That is, the online paywall existed on PlayStation but all of Sony's consumers in the PlayStation ecosystem were treated equally with the paywall by Sony. With Sony becoming a third party publisher, specifically of traditional Multiplayer Games, that is no longer the case, there is no uniformity of treatment by Sony for ALL of its customers. PlayStation costumers are getting the short end of the stick and PC costumers are not. The difference is Sony's expansion of its consumer base from just PlayStation but also PC.

That is to say, you can bash Sony with sound reason today, whereas before, Sony could excuse itself behind mountains of bullshit to justify the online paywall - as shaky as those grounds are. There is nowhere to hide today under any argumentation. It's clear cut unequal treatment.

This also applies to MS and Xbox with Xbox Live Gold (Gamepass Core now). I belief Xbox's drop off point was when they released Gears 4 on Xbox and PC in 2016 (which happens to have a traditional MP component). So for Sony it's 2013 - Feb 2024. For Microsoft, it was from 2002 to 2016 I believe. It's MS and Xbox - the shitstains of gaming that obviously serve as inspiration for all of it. Unfortunately the Xbox fanbase is toothless and fightless. I think it's becoming clear that the PS fanbase is also toothless and fightless despite all the hollering about being "different".
 
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