Do you think online-fees to play games online are justified on consoles?

[Chairmanchuck (另一个我)]

I can just say from how I grew up as someone who played on PC and consoles up to around a decade ago, that I always thought those were scams, especially since a lot of the traffic isnt even hosted by the console manufacturer, but is simple P2P and at most they might just use an API or something similar for that.
On mobile and PC its free and apparently companies dont go under.

I never understood why manufacturers due it other than mostly "greed" or at least an additional revenue stream without actually doing much. And it seems its working.

 

[nsilvias]

unless they actually use console maker owned servers nope. paying a troll toll is a waste of money

 

[Dinoegg_96]

No

 

[ClamBuster]

not anymore

back in the original days, fair enough… infrastructure and all that

but now, with record revenues, 70 dollar games, console price 'increases'… nah… no fucking way

pure greed

 

[Sphinx]

It's part of the subscription package nowadays.

it could be free, and was free in the past but Console makers have to make the subscription attractive so they dump the online gaming in there. It is what it is.

 

[giapel]

The argument for infrastructure costs was already weak but since free to play games don't need a sub it has completely collapsed.
Companies know that gamers know it's a scam. That's why we're at the "added value" era. Everybody's at it trying to lock us in subs. Free games and discounts, exclusive perks etc… Netflix is throwing in games with their sub. Amazon bundles, Prime delivery with TV and free photo storage…
But multiplayer games are popular so that's an easy win for them.

 

[Linus815]

No and it never was. Console makers get a cut from every game sold lol.

 

[Zaimokuza]

They are a scam, an abuse of the dominant position of the console manufacturers, to be more precise

 

[mujun]

No and it fucking sucks.

SF6 for example, pay for internet access, buy game, pay for extra characters and pay to play online on PSN. How much money do they want from you?!?

 

[Gelf]

The surprising aspect to me is that third parties never really complained about it. It's a barrier to people playing thier games and they don't get anything from people paying the platform holder to use servers that in many cases said company isn't even running.

 

[pochi]

Paying for online multiplayer is capital SCAM.
PS4 was my first console and paying for PS+ is wack.

 

[Greywaren]

It's always been a scam.

 

[oni-link]

No

Next question

 

[unicornKnight]

Only for Nintendo where the price is normal.

 

[DontHateTheBacon]

Not really, no. There's just no choice.

 

[dose]

Nope, especially when servers for games are shut down, sometimes far far too early (looking at you Sony).

 

[St. Eam the 3rd]

Only the NSO base seems justified imo(and not for the online part)

 

[Red Liquorice]

No and that's why I don't pay. It also helps that I don't care about multiplayer and not interested in the rental services tied up with it all, so it's an easy thing for me to pass on.

 

[mightyrat]

No, I've missed out on games I wanted to play due to this (recently Helldivers 2). I'm not paying hundreds every year to play a few games that need it.

 

[.exe]

I don't know what the added value is that you're paying for. Is there any? Aside from the extras like game rentals.
Since F2P games can be played online without a sub, the policy also incentivizes that model :v

 

[BK0X]

No, it's one of the two main reasons I switched to being a PC main.

 

[Sword Familiar]

Since companies like Sony turn online off for less popular games, sometimes within a year of their release, I don't really see the point.

 

[Princess Viola]

Nope.

Unfortunately for me I play online often enough that I'd be annoyed if I wasn't subscribed, but also the only console I have is a Switch so I'm only paying a sub for one system.

 

[medyej]

Hell no. Especially when they are either using P2P matchmaking or servers provided by the game publishers anyway.

 

[Jon God]

I am mixed. I prefer it to so many games using their own sign ups, and not having cross game invites/etc, which comes along with the console experience, but it costs too damn much for that. Like give me just the net play for like like $30-$40 a year, and I'd be fine with paying a premium to have the experience I currently have, it's just the raising costs suck so much.

 

[Giga Man]

Nope. 100% a scam. All of them.

 

[hyjonx]

No they never will be

 

[Tanaka]

Lofuckingl. No. Total scam that Microsoft only got away with introducing because people didn't know any better.

 

[Deluxera]

It's probably the biggest scam on consoles right now. It profits absolutely no one except the platform holder.

 

[Santar]

No.

 

[Kanito8a]

NO

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

No and it fucking sucks.

SF6 for example, pay for internet access, buy game, pay for extra characters and pay to play online on PSN. How much money do they want from you?!?

Click to shrink...

And you'll need a game console, an electric bill, and you have to pay rent, too! :P

But fr idk if you could blame the platform holder or Capcom for having to pay your internet bill haha.

 

[SolarLune]

I think online fees make sense, yeah. It costs money to host storefronts for games, provide online matchmaking, cloud saves, account authentication, messaging and voice-chat, parties, game streaming (both gameplay through the cloud and sharing your screen to show your friends things), etc. Shouldn't cost $100 a year or whatever - that's high, but I do think it's reasonable to ask for some nominal fee to play games online.

Valve's just relatively consumer-friendly and does most of that for free on Steam for PC gaming.

 

[Phoenom]

Nope. It's why out of the three main machines I own I only have Nintendo online, because if I have to pay for it then it'll be at the cheapest price humanly possible.

 

[Soj]

Nope. Complete bullshit and always has been.

 

[KamenSenshi]

Nope never have and even less so now.

 

[Bede-x]

Not even a little. When they're woven into a service like Game Pass Ultimate, I notice it less, because they were selling the service for next to nothing with the Gold to Ultimate conversion, but once that runs out for me, it's gonna be yet another little thing keeping me on PC.

 

[SnakeEater]

No, they're not. Never were and never will be.

 

[SixelAlexiS]

Nope, and it's insane how many people justified back than talking about "the servers", when those are put in place by third parties and yes, console manufacturer takes the 30% and even the profit from people wanting to play those third party games online, it's like a videogames pizzo.

 

[Bunty Hoven]

I'm still mad at that E3 when Sony announced they were jumping on this bandwagon and everyone was too busy celebrating them dunking on Microsoft for the Xbox One second hand games debacle to muster a word of criticism. After that point it wasn't going away.

FTP games broke whatever justification there was. At least Nintendo's is dirt cheap.

 

[JimLink]

Of course not

 

[Kwigo]

Nope
At least Nintendo has a family plan, AFAIK you'd have to pay for any person in your household when you're on PS5/Xbox

 

[Gravemind IV]

Can't say I was particularly thrilled to fork over for PS-plus so I could play Helldivers. Rest of my online MP games are generally on Xbox.

 

[Siri]

Early on, it made some sense - PCs were stuck to servers and third party software like GameSpy to find them, so the idea that consoles needed some infrastructure to perform matchmaking tasks and whatnot made sense for paying a fee.

Then it all shifted to peer-to-peer, and the value just disintegrated. I don't think I'd ever just pay for online access - it's either a game library subscription, or I'm playing on PC.

 

[Nerun]

Nope, one of the reasons why I mostly play multiplayer stuff on PC (aside from Teamspeak/Discord and such), not interested in paying a monthly fee to play online on consoles. I used PS+ and Xbox Live in the past, don't get me wrong, but only because there wasn't an alternative.

 

[Celestial Descend]

It's a scam that I'm glad I'm not subjected to anymore.

 

[AdamKoy]

Just wanted to add my NO.

 

[Kill3r7]

Justified? Probably not. However, it's not like these companies are going to drop basically a billion+ revenue stream. So if you like MP games you don't have much of a choice.

 

[Blue_Toad507]

If Steam can offer it for free, there's no reason any of the console providers can't offer it for free. Cancelled my PS Plus subscription because I was sick of the price hikes when all I wanted was online access.

 

[sderttreds]

no, they are already take 30% from publisher