Stop Paying for Online Multiplayer

Inflation has been getting worse these last few years. Things ain’t cheap these days and they certainly ain’t getting cheaper. It makes managing money an even more stressful task than it already was.

Luckily, video games are still around to help relieve the stress. Had a bad day at work? Boot up Call of Duty, get your friends on a voice call, and vent it all out as you fight through hordes of the undead. A simple solution, perhaps, but an effective one.

Unless you happen to play on console. Then said solution becomes part of the problem.

Since the dawn of online play for video game consoles back in the early 2000s, companies have charged a subscription fee for the service. At first it was just Microsoft with Xbox Live. Then come the PS4 and Sony hops on the train, charging for Playstation Plus, which was free on the PS3. Finally, with the Switch, even Nintendo has joined the bandwagon.

To hilariously inept effect. Sorry to the big N, but twenty bucks a year for an online service that doesn’t work is twenty bucks too much. Don’t even get me started on their other pricing plan. That’s another rant for when I want to get this whole website burned by a DMCA.

I hope I shouldn’t have to explain why this is scummy. You’ve already bought the console. You’ve already bought the game. Now you need to fork over even more money so you can play with your pals. You’re being nickeled and dimed for every penny and quarter.

It’s especially annoying considering that such fees don’t exist on PC. No one needs to pay Valve an additional fee for online multiplayer through Steam. You buy the game, you go online, and you can play with your friends. No additional charges required.

“Bold words from an MMO player,” I hear you snickering to yourself in an effort to justify all you’ve spent on Xbox Live Marketplace Points back in 2009.

To that, good nonexistent person, I ask this: how have you so thoroughly missed the point? MMOs are an expensive genre; subscription fees are often necessary to keep them running. It’s the only genre with that requirement! Every other game, from FPS hits to indie co-op gems, can be played completely for free.

(Also you can play Final Fantasy XIV on PlayStation without PS Plus, so…)

Now, console services like these aren’t inherently bad. So long as other benefits are added beyond just online multiplayer. PS Plus, for example, sweetens the pot by offering free games every month.

Which was a good deal… back when the games were actually good. Most of the time, they’re not. Just look at the lineup for September 2023. Black Desert Online, Generation Zero (which I’ve never heard of, maybe it’s good) and… the Saint’s Row reboot. Gee golly mister, shut up and take my money!

Friendly reminder that Sony announced that they’re raising the price for PS Plus. And they’re offering you… that.

Let’s look at Nintendo for another example. For sixty US dollars a year, you get access to their emulators for select N64 games, Genesis games, or GBA games. Such as Ocarina of Time, one of the most beloved games of all time. Which runs/looks worse on the Switch than it did on original hardware.

Sixty. Dollars. Every. Year.

Friendly reminder that emulation is a) free and b) runs better.

Oh, hey! There’s that DMCA!

It’s an especially big issue for games with crossplay. No matter the hardware, everyone who plays these games together are on the same servers. Yet everyone on console needs to pay an additional fee while PC players get to play to their heart’s content.

Look. I’m not trying to say ‘console bad, PC good.’ I used to be an avid PS Plus subscriber. I only stopped because I no longer felt like I was getting my money’s worth.

So I’ll close this article out with a simple message: you’re not getting your money’s worth. Sixty dollars a year, a hundred a year, PS Plus or Xbox Live, it doesn’t matter. You’re being charged more for services you should be getting for free, and the extra incentives they offer are never worth it. You deserve better.

Will you get better? Probably not. Inflation, remember?