After offering online free of charge on PS3, the fact that access to multiplayer servers was tied into Sony’s subscription service PS Plus upon the launch of the PS4 was always a quiet but contentious topic.
The debate effectively died out after a few years, but it may soon flare up again, as it’s been reported the next Xbox will drop the paywall for online multiplayer on Xbox Live. This would leave PS6 as the only next-gen console still charging for access, via PS Plus Essential.
The claim comes from Windows Central, which, in a wide report about the next Xbox, states after speaking to sources: “Right now, I’m told the current plan is for the next Xbox specifically to have no paywall for multiplayer.”
Of course, Sony hasn’t directly commented on how it’ll handle online multiplayer access on PS6, but there seems little reason for it to change how PS Plus is currently handled. PS Plus isn’t required to access free-to-play titles like Fortnite on PS5, PS4, but it is needed for any paid experiences, such as Call of Duty and Battlefield 6.
Via its Nintendo Switch Online membership, Nintendo also charges for online multiplayer access, and is required for Switch 2 titles like Mario Kart World. However, as a console now four months into its lifespan — and will be at least two years old by the time the PS6 launches — the Switch 2 won’t be seen as a direct competitor in the next-gen race.
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