Sony Online: NGP "perfect" for MMOs

By Fred Dutton Published 5 April, 2011

Plus, predicts consoles will embrace F2P.

Sony's forthcoming NGP handheld will be a perfect fit for MMOs, so says Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley.

Answering a question from GamesIndustry.biz regarding whether free-to-play MMOs could ever work on a console, Smedley insisted that he saw a bright future for the format not just on the PlayStation 3 but also on Sony's forthcoming portable.

"There are a lot of people out there that have, in the past, associated free-to-play with lower quality - and simply put, that's just not true any more. There are a lot of free-to-play games that are great, and I think that's going to come over to console just as well.

"With the console, we're selling to an audience that already has the PS3 obviously - and by the way not the just the PS3, but in the future I can see other devices. Sony's announced the NGP, and if that isn't a perfect machine for doing MMOs on, then I don't know what is."

He went on to argue that it was probably only a matter of time before console developers saw the benefits of offering their core game for free and then charging for add-ons.

"So it's too soon to tell for sure but I think you're going to start seeing free-to-play gaming on console as well. People will realise that getting a lot more folk to try their games using that kind of business model will help; it'll just be in addition to the Blu-ray business model."

Sony Online has just released the family-friendly FreeRealms MMO on the PlayStation 3, with new PlanetSide and EverQuest titles also in the works.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • kadooosh #1 1 year ago

    Sony's announced the NGP, and if that isn't a perfect machine for doing MMOs on, then I don't know what is."

    A calculator?

  • Dr_Phibes666 #2 1 year ago

    Funny as soon as i heard about the ngp 3g capabilities I thought MMO on the go....you can use that if you want SOE

  • Vortextk #3 1 year ago

    Maybe try actually releasing some or helping others release some for your systems. It has to HAVE MMOs on the system before it can be perfect for them.

  • Murton #4 1 year ago

    "He went on to argue that it was probably only a matter of time before console developers saw the benefits of offering their core game for free and then charging for add-ons."

    /sigh

    He's the head man in SOE, why do Sony always come up with these seemingly great ideas and then say "we have this great idea, but we'll let someone else do it and take early hold of the market" why not be the innovators and get in there first? It just doesn't make any sense.

    Also, if the NGP is going to be such a great device for MMOs, and MMOs such a great business opportunity all round, why was The Agency cancelled and why have SOE closed two studios? Mixed messages much there Smedley?

  • George-Roper #5 1 year ago

    F2P MMOs invariably come with limitations that make the experience less than perfect.

    I'm sure I don't speak alone when I say that any MMO gameplay experience that has artificially inserted limitations simply do nothing except grate and if EQ2s F2P format is anything to go by, then Smedley can fuck RIGHT off as that's borderline clownshoes.

  • zedzee #6 1 year ago

    I'm sick of all these TLAs!

    ;-)

  • Centrifugal #7 1 year ago

    "Sony's announced the NGP, and if that isn't a perfect machine for doing MMOs on, then I don't know what is."

    How about a PC?

  • Softie2k #8 1 year ago

    I actually think handheld devices are the least adept at handling an MMO.

  • ThePissartist #9 1 year ago

    Fuck no. My interest in NGP has just dropped.

  • Subdominator #10 1 year ago

    I will never understand why a platform creator like Sony would endorse MMOs. They earn money by selling as much games as possible to every single hardware owner. Successful MMOs mean less money for Sony (unless they create them themself). Microsoft realized this quite some time ago and avoids MMOs on Xbox as good as they can. They have Xbox Live, which creates a steady income of $5 a month from 13 million members. And it allows them to sell even more games.

  • SilentTristero #11 1 year ago

    I could really get down with a portable MMO - properly developed and tailored with that in mind, of course.
    Edited by SilentTristero at 05/04/11 @ 22:57

  • Dizzy #12 1 year ago

    >PC "perfect" for MMOs

    Fixed.

  • rockin_rob_1 #13 1 year ago

    how about sacking those silly monthly subscription prices for DCU then...?

  • dirtysteve #14 1 year ago

    Bollox, that's Planetside Next compromised for a different platform then.

  • davisorle #15 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #16 1 year ago

    just don't let zipper near it please!

  • Xboxfanuk #17 1 year ago

    Everquest on NGP? Just popped my cork!

  • PixelPirate #18 1 year ago

    Guildwars has the best pricing model IMO, paying for chapters but being free to play was a great way to always feel you weren't being ripped off and pony up extra cash when you wanted to keep playing *without* feeling you were just paying for extra gear and short cut to success that the Free to play model uses.

  • Widge #19 1 year ago

    Sorry, I prefer the Guild Wars model of buying the game and then spending £0 thereafter

  • GamesConnoisseur #20 1 year ago

    I dont do MMO but thinks its great development for whole gaming industry if Sony can get MMO inc F2P to works well on PS3 and NGP.

    Nintendo and Microsoft too restrictive for their platform, a pity as MS did try to get it going on xbox with as I recall, Fantasy Online but cancelled and there was Marvel Online cancelled for X360.

    Some may argue that MS made right decisions, but I dont believe it, even though that the audience is much smaller. As there are billions of PC out there but only small proportion commits to MMO subscriptions, still onky takes a right WoW combinations to turn out a success.

  • GamesConnoisseur #21 1 year ago

    I dont do MMO but thinks its great development for whole gaming industry if Sony can get MMO inc F2P to works well on PS3 and NGP.

    Nintendo and Microsoft too restrictive for their platform, a pity as MS did try to get it going on xbox with as I recall, Fantasy Online but cancelled and there was Marvel Online cancelled for X360.

    Some may argue that MS made right decisions, but I dont believe it, even though that the audience is much smaller. As there are billions of PC out there but only small proportion commits to MMO subscriptions, still onky takes a right WoW combinations to turn out a success.

  • RodHull #22 1 year ago

    Perfect for MMOs eh? Now maybe if you refrained from laying off all the staff that make MMOs they'd be a little more credibility in that statement.

  • kangarootoo #23 1 year ago

    "Successful MMOs mean less money for Sony"

    This simply isn't true. A successful mmo can create a community that will collectively spend far more in a year than if they just bought individual titles.

    And free to play doesn't mean the game makes no money. Farmville is free to play, and that is making more money than God.

    As for whether an mmo suits a portable. Put a client on both NGP and PS3, both of which can access the same world, so a player can play at home in the evening AND play on their commute... nobody sees the potential of that?

  • Toothball #24 1 year ago

    @kangarootoo

    I was just thinking that it would be quite good to be able to play an online game both at home and on my way to work. They'd presumably need to work around reception issues, but I'm sure they'll think of something.

  • IronGiant #25 1 year ago

    Ahhh this thread just wouldn't be complete without an anti-Sony post from the resident moron
    Dizzy, he hasn't let us down.

  • Atropos #26 1 year ago

    Dear god i hope he's wrong - I actively despise free-to-play MMO's. I've tried a fair few, and I've not played one where it doesn't become intensely grind-oriented after the first 10 levels or so (just as you've been sucked in), in order to offer incentive for people to pay "just a few bucks" to skip that annoying hump. To enjoy them, you either have to be a teenager with oodles of free time, or immensely wealthy. In either case, I'd rather just pays my moneys and haves my funs.

  • kangarootoo #27 1 year ago

    @Atropos

    Is it not perhaps the case that the free to play mmos you've played were the rubbish ones? If you end your post with "To enjoy them, you either have to be a teenager with oodles of free time, or immensely wealthy" then surely the only issue is the game balancing?

    The decision to make your game free-to-play is only a tiny tiny aspect of its design. What then has to follow is mechanics that make it fun to play for free, whilst adding extra game aspects that people WANT to pay for.

    The basis of the model working is that people WANT to play for free, and WANT to spend a bit of extra cash here and there, because in both instances they feel they are getting value for their time or money. If the game doesn't do that, its not the fault of "free-to-play", its just that the game isn't very well designed.

  • michaelius #28 1 year ago

    Hmm i guess if they pulled it like make MMO that can be played from home using gamepad on PS3 and then have same account and characters on NGP that could be quite nice.
    Then again honestly speaking I only want rpgs and wipeout plus some small funny titles from it ;)

  • Dangerous_Dan #29 1 year ago

    If it's a MMO and not a MMORPG then fine but i think i can't get used to Role Play while in public, not via mic and typing seems kind a difficult on a handheld, at least as i imagine it to be.