Sony mentions monthly subs again

Sony's mentioned monthly fees and PlayStation Network in the same sentence again, firming-up what Kaz Hirai was thinking out loud about last month.

"We would face difficulties if our business depended solely on the sell-and-forget model," responded Sony Japan's Masayuki Chatani when asked by Nikkei Japan about the difficulties of sustaining the PlayStation Network. "After we sell the hardware, though, we continue to sell products such as content and services.

"We can also accept payment in a growing number of ways," he added. "In addition to single-payment packaged software, there are also schemes like monthly fees or per-item charges."

Although there was little context to his answer it may be that in terms of monthly fees Chatani was only speaking in reference to specific titles, such as massively multiplayer online games.

However, there have been persistent rumours that Sony may be considering an Xbox Live style subscription model for the PlayStation Network a whole.

Last month Kaz Hirari stated categorically that current services would continue to be offered free of charge, although the company may begin to charge for unspecified new premium content and services - some using a subscription model.