Sony Online Entertainment’s New Strategy: One Price, All the Games

There was a time when subscription-based MMO’s ruled the roost, but in the world of free-to-play, those few stalwarts of old have had a harder time pulling in an audience than they used to. How do you turn those fates around? How do you turn free players into paying customers? Sony Online Entertainment has a clever idea: offer a single subscription price to get top-tier memberships in all of their games.

Starting today, Sony Online Entertainment will deliver full memberships in all of the following games in exchange for a mere $14.99: Everquest, Everquest II, DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and the upcoming games Everquest Next, Landmark and H1Z1. You’ll also get 500 Station Cash every month, a 10% discount on marketplace purchases, and “access to exclusive promotions and offers throughout the year.”

news

So what’s the catch?

By
Share this
  • Share this on Facebook
  • Share this on Twitter

There was a time when subscription-based MMO’s ruled the roost, but in the world of free-to-play, those few stalwarts of old have had a harder time pulling in an audience than they used to. How do you turn those fates around? How do you turn free players into paying customers? Sony Online Entertainment has a clever idea: offer a single subscription price to get top-tier memberships in all of their games.

Starting today, Sony Online Entertainment will deliver full memberships in all of the following games in exchange for a mere $14.99: Everquest, Everquest II, DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and the upcoming games Everquest Next, Landmark and H1Z1. You’ll also get 500 Station Cash every month, a 10% discount on marketplace purchases, and “access to exclusive promotions and offers throughout the year.”

news

So what’s the catch?

From what we can see, there really isn’t one. I suppose you could argue “the catch” is that the offer is PC only, so you won’t be jumping into a premium DC Universe Online membership on your PS4, but really, at that point we’re getting nit-picky.

As we type this, all of SOE’s websites seem to be “down for maintenance,” which means they’re probably implementing the system changes to allow for this as we speak. If you’re interested in trying things out, you should be able to get the SOE All Access Membership later today.

Jim Squires is the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo. Everything you see passes his eyes first, so we like to think of him as "the gatekeeper of cool stuff." He likes good games, great writing, and just can't say no to a hamburger. Also, he is not a bear.