Sony PS4: All-you-can-eat game subscriptions may be in the works

The Sony PS4 console may house a premium subscription service allowing members to play as many games as they want for a monthly fee, according to the president of Sony Worldwide Studios.

Shuhei Yoshida said Sony has many options with regards to subscription platforms, thanks to the acquisition of Gaikai - the cloud-gaming company that will power and pioneer the PS4's online offerings.

Some observers had expected Sony to reveal a Netflix-for-gamers style service at Tuesday's launch event, but for now that's a 'dream' dependent on digital content flourishing on the console, Yoshida-san said.

He told The Guardian: "As more and more services and contents become available digitally, we'll have more of an option to create attractive packages. So hypothetically we can look at different models – like a cable TV company. We could have gold, silver or platinum levels of membership, something like that.

"We can do subscription services when we have more content – especially now that we have the Gaikai technology available. With one subscription you have access to thousands of games – that's our dream."

Hardware isn't finished yet

Meanwhile Yoshida-san is the latest voice to chime in on why Sony did not reveal the new PlayStation hardware at Wednesday night's PS4 launch event in New York City.

Some Sony bosses have claimed the company wanted to leave something to show off at a later date, so we wouldn't get bored between now and the Holiday 2013 release date, while SCEA gaffer Jack Tretton claimed Sony had made a 'conscious decision' not to show it off.

This latest explanation might be a little closer to the mark.
"We have not finalised the hardware yet and decided not to try to get it finished in time," Yoshida-san said.