One of the major benefits that Sony likes to mention about its PS3 is that online multiplayer is totally free as opposed to Microsoft’s Xbox Live, which charges an annual fee of $50 for a one-year membership.
While multiplayer will continue to be free of charge over PSN, there will be a charge for "premium" downloadable content.
The new subscription-based service is called Qore and will offer "monthly lifestyle gaming" exclusive content such as news, exclusive demos, beta invites, behind-the-scenes specials, previews and more. Think of Qore as the online version of a PS3 demo disk magazine.
How much will Qore set you back? The cost will be $24.99 for thirteen "episodes." The first edition will feature SOCOM: Confrontation and will give subscribers the opportunity to join in on the game’s beta.
The Qore service is available this Thursday on the PlayStation Store.
[via artstechnica.com]
