PSN And Live Subscribers: Dead Heat

Over the past year, most analysts have projected that Sony's PlayStation 3 will eventually catch Microsoft's Xbox 360 in terms of overall worldwide sales. At this point, with the gap narrowing throughout many months of 2008, it seems almost inevitable. However, if you want another example of the PS3's rise, check this out:

Microsoft's John Schappert spoke at the Tokyo Game Conference this year, and during his keynote, he announced that Xbox Live had reached 14 million global subscribers. Now, only a few months later, Sony has revealed this exact same number for the rapidly growing PlayStation Network! That's right, to celebrate the PS3's birthday over at the official PlayStation blog, they say the Network now sees 14 million active accounts. Now, the differences here are clear: you do have to pay for the Live membership and it takes no effort whatsoever to sign up for the Network (it's free). Therefore, logically speaking, one has to be more assured of playing online with Live if they're going to spend the money. For many PS3 owners, signing up could be an afterthought and they never spend much time playing online at all. Sony also revealed that 273 million pieces of content have been downloaded from the Network, but they didn't say how much of that content is free, and how much holds a price tag.

In this way, one can easily make the argument that the numbers don't tell the whole story; that Xbox Live remains far more active overall. However, here's the other point: numbers don't lie. If it's 14 million vs. 14 million, that's the same number of people who could feasibly go online with each system. And with the Network looking much better than it did two years ago, and with PlayStation Home around the corner, and factoring in that it's free...well, could Sony put a dent in the 360's bread and butter? Or have they done so already?

11/19/2008 Ben Dutka

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Comments (Beta)

LegioN
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 10:45:22 AM
Reply

I always knew this was going to happen eventually. Sony know what they're doing and have done it time and time again.

They may begin slow but they have a plan and stick to it and it always pans out in the end. Can anyone say "playstation 2"? lol

It will only be a matter of time before the ps3 begins to create a gap in those numbers. Well done Sony!

1 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 10:57:26 AM
Reply

Well done Sony!

I have told everyone that was hesitant that if you have a little patience it will pay off better than rushing to the punch for more quantity.

My friend was torn between the PS3 and 360 and he got the 360 first because it had "more stuff" then when he started buying all the peripherals for it that I had for free and factored in the sub fee for live he was pissed but what tipped him over and made him trade it in for the PS3 was the RROD.

Since I have bought the 360 and he has reclaimed one but it shows that patience is everything when quality is concerned

0 up, 0 down

pavlovic
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:00:35 AM
Reply

Well, 14 million users, my question is how many of those are unique users (on either system).

I have 2 XBL accounts, one from Mexico and one from the USA, and 3 PSN accounts, Mexico, USA and Europe.

And almost everyone that has a PS3 have at least 2 accounts...

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:05:28 AM

My system has 5 (PS3) and 2 (XBL) and 7 out of the 8 are seperate people, well no my fiance and i have one on each system i have a japanese account on PS3 and the rest of the PS3 accounts are seperate people.

0 up, 0 down

Dingodial
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:07:21 AM
Reply

I hope PSN passes XBL and starts advertising free online play on t.v. for once (Sony always fails to advertise the benefits of having a PS3 instead of a 360)

3 up, 1 down

FLYING_APE
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:40:29 AM

noooooooooooooooooooooo that would bring in those guys you get from xbl

2 up, 1 down

Arvis
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 1:05:29 PM

Wow... Flying Ape makes a good point...

-Arvis

2 up, 1 down

Orvisman
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 1:49:23 PM

It had to happen eventually! ;)

1 up, 1 down

Dingodial
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 3:02:31 PM

Good observation. That may happen. But if the XBL people that you know are like the ones that I know, this is what happens when they hear something good about Playstation 3:
They cover their ears and start yelling, "bla bla bla bla bla!".
(in other words, most 360 fanboys that hate PS3 would probably be too stubborn to accept the truth and convert to playstation)

2 up, 1 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 3:08:34 PM

We can only hope that to be true.

Most of the XB360 fanboys that I know upon hearing good news about the PS3 immediately say: "F**K you noob a** ni**er f**k you i will f**king kill you mom you piece of sh** f**k you hacker a**hole"

Well come to think of it that is what i hear most of the time i am on XBL.
hmmmmmm......

God I hope they stay where they belong.

3 up, 1 down

Aftab
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 4:05:26 PM

So funny, but so true.

2 up, 1 down

Unrealevil
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6:27:49 PM

This comment chain is kinda pathetic. You complain about fanboys by acting like fanboys.

2 up, 2 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 7:40:03 PM

so sorry that making a joke or pointing out that the level of vulgarity on a given system is fanboyism I must learn that even though I have both systems and find merits in both I am forever a fanboy due to my humor
Damn these good looks

2 up, 0 down

Arvis
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 1:33:29 PM

Coverton, pretty people like you and I will always be subjected to unfair criticism. Our insane good looks inspire jealousy. We'll have to get used to it.

-Arvis

1 up, 0 down

Craigo
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:08:50 AM
Reply

Home has got to be here very soon. I found some news that more beta invites are going out tomorrow to see will the huge numbers cope. Don't no if this is just a rumor but am checking my inbox Thursday 20th.

It just keeps getting better for the PS3. Motorstorm is very smooth on PSN and what about no lag 60 player Resistance 2. :D

2 up, 0 down

ThePoetRazel
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:18:05 AM

Some rumors are pretty accurate ;)

0 up, 1 down

FLYING_APE
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:39:35 AM
Reply

has anyone watched gt bonus round. That was sooo biased i want that cool black man with glasses back he is unbiased.

Im more than happy with psn it's a small community unlike xbl. Check out youtube for xbl trashtalk videos. Some are just sick, good thing i switched to psn when mgo came out

2 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 12:53:38 PM
Reply

With this news we should be getting another rumored open beta release date for Home

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 5:00:31 PM

the 20th is the latest date for Sony. They said that Home will have even more people on the 20th, but it's not necessarily the Open Beta.

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 5:21:04 PM

Yeah i read that too and found the "leaked" announcement but like you said its not necessarily the Open Beta and from what I understand of it, it sounds like it is directed primarily at European gamers and doesn't sound like much love will be given to US gamers. Sad really.

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 1:43:44 AM

so what? make a european psn account.
I made a US one, and the PS Store for the US looks SOO much cooler than the New Zealand one! It has that Capcom section like u reported (PSXextreme). the nz one has no Capcom section, and the interface is a bit different, but generally it's similar.

0 up, 0 down

Arvis
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 1:06:51 PM
Reply

Does the fact that I only have one account mean I am uncool?

-Arvis

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 2:02:40 PM

highly uncool

J/k lol

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:39:19 PM

Just 1 for me, keeps me busy enough.

0 up, 0 down

broox9
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 1:17:06 PM
Reply

i was up until 2 am last night like a dweeb hoping the Home Open Beta rumor was true.... poor me!

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 5:04:12 PM

You expected Sony to release it BEFORE they announced it?

0 up, 0 down

JAJABOB92
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 1:47:10 PM
Reply

well i'm still waiting patiently for HOME to launch. been waiting since 06. and i think the people who think the 360 has anything over the ps3 are just dumb. if they look at hardware, and still compare them... well then they should be killed or something for being so dumb. the cell processor rapes the 360's and yet they still claim greatness. i don't get it. but my god. i can't wait for HOME to finally arrive.

1 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 5:02:56 PM

the 360 has NOTHING unique about it. when microsoft designed it, they forgot to add that extra unique something to it. Until today that is... Apparently the "Experience" released today.

2 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 5:24:03 PM

@ffgamera

The "experience" isn't actually that unique at all.

Take the Wii's Mii concept spruce it up a bit mix in a bare bones and wholly nonfunctional Home idea and wala you have the new live experience.

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 1:44:43 AM

wow, i overestimated it... it looked so cool when i looked at it.

0 up, 0 down

karneli lll
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 1:54:57 PM
Reply

All this n we're only 2 years in? By this time next year, the ps3 could be the most wanted console.

So there are over 20 million 360's sold bt only 14 million xbl accounts! Ha! Here's to including bricked systems in the sales figures.

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 2:04:53 PM

they have to include bricked systems because they are making their money from the replacement systems LOL

0 up, 0 down

shaydey77
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 2:35:17 PM
Reply

Free vs pay.Thigns will never change!!

Slightly off topic: i got a great bit of news today!My friends 360 died.So he robbed his little brothers one and switched them.

My friends little brother went crying to his mother who said fine ill get you a new one on saturday. My friend was delighted coz hed have to pay for his otherwise.

Also he reckons that the 360 is a better console and is dying for me to get one to prove it. So he said hes going to buy one of those RROD fix kits and then sell it to me for 50euro if it works.It will still have about 8 months of live prepaid too i think!!Delighted!!:D!

0 up, 0 down

HUSO
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 3:47:47 PM
Reply

that number must be including ppl with all the multiple PSN accounts. i myself have 4 PSN accts just to check the content on different stores. so i don't really think its an accurate way of checking the number of ppl who get online with the PS3

1 up, 0 down

BIG_E
Tuesday, December 02, 2008 @ 2:43:01 AM

I know what your talking about I had two xbox live accounts.Dude your a hear trying to gain new knowledge about psn to gripe about with your other xbot friends.PSN invokes so much fear into microsoft they changed the dashboard to keep there system fresh.PS3 has so much more to offer like home,play tv,and also offered hd video downloads in full 1080 plus share downloaded content with 4 friends.Oh I forgot you dont own a PS3.BIG-E bitch no fanboy here i own both consoles love them.Be a gamer not a system fanatic.

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LightShow
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 4:38:38 PM
Reply

People think the old dog doesn't have anything against the new kid. Too often they underestimate Sony, and they've pulled success out when nobody though it possible.

I wouldn't count the old dog out, he knows how the game is played =D

1 up, 0 down

N a S a H
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 5:36:02 PM
Reply

I haven't read any of the above comments so sorry if I repeat what anyone is saying...

I've had my PS3 since launch day and PSN is great. I always heard my friends talking about how great XBL is and I never believed that there was much of a gap between the two.

However, I got a 360 for Gears of War 2 and I can safely say that XBL is far ahead of PSN service wise. There is a lot more support for games and it happens quickly. I remember back on PSN if a patch came out, PS3's would have to be accepted by Sony, and that doesn't happen on XBL which is great.

Last thing I'm going to say is, PS3 is better overall but I just don't see how Sony will provide the same quality service as Microsoft when PSN is free. The new interface that came out today is pretty cool. I still prefer the XMB but it's really put up the Ante. The installing games on HDD feature is a great thing. There is no noise from the CD at all now and the 360 isn't loud anymore.

1 up, 1 down

LightShow
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6:14:16 PM

as far a XBL goes, just cause you pay for it doesn't make it better. Just take a look at Windows vs. Linux ^_^

3 up, 1 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6:17:50 PM

@lightshow
No joke there. I am running a dual boot machine with Fedora 8 on primary and XP on secondary so I can run Rosetta Stone language software (apparently Quicktime is too much of a bit** to run under wine properly)

I have had a few issues with F8 considering that Fedora has always been bleeding edge, but on the converse I have had to reinstall Windoze four times this year because of fatal crashes and errors.

0 up, 0 down

Unrealevil
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6:25:53 PM

@LightShow

He said it was better because of the quality of support, which is probably because you have to pay, but he did not say that it was better simply because you have to pay.

1 up, 0 down

BIG_E
Tuesday, December 02, 2008 @ 3:03:41 AM

NASAH you have a one sided view of psn support for games.It is there we have no idea what sony has in store.All we can do is speculate.Take some time play around with the ps3, dude there's so much sh** to try.Like 6 people video chat & pic messaging.Oh also in cod4 you can use keyboard and mouse I think with UT3 to.Get play tv use your ps3 as a DVR.

0 up, 0 down

Unrealevil
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6:16:15 PM
Reply

As the article said at first, the numbers are irrelevant. It went on to contradict that, but while it is nice to see the number of accounts for PSN going up, if a lot of them are inactive, that's essentially the same thing as a free Live account (which can do a fair amount of things anyway). Both accounts are not doing anything, whether they can or not.

1 up, 0 down

daus26
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6:16:16 PM
Reply

Xbox is already feeling worried about home. Thats why they try the lame attempt at redesigning their dashboard n the terrible avatar maker. It was like a Wii Mii wannabe. Home should hit a home run.

2 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 9:01:35 PM
Reply

The recent argument is gone and the trouble starter is gone.

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 10:40:51 PM
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sorry ben didn't mean to get so into it but dammit some times i get so mad

LOL won't happen again

0 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 11:44:42 PM
Reply

OH YEAH you're all going down, just put in a state of the art access point. Stupid Comcast's been keepin my PSN experience down, I'll show them, and the rest of yas. PSN Lets freedom ring.

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 11/19/2008 11:52:34 PM

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 12:10:12 AM

Um....

??

What?

LOL

and the hilarity ensues

0 up, 0 down

AntDC
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 1:37:12 AM
Reply

Yeah I have two accounts, a European one and a Hong Kong one. The Hong Kong ones great for buying PSOne Classics. This is good news for Sony, well done!

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 1:45:56 AM

I have to say that the USA store looks even better than the Hong Kong Store and the Euro store (of which the NZ store derives from).

Last edited by ffrulez on 11/20/2008 1:46:31 AM

0 up, 0 down

ffrulez
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 2:07:08 AM
Reply

USA Store front: New Releases, Downloadable Games, View All by Title, Demos, Add-ons, Media, Themes & Wallpapers, Capcom.
NZ Store front: Latest, All Games, Game Add-ons, PSP Games, Family Games, Videos, Other Media, We Recommend.

0 up, 0 down

coverton341
Thursday, November 20, 2008 @ 10:25:37 AM

The Japanese store does the PSOne classics so so much better than the USA store though

1 up, 0 down

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