Is the PS3 going to see a drop in online users?

[crazyduck]

Do you think the PS3 will see a drop in online users when the PS4 comes out? I expect that the people who get the PS4 will just play online on the PS4 and won't go back to the PS3. The reason I ask is because now GTA V is on the horizon and COD: Ghosts, will people just take them up on the PS4 making games harder to find on the PS3. Of course people will still play so it won't be like 10 players online and that's it.

 

[The Unlosing Ranger]

I think the amount of users might drop, but we kind of have to think smaller. Like, I mean, people who play Demon's Souls religiously (for example) won't just drop the game forever when they get a next-gen system. Other games which have multi-generation releases like CoD: Ghosts (I think) will certainly take a hit to their online population, however.

 

[BlackSolaris]

Not by a huge margin, but things will slowly transcend to the other console, but don't expect such a thing like a 50% drop in the users, that ain't happening soon.

 

[bknight]

Actually I think it will yes, I'm already planning on jailbreaking my PS3 after I get the PS4 and use it only to play backups, and play new games in online mode on the PS4, I think that after most of the players are completely migrated to the PS4 system, slowly the PS3 online community will be smaller and smaller, which is the natural order of things anyway.

 

[Jaymun]

I think it will drop, but that is usually accompanied by an increase in the QUALITY of player. Little kids whose parents buy them games and consoles will be playing COD Ghost on ps4, while more serious players are left playing the PS3 COD's, just to use one game as an example

 

[corporatenoun]

Naturally it will dip a little bit, but there will still be a lot of people who didn't get the PS4 right away. Gamers will stick to PS3 until they "upgrade". It will take a while for the user base to dwindle.

 

[TheMac]

There will be a small but noticeable drop-off right after launch, but, as everyone waits for their friends to catch up with their purchases, there won't be too much of an exodus. One year in, though, I would bet that PS3 is going to be a ghost town.

 

[GetFresh]

Of course there's going to be a drop since people are buying the next gen consoles. It's only natural that more than a fraction of people will go with the next best thing. However, there's still going to be an significant amount of player on the PS3.

 

[webdesignsbyapw]

There will always be a drop when a new console comes out. However, you shouldn't worry about this because you will still be able to play with other people. The only time you should be worried is five years from now when you are still stuck with a PS3. At that time, there won't be any users on. Okay, maybe a "handful" but not enough to play with in certain games. Just look at the history of consoles and you'll understand what I mean.

 

[Joel]

The PS3 will experience what any console experiences when it comes to new consoles coming out. The fact is that there will be first adopters and these are people who have a lot of spare capital and will purchase the system day one. They also tend to comprise of people who play a game until the next new game comes out. That means that what you might consider to be a loss of membership to the online community of the PS3 will only affect the newer games that are put onto the PS3 as the membership of that community would usually populate those games.

Over time the PS 3 will experience a loss of a demographic of players but to begin with I think the newest games will hurt from the reasoning I stated.

 

[Fleexie]

I think it will drop a bit however I not so much that there won't be any players left on PS3.
There are still a lot of people who just can't afford a PS4 immediately after launch, so these will probably stick with PS3. I also stick with PS3 just because I will see if the PS4 will drop in price in January.

 

[crazyduck]

So you guys think what I was thinking. That the online players will drop but not too much and also they will drop gradually. Well if you look at games like GTA IV then there are not many online players now, but there are still quite a few so I think it will be the same with the PS3. Of course GTA IV has been out for years as well.

 

[The Nightmonkey]

It really depends on how the sales figures are. Pretty much anyone that buys a PS4 will have to buy a PS+ subscription so they will be playing online. Also depends on the game too. A lot of people will still be playing games like Last of Us or Call of Duty but probably not the more obscure games like Fat Princess or Starhawk.

 

[James]

The same thing will happen as when any new console is released. There will be the ones who stay and love the console theyre on or cant afford the new one, and there are the people who are excited for the new console and what it has to offer and they can afford it. In this case specifically though, i think the drop in online users will be severely less than what the PS2 and Xbox Original experienced, as these were revolutionary consoles and didnt cost a small fortune for everyone like these new consoles probably will. Im sure the community will be around for a long time to come even after the PS4 release

 

[Shana]

I'm sure there will be a drop. There will however still be people playing the PS3 for a long time to come. There will be people who will just refuse to upgrade to the new system and people who can't afford it and people who can't find it to begin with. So the online community will still be around a kicking but yes it will have less people on it for sure!

 

[amazingone]

I don't see why it would not drop. I'll be playing PS4 online and hardly using my PS3 for online gaming at all. The real question is when will Sony stop supporting online play for PS3 games go exclusively support only PS4 online games? That will be quite the controversial decision if it happens any time within the next two years or so. I can see a lot of gamers getting pissed off if they drop online support for PS3 games before 2015.

 

[stoudman]

It might see a drop, it might not. It all depends, really.

I mean, who knows whether or not people will just ditch the PS3 entirely? In this economy, I think a lot of people will be holding onto their PS3s for a while. It also won't hurt that the PS3 will still have free online play while the PS4 will require a PS+ account. As I've said before in other posts, I don't think this is a bad idea, but I do think it will result in fewer gamers completely ditching their PS3, instead electing to keep utilizing the free online play through the system.

In other words, I don't think there will be a stark drop in numbers. Will there be a drop? Undoubtedly. Will it be extremely significant? Maybe not. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[mareebaybay]

I mean of course there would be less users playing online from their Playstation 3. Although if you are talking about users on the Playstation network then I don't it. I think most of the Playstation users will be pretty loyal to their company overall.

 

[DrRipley]

I think it will take some time for everyone to migrate to the PS4, so I'd say we still have a few years of PS3 online to enjoy. Also, I suspect that Sony will keep supporting it well into the later stages of the PS4's life, so I'm not too worried about it.