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Free Online Multiplayer for All PS4 Players 12/12/15 - 13/12/15 (East Coast US Time)

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Free Online Multiplayer for All PS4 Players 12/12/15 - 13/12/15 (East Coast US Time)
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bonky on 09/12/2015 - 09:23 blog.us.playstation.com (590 clicks)
Last edited 12/12/2015 - 11:18

Free multiplayer access begins Friday, December 11th at 12:01 AM Pacific through Sunday, December 13, at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Check the PST here http://www.timeanddate.com/time/zones/pst

To get started, log on to PlayStation Network during the free weekend period, launch your favorite multiplayer game, and you’ll instantly have access to multiplayer with your friends. There’s no membership commitment required to try out online multiplayer during this period.

Playing online usually requires a PlayStation Plus subscription, which costs US$10 monthly, US$18 for a three-month bundle or US$50 for an entire year. A Plus membership also guarantees at least two free games and a lineup of discounts every month.

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  • Benjamin7711 on 09/12/2015 - 09:37
    +2

    Are there any games that don't require a subscription to play online? (not including this weekend, obviously :))

    • bonky on 09/12/2015 - 09:38
      +15

      Mrs Palmer and her five daughters?

      • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 10:29
        +8

        I finished this game so quickly. Tried posting a playthough on Youtube but keeps getting deleted for some reason…..

        • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 15:03
          +2

          Massive replayability though.

      • anonymous01 on 09/12/2015 - 11:05
        +2

        I love that game, so addictive! you can play it over and over and never get bored… just make sure to have a bit of rest in between… btw it's still not free to play online.. can end up costing so much $$ per minute.

      • maxell86 on 09/12/2015 - 11:26

        I put a ribbed extra-grip glove over the stick when I play.

      • weskambul on 09/12/2015 - 11:34

        I found I finished this game too quickly, gave up after the millionth time.

      • Guybrush57 on 09/12/2015 - 12:21

        I play co-op with me mate

      • MasterNoob on 09/12/2015 - 14:35

        i've never played this game before.

        Where can I buy it?

      • COR80 on 09/12/2015 - 14:46

        rofl

      • TheDukeOfNukem on 09/12/2015 - 15:36

        Never heard of this until your post.

        Went to Google to see how I missed out on a free game.

        Realized I'd already played it a couple of times this week.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 16:35
        +1

        The only game I let the wife beat me.

    • FrankMcFuzz on 09/12/2015 - 09:45

      Seems like you shouldn't have bought a PS4 if this was a concern.

      • Benjamin7711 on 09/12/2015 - 10:01
        +3

        Never said it was a concern, just curious..

        • bonky on 09/12/2015 - 10:15
          +1

          whats your concern? Only need one hand for Mrs Palmer

          Im sure if you google it… you'll find out

        • Mobe1969 on 09/12/2015 - 10:39
          +2

          I'm the same. I was actually surprised to see this thread so came here. I have a PS4 but zero interest in online multiplayer, zero interest in PSN, but I recall on the Ps3 it was free unlike on the x360 (and I had tried it on the ps3 a couple of times). I didn't realise they had changed to make it chargeable.

        • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 10:56

          @Mobe1969: But it doesn't matter to you so all good, right?

        • Mobe1969 on 09/12/2015 - 10:57

          @Where's_That_Cake: Yeah, just surprised at it. Always thought it a selling point on the PS3. Dunno how I missed this.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 09:52
      +3

      A lot of games have limited core online capacity, e.g. Destiny which is entirely online can still be played without a PSPlus subscription, but the fun stuff like joining your mates in a fire squad are restricted to subscribers only.

    • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 10:36

      Final Fantasy XIV but that requires its own subscription

      Even Elder Scrolls Online needs one

      A PlayStation Plus subscription is required to play The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

      • henrikoez on 09/12/2015 - 10:51
        +1

        Elder Scrolls Online is free for the weekend on PC and Mac from IGN, although I'm not sure how it works
        http://au.ign.com/prime/promo/eso-weekend

        • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 11:06

          Elderscrolls Online is free to play once you buy it for either PC or PS4 (Using the same model as Guild Wars 2 used) but the free weekend is a good opportunity to check it out if you are on the fence about getting it or not.

    • Zak on 09/12/2015 - 14:13
      +2

      Nearly every game on PC

  • plasmapuff on 09/12/2015 - 09:55
    +18

    As a casual gamer who has a capable PC rig, paying for multiplayer has really killed consoles for me.

    I might play online Battlefield, Borderlands etc maybe once/twice a month on console - for which the $80/year PSN fee is really a bit exorbitant.

    It pushes me back to the PC where games are both cheaper and multiplayer is forever free.

    Compared to PS3, where multiplayer was free and thus encouraged the casual gamer.

    Forcing you to pay for PSN just to enable online multiplayer IMO drives out the casual gamer to invest in only one system - PC or console.

    Whereas back in the PS3 days, I would be happy to maintain both to have the casual odd game with some PSN mates.

    Don't get started on the free PS4 titles either which have been rubbish…

    • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 10:40
      +4

      I don't understand why you are paying Sony for the right to play games peer2peer, all games should have dedicated servers if the online subscription is paid. Some of the free games have been really good for PS4 but others have been trash tier.

      • Mobe1969 on 09/12/2015 - 10:45
        +3

        So the multiplayer is just peer to peer, with PSN just somehow allowing gamers to find each other? I agree I can't see why you have to pay for that. I agree with plasmapuff too. If I was into online gaming, that would have killed it for me with the PS4.

        • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 11:07
          +4

          I'm not hugely into online gaming but without split screen in most modern console games the only way to play them with a friend is to pay the subscription. Having to pay for an entire month so I can play Bloodborne co-op with my friend once every 2 weeks is kind of extreme though :(

          I found a sort of workaround though, you can make a new PSN account and then activate the free PS+ trial by after creating account go to your settings and then choose app saved data management and then saved data in online storage, you'll get an option to get a 2 day free trial. As long as you say yes to making the PS4 the primary for that account when you first created it you'll be able to sign out of the new account and play on your proper account until the trial expires then delete the new account and create another trial next time that you want to play.

        • M0RGAN on 09/12/2015 - 11:52

          @Agret: I thought it was 14 days or have they changed it? Last game I did this for was Infamous First Light. Kinda says something about the quality of PS Plus games when the last one I'd create a free account for came out a year ago.

        • eggboi on 09/12/2015 - 11:55
          +1

          @Agret: is there a proper tutorial for this? as i'd only play 10-20 sessions a year, this sounds much better than paying $80/yr to properly use the console i already paid for.. the way they have removed split screen in almost all games is utter crap, i really enjoy the odd couch-co-op battle. makes me tempted to buy an xb1 for the access to most 360 games!

        • piggiepanda on 09/12/2015 - 11:57
          +2

          @Agret: Sounds like so much hassle. That would mean you'd have to have several fake emails. But yeah, i agree with you guys, it sucks. :(

        • M0RGAN on 09/12/2015 - 12:04
          +2

          @deevo101: You have to create a new email account, then a new PSN account (you can use the same credit card details) and it'll give you the option to make the PS4 the new account's primary system. Choose the free trial on the PS Store and cancel the recurring subscription. Switch back to your main account and you can play multiplayer and that month's free game.

          It's a hassle, hence why I haven't done it for a year.

        • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 12:24
          +1

          @M0RGAN: it is 14 days if you do it through the store but then you have to enter credit card details and cancel the subscription. Not sure if they limit how many trials you can do with the same card. With my method no credit card is prompted so that's good if you have kids ;)

          The 14 day trial is pretty good if you want to play the monthly free games though since you can finish them within that time and then delete them when your trial expires.

      • Binchicken22 on 09/12/2015 - 12:02
        +2

        Completely agree.

        I made this argument numerous times last generation about Xbox live, what exactly were you paying for? All the games were p2p and the ones that weren't had dedicated servers provided by the publisher of the game. You're legit paying for access to a friends list and cross game chat.

        Everyone sucked it up and even defended it last generation, saying how 'awesome' Xbox live is, little did they realise their COD ping had nothing to do with Xbox live servers and everything to do with how good of a connection the 'host' the game has selected has.

        So after all this, even some people asking Sony to charge for psn to make it 'better', Sony thought, why not…

        • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 12:26

          You are also funding the download/content servers for the service which is the main complaint ps3 psn received. They had very slow downloads and unreliable store. Psn seems much better on the ps4 but I doubt that is a direct result of the ps+ requirement and probably just routine improvements to their infrastructure.

      • itbargainhunter on 09/12/2015 - 17:53

        I don't support paying any console brand for multiplayer feature.

        But don't forget Xbox 360 started it and now PS4 is just following. (PS3 multiplayer is free)

        • infinite on 09/12/2015 - 22:09

          It's really just the old "turdburger vs crap sammich" debate.

    • gizmomelb on 09/12/2015 - 10:40
      +2

      agreed it's up to people's personal taste.. but I highly disagree that the games for PS4 for 'free' on PSN+ for 2015 have been rubbish - http://www.polygon.com/2015/12/6/9856220/playstation-plus-20…

    • Ryballs on 09/12/2015 - 10:41
      +4

      Agreed. I haven't had a free PSN game yet that would justify paying the monthly fee if we didn't have to.

      • AssociatedSpiffyTheDog @ PlayStation on 09/12/2015 - 10:57
        +3

        Limbo, Rocket League, Valiant Hearts, MGSV:GZ, Unfinished Swan, CounterSpy, Oddworld, Transistor, Broken Age.
        All these games I would (and about half of them I have) paid full price for before they came to PS+
        People see the games and just think they're crap because they're not on sale in retailers. I've had more fun with Rocket League and CounterSpy than most AAA games in the last year or so (Fallout 4 excluded)

        • Ryballs on 09/12/2015 - 11:09
          +1

          I don't mind rocket league but the rest I could do without. Would've rather paid $20 for that game and saved $80 a year.

        • plasmapuff on 09/12/2015 - 11:11
          +2

          As a casual gamer, I barely have time for AAA titles let alone indie titles…

          My point is that Sony by charging for online multiplayer (even when its purely P2P and no dedicated servers are involved) deters the casual gamer from investing in the system.

          You could argue that XBone is similar, but you can regularly get XBL yearly subs for $35 and the precedent was there with PS3 being free.

          Either way I haven't touched my PS4 for months and will not be renewing PSN when it expires soon.

          This has nothing to do with a religious PC vs. Console debate, but rather an observation about how consoles are pushing casual gamers out of the console market based on their pricing structures. This is ironic as historically consoles were supposed to attract the casual couch gamer v. the hardcore PC gamer.

        • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 12:27
          +1

          Don't forget driveclub ps+ edition

          @plasmapuff consoles are also killing the casual gamers by removal of split screen from system sellers. Halo 5 and forza have no split screen on the xbox front, Killzone and driveclub have no split screen on ps4 :(

    • XeKToReX on 09/12/2015 - 11:02

      Especially paying for the PSN, god damn it's horrible compared to XBL. Games take wayyy longer to DL/Update on my PS4 than they do on the Xbone

      • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 11:08
        +3

        Weirdly enough downloads go heaps faster when you put the PS4 into rest mode or enable the use of a proxy server. I run CCProxy on my PC and just proxy the PS4 downloads through it and even though it's using exactly the same internet connection the speed increases =/

        • XeKToReX on 09/12/2015 - 11:09

          Haha, interesting, might run it up tonight and see what happens. I've tried using Google's DNS etc but still just so slow…

        • Ryballs on 09/12/2015 - 11:17

          Yes I find that too, it's odd. I also wonder how much extra power is being used with millions of PS4s in rest mode instead of being turned off..

        • Agret on 09/12/2015 - 11:17

          @Ryballs: Haha who knows but I do love the automatic patching :)

  • Steptoe on 09/12/2015 - 10:14
    +11

    Dear SONY,

    Please stop being greedy and make it FREE always, just like the PS3 is.

    Thank you.

    • snuke on 09/12/2015 - 10:51
      +5

      People were always complaining that Xbox had a better online experience than PlayStation and wanted them to improve it.
      Please make your service which we don’t pay for as good as a service that 10s of millions of people help fund, yep sure makes clear sense.

      • cyrax83 on 09/12/2015 - 11:12
        +4

        The online service still sucks. People thought Sony would do good on charging for it, but it's the same old. Crap service, just now we have to pay for it and get junk rental indie games in return :(

        • mboy on 09/12/2015 - 23:55
          -1

          Is the PSN that bad? I have both XB1 and PS4 and I find the speed of the network for online gaming to be pretty similar between the two.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 10:57
      +4

      And make your games free whilst you're at it you greedy gits.

    • dltra on 09/12/2015 - 19:35
      +1

      my understanding is that Sony sells PS4 hardware at a slim-to-none profit margin and makes up the money through game royalties and PS+. i understand where people are coming from when they feel stiffed for paying $70 a year for an online service that was free earlier but it's more justifiable when you consider a) the fact that you can get a great game console + a few games for $400 now, a price no comparable gaming PC can match, and b) the PS plus games that you get too. they're definitely not all 'rubbish' as someone above said; there's a fair few duds of course but considering i've gotten MGS:GZ, Transistor, Rocket League, Infamous: First Light as part of PS Plus this year (those are just my top picks, i've had fun with other PS Plus titles too), i don't feel like Sony's ripping me off badly with the PS+ cost.

  • IDontWantToSignUpJu… on 09/12/2015 - 11:10
    +1

    Are there ever any deals for AU PSN? there are XBLive deals all the time but I never see PSN ones other than for the US.

    • Benjamin7711 on 09/12/2015 - 11:46

      I think the main thing is that xbox live codes are generally world wide whereas PSN are US only. So they may be on sale just as frequently, just PSN not as available to us in AUS

  • ozbargainer88 on 09/12/2015 - 13:16
    +8

    Meanwhile PC gamers are like http://i.imgur.com/owxfiwV.png

  • kpm on 09/12/2015 - 14:25
    +1

    The entire concept of this freebie seems pretty gimmicky to me. The vast majority of players who own Battlefront/COD/Destiny (and other such multiplayer games) are most likely already going to have a PS+ subscription. I deem it fairly unlikely that someone is going to rush out and purchase a game just to try out the multiplayer for a free weekend.
    Having said that, props to the people that find legitimate use out of this deal.

    • dltra on 09/12/2015 - 19:37

      yeah this is bizarre. really only useful for the free multiplayer games like Warframe, Planetside 2

  • KaTst3R on 09/12/2015 - 15:01

    it is Jakku time !

  • [Deactivated] on 09/12/2015 - 16:39
    +1

    I am very disappointed in sony. They have gone the way of Xbox and I can not see what you need to pay to play when the gaming industry is a multi billion dollar industry now.

    • KaTst3R on 09/12/2015 - 21:57

      The worse thing is that, you pay for PS Plus but the infrastructure is still sh!t ! With XBL at least it is fast and solid.

  • bonky on 09/12/2015 - 22:21

    i remember second life

  • MrSammyMcG on 10/12/2015 - 00:52
    -1

    Am I the only one that doesn't really care about online modes or online games? I bought my PS4 about 6 months ago and have not had PS Plus once. That and I just got a TONNE of cheap single player games thanks to EB Mad Monday and Dick Smith's huge clearance. No joke in the past two months I bought MGS 5 (for my birthday), Alien Isolation (found it cheap for $36 and have wanted to play it since E3 last year), Just Cause 3 (which was to be my last game until Uncharted 4), then I found Shadow of Mordor at Dick Smith for $20, Fallout 4 for $49 and Arkham Knight for $40 at EB whcib I bought simply because ei planned to buy down the road and thought I'd save about $50 by buying them now.

    I feel kind of bad actually because I ususly buy 3 games every 6 months or so and I just bought 6 in 1/3rd of that.

    And i dont like MP games, notnbevaue rhey are bad it's just that they don't hold my interest for long, they are too competitive snd require a good community to be fun (rip cod and lol) and I find I get much of my money's worth from single player games. Well that and I don't get AIs telling me how they know my mother intimately.

    Also, am I the only one that buys a crap tonne of stuff when it's on sale? I'd like to thank Ozbargain for that… :D

    • first in line on 11/12/2015 - 07:07
      +1

      Pretty sure you are the only one..

  • Slo20 on 12/12/2015 - 11:10

    I tried playing one of my games online and I get a message saying I need a PS + subscription, then it takes me to a purchase landing page. Anyone else able to play online as part of this deal?

    • bonky on 12/12/2015 - 11:14

      given that the US is behind us a few hours… I would say … wait a while longer?

      here is a PST clock for your convenience

      http://www.timeanddate.com/time/zones/pst

      currently its

      4:15:40PM
      Friday, 11 December 2015

      • Slo20 on 12/12/2015 - 12:06

        Free multiplayer access begins Friday, December 11th at 12:01 AM Pacific through Sunday, December 13, at 11:59 PM Pacific.

        This should read "begins Saturday, December 12th 12:01 AM Pacific time" then

    • snuke on 12/12/2015 - 13:00

      This is a US promotion, not Eu (Aus), you need a US PSN account to use it.

      • first in line on 12/12/2015 - 18:28

        that's lame

        • snuke on 12/12/2015 - 19:16

          Why, the US did a promotion, it has nothing to do with the rest of the world. The same as if they have a sale on certain things, it has nothing to do with the rest of the world.

        • first in line on 12/12/2015 - 20:02

          @snuke:

          So the free PSN multiplayer for US accounts active now?

        • snuke on 12/12/2015 - 20:41
          -1

          @first in line:

          Friday, December 11th at 12:01 AM Pacific through Sunday, December 13, at 11:59 PM Pacific.

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