Sony are looking to implement a micro-transaction policy in pricing with The Agency, Sony Online Entertainment's new spy-based MMO. Similar to games such as Guild Wars, micro-transactions are payments made for in-game items, and pay only areas, rather than paying a lump sum for a time period. However, sceptics remain critical of the possibility that end users could end up paying more through micro-transactions than a monthly fee system.

At this week's Leipzig Games Convention, the president of Sony Online Entertainment John Smedley held a talk on "Subscriptions vs Micro-transactions" in regards to MMO games. During the briefing, he indicated that Sony was looking at making their upcoming pc/ps3 spy-themed MMO a free play title, meaning there would be no subscription fee (unlike World of Warcraft). Instead, SOE would fund the title via micro-transactions and a 'velvet-rope policy' where certain area are only available if people pay for access.

Smedley acknowledged that consumers are used to the subscription based model (as is SOE, considering their long history of subscription based MMOs), but said that they "believe very strongly that this is the future of MMO gaming, but we also know that it is something that players have an issue with... There's going to be an aftermarket, and we want to control it so that players don't get duped into having something switched out from them."

Ameer via ps3fanboy.com »