Sony and Microsoft are offering free access to online gaming this week. The scheduled free online access coincides with the winter recess that students all across the United States will be having. Microsoft got an early start with the free access. The company’s Multiplayer All Access event started Feb. 16 12:01 a.m. PT and will run until Sunday 11:59 p.m. PT Feb. 19. Online multiplayer gaming will be unlocked on Xbox One and Xbox 360 during the four-day span. Players will not be required to have Xbox Live Gold subscription to play online.
In addition to playing for free, players will also be able to download and play two of the most popular games for free during Microsoft’s free access event. The games that will be available for download are Rocket League and NBA 2K17. This free games event also coincides with NBA’s All-Star Weekend.
Sony on the other hand has had a number of free multiple player weekends on PlayStation 4 in the past. But this time around, Sony will try to one-up Microsoft by allowing gamers to play online for free for a full seven days. PlayStation 4 owners will not be needing PlayStation Plus subscription to play online games online from 12:01 PT starting on February 17 until Thursday, February 23 at 11:59 p.m. Sony will not be offering any free full-game trials during this event, unlike Microsoft, as reported by Polygon.
PlayStation 4 is Sony’s first console to require a subscription to play online. In 2013, Sony explained that the subscription requirement to play games online was due to the large amount of investment that the company had put into resources for its online services. Last year, PlayStation Plus has increased the price for its services for the first time in Canada and the United States. PlayStation Plus price went from $50 to $60, as published by GameSpot.
