Bethesda Softworks parent company Zenimax Media has confirmed that its upcoming MMO The Elder Scrolls Online won't require a PlayStation Plus subscription to be played on the PS4. Xbox One players, on the other hand, will have to pay for an Xbox Live Gold subscription in order to play the game.

All versions of The Elder Scrolls Online, including PC and Mac editions due for release on April 4, will require a $15 monthly fee, in addition to a purchase of the $60 base game. But Xbox One owners will also be required to purchase the $60-per-year Xbox Live Gold subscription that is generally required for all online games on the system. That subscription is also required to use entertainment apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus on the Xbox One, as well as services like Skype and Internet Explorer. Sony doesn't require PlayStation Plus to use similar entertainment apps on the PS4.

In a change from its policy with its previous consoles, Sony generally requires a $50-per-year PlayStation Plus subscription to play most online games on the PS4, though free-to-play MMOs such as Warframe and DC Universe Online have been specifically exempted from this requirement. Sony has also confirmed that the upcoming PS4 release of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn also won't require a PlayStation Plus subscription on top of that game's $13+ monthly fee (that title is not coming to any Microsoft consoles).

In an Elder Scrolls Online Q&A on the PlayStation blog, Bethesda also confirmed that PS4 players would be segregated from PC/Mac players on their own servers. Xbox One players will presumably also be confined to their own servers, owing to a Microsoft policy preventing cross-platform play on Xbox consoles.

Bethesda has not set a specific release date for the console versions of The Elder Scrolls Online aside from a nebulous "later this year."