In a Q&A video released today, Sony has confirmed that the PlayStation 4 does have party chat and you will not need a PS Plus membership in order to use the feature. They’ve also revealed that services like Netflix and free-to-play games (like Blacklight: Retribution) won’t require a membership either.
Furthermore, the PS4 will not support PS3 DualShock controllers, but will support PS Move controllers, your PSN avatar and username will carry over to the PS4 and your friends list will be capped off at 2,000 friends.