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Is Free-To-Play Really the Future?

Is Free-To-Play Really the Future?

Somethin’ for nothin’ many not necessarily be what’s best for gamers.

The opinions on this subject are quite varied across the board. Some people absolutely love the thought, while others have embarked on a crusade to see this new business model completely thrown out and forgotten. It’s one of those polarizing topics within our community which has people pondering that eternal quandary; should games retain retail pricing or adopt the microtransactions route moving forward?

If I were to put you on the spot right now, you’d likely have a hard time making up your mind. Understandably so, as it’s a complex proposition with many branching (and perhaps unintended) consequences. But don’t feel too bad if you find yourself on the fence and unable to pick a side. Those within our industry can’t seem to arrive at a consensus either. BioWare will hold a panel discussion in early 2015 to help sell the public on the concept of free-to-play (which their Star Wars: The Old Republic title is now based on 100%). Here’s a brief description of what’s planed for the discussion: “The success of games like League of Legends and SWTOR show that free-to-play games are not just coming to AAA entertainment–the future is now. F2P can lead to massive success, but if done carelessly, can alienate your consumer base. Free-to-play is the future, and this is a very good thing for our game players. Game makers should focus on building games that players can fall in love with. If they do so, players will spend and spend happily.” It reads.

OK. That sounds great and all expect for one obvious point. It’s hard for BioWare to make such a case, when their very own peer’s strenuously object to their position. Take recent comments made by Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick for an example, who essentially called free-to-play games boring and stated they kinda’ suck (in so many words). Another huge issue is monetization, as he feels the structure just doesn’t generate enough revenue to support it. “The problem with the free-to-play model is 95-97 percent of people who engage with your content don’t pay for it. 3-5 percent do; on a good day, 10 percent…The other thing that’s problematic with free-to-play games is in many instances, although not all, they’re vastly less engaging…Most free-to-play games aren’t really high quality content at the end of the day. Certain competitors in that space have stated strategies of not making high quality content. And I’ve never seen an entertainment company–ever, ever, ever–succeed that didn’t have a stated strategy of making high quality content. Not everyone can actually achieve it, but you need to at least try.” suggests Zelnick.

Is Free-To-Play Really the Future?

So we clearly have an industry at odds with itself, as developers continue talking out of both sides of their mouths. The question now becomes: who do you really trust? I feel the answer lies within you. YOU are the one to trust. You know what suites you best far better than anyone. I think many reasons why people hate free-to-play is the abuses that often arise as a result. Slicing off DLC and charging a premium for trinkets does nothing but breed contempt in consumer’s hearts and minds. However, great DLC (that truly feels like it’s adding to the experience) is something many of us will scramble for hand over fist.

It’s still too early to tell if microtransacting is truly the wave of the future, but so far it seems to have worked out pretty well. It’s literally built the mobile games market from the ground up, so how much longer can console makers ignore the idea?

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