All console games should be Free2Play

**Hard core Rikki** · June 28th, 2012, 18:21

Thoughts on a future gaming landscape where acquisition costs are out of the picture, and user retention is focused on?

Crytek Says All Console Games Should Be Free-To-Play

Quote:

Crytek's CEO Cevat Yerli spoke very openly to CVG about the future of digital gaming and in his mind retail gaming should even exist. If it were up to him all games would be free-to-play and cannibalizing the retail market like no tomorrow.

CVG's segment of Yerli's soliloquy about the retail versus free-to-play market can either be seen as a revolutionist embracing idealism or as a corporatist trying to embrace the idealism of greed-culture. If you don't quite understand the second part, I'll explain it a little further on, but for now here's what Yerli had to say about the future of free-to-play...

"We see the future of consoles as free-to-play - ideally focussed on free-to-play. That's what I want to see in the future. But unfortunately not everybody shares this vision due to many other reasons.

Eighteen months ago we talked to Microsoft about doing a free-to-play version of Warface, and then again 12 months ago, and then again six months ago. It was the same with Nintendo and Sony.

So really the number one issue that needs to be resolved is how companies like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo become independent from retail so that they can go fully digital.

That is the biggest issue in the industry right now, because any change implies pressure from retail."

...

Rest of article here.

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Strike105X · June 28th, 2012, 18:25

Ouch... makes the future of Crysis to look grim... and its so hard to find a good shooter this days...

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**Hard core Rikki** · June 28th, 2012, 18:34

Retail prices essentially cap the revenue to the maximum number of copies of a game that can reach players (to an advance maximum of full retail price, cannibalized by low margins in compareason to digital downloads, where copies are not scarcely available, pricing can be experimented with and "whales" essentially subsidize a game for the rest of players).

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koko · June 28th, 2012, 20:01

Afaik, there are three F2P games for the PS3.

DC Universe
Killzone 3 MP
Dust 514

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Ahielia · June 28th, 2012, 22:09

"Free to play" as in pay a purchase fee, then don't pay any additional fees (such as monthly ones like mmos) while playing online, and/or getting patches and stuff?
Most games should be that, though I totally understand it for mmos, because the 2 that I've played actively, WoW and Rift, we've been getting several expansion packs worth of content and balancing, well worth the monthly fee.
Monthly fees for fps and such, with little to no balancing or additional content, **** no.

I am a bit confused as to why they only said console games, not all games.
Are PC gamers supposed to be milking cows for the console gamers?

Princess Garnet · June 28th, 2012, 22:30

Free to play can mean many things, but typically it's a game that is free up front (no initial purchase cost), but it's comparatively limited versus if you pay for extra content.

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Paratech · June 29th, 2012, 00:30

Frankly I'd rather buy a game than get a free crippled game and have to compete with kids with their parents credit cards buying all the top level equipment, and either having to waste money on virtual junk to be competitive, or get constantly beaten.

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Yes, I like getting (primarily digital) games on sale @ bargain prices!

don't like it? Just deal with it!

Samor · June 29th, 2012, 15:12

I prefer purchasing downloadable titles over f2p most of the time, although it is a great way to demo a game.

lagunareturns · July 1st, 2012, 06:57

Name one successful or really great f2p game that overshadows any retail game equivalent... I think there is none...

With shorter and shorter dev times allocated to games and games are constantly being refurbished as new games, retail is keeping the decent games alive.

F2p games will be lacklustre at launch as it will developed in the mindset that there won't a rush of money at launch so expect a demo, and the people who pay will have a more enjoyable experience but it will still be less than a retail release, as the end users will have to wait for extra content to be added and that will depend on people paying consistently and the fact the devs aren't lazy and will continue to do updates.

Also note that most f2p releases are buggy at launch as they will use you the free players as squash out the remaining bugs as screw over the paying players as they will experience the bugs more than the free user as they get to progress quicker into the game...

The bug fixes will be delayed unlike retail releases as they have to wait till the games earns enough money to pay the devs to do updates....

Also f2p model is popular now as it is easier way to milk the end user money, 90% it is earning more money than the game would have made retail but in the end the games earns more money for game that is lesser quality than you would as a retail release....

Crytek is using f2p to rip people off on what is going to be crippled game as you need to pay make any major progress in the game and all f2p games cripple the single player game as the progress is slowed down if you aren't paying you are ruining the tempo of the single player story line, hence why f2p games have quest based story lines...

Kaizen · July 1st, 2012, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by lagunareturns

Name one successful or really great f2p game that overshadows any retail game equivalent... I think there is none...

Team Fortress 2. It's made more money after going f2p and selling trinkets for the kids than it did as a cost item. Rotmg too makes a fortune.

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Xblade · July 1st, 2012, 17:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by lagunareturns

Name one successful or really great f2p game that overshadows any retail game equivalent... I think there is none...

League of Legends.

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June 29th, 2012, 00:30	#7
Paratech Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: USA Posts: 8,140	Frankly I'd rather buy a game than get a free crippled game and have to compete with kids with their parents credit cards buying all the top level equipment, and either having to waste money on virtual junk to be competitive, or get constantly beaten. __________________ Spoiler: -Dreams of getting a new 360 XBOX in 201x. -Current consoles:Wii, Slim PS2, also has 3DS / GBA SP and a PSP 3000 -PC: AMD Quad Core A8-3800 Accelerated Processor, 16GB DDR3 Ram, Radeon HD45xx 1 GB video card, 1 TB hard drive, 500 GB hard drive, Supermulti DVD Burner, Wireless Lan 802.11 b/g/n, Beats audio Studio Quality sound, Win 7 Home Premium Yes, I like getting (primarily digital) games on sale @ bargain prices! don't like it? Just deal with it!

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June 28th, 2012, 18:25	#2
Strike105X ヒットハード＆高速 Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Scanning... Posts: 13,843	Ouch... makes the future of Crysis to look grim... and its so hard to find a good shooter this days... __________________ DeviantArt\|AnimeList\|PC Config

June 28th, 2012, 18:34	#3
Hard core Rikki Moving into the beat Join Date: May 2004 Location: Perpetual Hawaii Posts: 11,385	Retail prices essentially cap the revenue to the maximum number of copies of a game that can reach players (to an advance maximum of full retail price, cannibalized by low margins in compareason to digital downloads, where copies are not scarcely available, pricing can be experimented with and "whales" essentially subsidize a game for the rest of players). __________________ deviantART \| Blog \| VBA-M \| GeneralEmu \| XTemu \| FMVTool2 \| @ES \| Shendo new NGemu toolbar http://ngemu.ourtoolbar.com

June 28th, 2012, 20:01	#4
koko ! Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Saudi Arabia Posts: 5,362	Afaik, there are three F2P games for the PS3. DC Universe Killzone 3 MP Dust 514 __________________

June 28th, 2012, 22:09	#5
Ahielia I'm sexy and I know it! Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: VIKINGLAND! Posts: 4,456	"Free to play" as in pay a purchase fee, then don't pay any additional fees (such as monthly ones like mmos) while playing online, and/or getting patches and stuff? Most games should be that, though I totally understand it for mmos, because the 2 that I've played actively, WoW and Rift, we've been getting several expansion packs worth of content and balancing, well worth the monthly fee. Monthly fees for fps and such, with little to no balancing or additional content, **** no. I am a bit confused as to why they only said console games, not all games. Are PC gamers supposed to be milking cows for the console gamers?

June 28th, 2012, 22:30	#6
Princess Garnet From Love and Limerence Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,557	Free to play can mean many things, but typically it's a game that is free up front (no initial purchase cost), but it's comparatively limited versus if you pay for extra content. __________________ "The heart has it's reasons that reason knows nothing of."

June 29th, 2012, 15:12	#8
Samor crill stazy Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: NL Posts: 7,667	I prefer purchasing downloadable titles over f2p most of the time, although it is a great way to demo a game.

July 1st, 2012, 06:57	#9
lagunareturns Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,333	Name one successful or really great f2p game that overshadows any retail game equivalent... I think there is none... With shorter and shorter dev times allocated to games and games are constantly being refurbished as new games, retail is keeping the decent games alive. F2p games will be lacklustre at launch as it will developed in the mindset that there won't a rush of money at launch so expect a demo, and the people who pay will have a more enjoyable experience but it will still be less than a retail release, as the end users will have to wait for extra content to be added and that will depend on people paying consistently and the fact the devs aren't lazy and will continue to do updates. Also note that most f2p releases are buggy at launch as they will use you the free players as squash out the remaining bugs as screw over the paying players as they will experience the bugs more than the free user as they get to progress quicker into the game... The bug fixes will be delayed unlike retail releases as they have to wait till the games earns enough money to pay the devs to do updates.... Also f2p model is popular now as it is easier way to milk the end user money, 90% it is earning more money than the game would have made retail but in the end the games earns more money for game that is lesser quality than you would as a retail release.... Crytek is using f2p to rip people off on what is going to be crippled game as you need to pay make any major progress in the game and all f2p games cripple the single player game as the progress is slowed down if you aren't paying you are ruining the tempo of the single player story line, hence why f2p games have quest based story lines...