{"id":184741,"date":"2023-08-30T13:18:22","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T17:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/?p=184741"},"modified":"2023-08-30T13:18:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T17:18:28","slug":"game-industry-alternatives-to-pay-to-play-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armchairarcade.com\/perspectives\/2023\/08\/30\/game-industry-alternatives-to-pay-to-play-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Games Industry Exploring Alternatives to \u201cPay to Play\u201d Model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s an interesting time to be a gamer. What was once considered a relatively niche hobby has ballooned to become the world\u2019s largest media market but quite some margin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activision-Blizzard\u2019s Call of Duty franchise, for example, generates more revenue alone than the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. We\u2019re presiding over a moment where games are bigger than ever, but also more costly to develop, and these costs often end up getting passed down to the consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the old certainties around how people buy and access games are also changing. It\u2019s true that if you want to play the latest triple-A games you will still, in all likelihood, need to front the bill for a new games console or gaming PC, and then drop $70 on top of that for the game you\u2019re eager to play. But a growing number of gamers are taking advantage of interesting alternatives to this classic \u201cpay to play\u201d approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When smartphones became a popular part of the gaming world in the 2010s, the titles on offer lacked ambition in most cases, and represented more than casual diversions. Everyone knew \u2013 or assumed \u2013 that \u201cproper\u201d gaming remained the province of legacy platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as these devices grew more powerful, and developers similarly became more adept at working on mobile architecture, the lines between what constituted a true console game, and what was only fit to become a smartphone app, began to blur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Next Generation Smartphone Gaming<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now it\u2019s not uncommon for games to enjoy simultaneous release on both PC, PlayStation 4 and smartphone<\/a>, such as 2020\u2019s well received and graphically sophisticated Genshin Impact. In fact, current estimates suggest that new smartphones have about as much gaming power behind them as 7th generation home game consoles like the Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Now too shabby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this development goes both ways, with aspects of the mobile gaming world coming to impact the wider industry. We all know what a freemium game is \u2013 those, normally mobile, titles that are free to download and play, but feature restrictive paywalls that block off content and the possibility of progression without paying up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while these justifiably have somewhat of a bad rap, they have proven enormously lucrative \u2013 so much so that the mobile sector has come to account for over 50% of the industries $300 billion in annual revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Free-to-Play and Microtransactions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, game developers across the board are eager to get in on the action, but it\u2019s not the freemium model that has proven so vital to the new context we find ourselves in, but a related concept \u2013 microtransactions. These are small DLC items that can be purchased in-game in many mobile titles, and they have since then found their way into almost every major console and PC game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this makes possible is the proliferation of a new game type, called Free-to-Play. Now, let\u2019s be clear \u2013 free games, in of themselves, are nothing new. In fact, certain sectors, such as the global iGaming market, have long offered free slots<\/a> and other table games to prospective patrons. This makes sense as only a small number of players are required to convert to real-money bets to make this service viable as a means of promotion. But Free-to-Play games are somewhat different.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Call
Call of Duty Modern Warfare | Warzone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

These are full, triple-A grade titles that are available to download and play instantly without spending a dime. This is all made possible by microtransactions. It turns out, if you give gamers a full game, and they begin to enjoy it and participate in its adjoining community, they will in most cases naturally want to customise their character to express their personality or affiliations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this is no mere money-spinner \u2013 Free-to-Play games have proven remarkably successful. Fortnite, for example, posted that the game had made over $9 billion in microtransaction sales in its first 2 years alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These kinds of numbers are remarkable, and it\u2019s easy to see why everyone from Activision-Blizzard with their CoD: Warzone battle royale spin series, and even 343 Studios \u2013 the team behind the Halo games \u2013 is eager to incorporate free-to-play into their flagship releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>The Future<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the coming years we can expect to see free-to-play become ever more integrated into the core fabric of game design, so much so that it\u2019s feasible to imagine it one day supplanting pay-to-play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, other modalities are in the ascendant, such as the play-to-earn (P2E) model which goes a step further<\/a> in enabling gamers to earn money \u2013 in the form of crypto assets \u2013 from playing the game in question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the coming years we can expect to see free-to-play become ever more integrated into the core fabric of game design, so much so that it\u2019s feasible to imagine it one day supplanting pay-to-play. 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