Matthew Handrahan for GamesIndustry International:
Throughout [Cousins’] talk, and during the course of our conversation immediately after, it becomes clear that, to some extent, Cousins regards free-to-play as an economic imperative. As soon as one competitor in a specific field drops the price to zero, he argues, it becomes very difficult for others to continue charging. It happened to mobile games in the space of a few years, and the touch-paper that will spark the same transition in PC and, ultimately, console gaming has already been lit.
Interesting analysis from the head of ngmoco’s Sweden studio, Ben Cousins. Cousins feels that the free-to-play model, which already dominates the mobile gaming market, is going to take over. Cousins expects a game like Skyrim to be available free-to-play in the coming years.
Of course, free-to-play doesn’t mean it’s entirely free – players are expected to make up for the lack of a purchase fee either by submitting to intrusive advertising or by making in-app purchases, which some gamers find irritating.
“players are expected to make up for the lack of a purchase fee either by submitting to intrusive advertising or by making in-app purchases, which some gamers find irritating.”
Agree 100%. I don’t mind the idea of IAP so much as the ways it is used. Letting me download a game for free with ads or pay to have them turned off. in the same app. Then I can try the first handful of levels as a demo AND not be penalized when I decide I want the ads gone. And definitely do not make me pay AND have ads.
another one that bugs me is having 15 apps that are just themes or levels of a game. yeah Angry Birds I’m looking at you. There is no reason not to have one app where the first whatever levels of a theme are free and then I pay for the rest. or even have one free theme and all the special ones I pay for.
but the biggie. The one that will make me delete a game without looking back, is if I can’t play the game without buying your coins. I should be able to still play, even if slower, from start to finish without that extra purchase. Double if I had to pay for the game in the first place. If I want to speed it up, sure charge me money. Even better let me earn in game money that could be used or if I want to speed that up, give me the option to buy coins for real money.
Some friends of mine recently asked me help them with a game idea they have and I said I would only if they played by the above (should they decide to do in app at all). Turns out they are just as annoyed so it was an easy to deal to make