Free-to-play can be ?as profitable as a console game? ? EA Developers and publishers alike are starting to realize the freemium market is getting bigger by the year. Free-to-play has grown considerably lately and is worth making a long-term investment in. At least, if your name is Frank Gibeau and work as head of the EA Games label. He even went so far as to say that a free-to-play game can be ?as profitable as a console game? during an interview.?We?re aggressively investing in things that are very low cost like free-to-play,? said Gibeau. ?The free-to-play group inside of EA Games is growing extremely fast ? we?ve got 17 million users.*Frankly when they get to scale, have huge audiences, are very profitable, they?re not cannibalising the main games and they actually reach markets that we?re not currently serving.? http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/20...-can-be-as-profitable-as-a-console-game-—-ea/
Team Fortress 2 goes free-to-play, available now [video=youtube;eQ8duKs2Plw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ8duKs2Plw[/video] Valve?s super popular team-based multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2has gone free-to-play, the developer has announced, meaning the title is now a microtransaction-supported affair.This goes for PC and Mac users who can download the entire game as a freebie now, along with the new Über Update, which is the biggest update the title?s seen yet (there have been 200+ since the game?s launch way back in 2007). http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2011/06/24/team-fortress-2-goes-free-to-play-available-now/
Free-to-play games hitting Xbox Live in 2012? We know that Microsoft have always been a little awkward when it comes to certain types of games. MMOs and LittleBigPlanet-style games have had a hard time getting onto the Xbox 360. The free-to-play model has been somewhat of a question mark for them too, but that could change in 2012.A source trusted to IGN has revealed that Microsoft will make the free-to-play model available for their system next year. Publishers and developers could create games where consumers will be able to play without charge (obviously) but then purchase other aspects like weapons, perks, in-game points, basically all the stuff you find in other free-to-play titles.The model made its way to PS3 recently with the release of Free Realms.JoyRide, a 360 exclusive, was originally intended to take advantage of it. What new games could fall under the model? http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2011/04/11/free-to-play-games-hitting-xbox-live-in-2012/
World of Warcraft trial mode revamped, now free-to-play until lvl 20 Blizzard is giving World of Warcraftits own on spin on the ever-popular free-to-play model. Those interested in the biggest MMO out there can now hop in free of charge and play as long as they?d like. There are a number of restrictions that keep players from the full experience though.First off, players going at it for free won?t able to advance their characters beyond level 20. There?s also a maximum of 10 gold cap in place with trade skills limited to 100 ranks. Guilds are also off limits.Blizzard?s put up a sizable FAQ which details more limitations and answers a few Qs you may have. Find it here. If you?re not swayed, sign up for the free starter edition here. Azeroth awaits. http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/20...-mode-revamped-now-free-to-play-until-lvl-20/
Black Rock?s final project a free-to-play game Earlier this week Disney announced its plans to shut down Split/Seconddeveloper Black Rock Studio. The studio was reportedly working on a new project at the time of the layoffs, and now that game has been revealed.According to a source speaking with Eurogamer, Black Rock?s last game was a free-to-play game tentatively named Champions Alliance.The source said that the game was similar to Riot Games? League of Legends and was to release, at least in beta form, in ?six *months or so.?However, that game never got off the ground because Disney reportedly had no faith in the studio to make anything other than racing games.?Disney seemed unable to work out what to do with the studio and didn?t trust us to do anything other than racing really ? despite having a range of great talent at the studio, from a wide variety of backgrounds,? said the source. http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2011/07/02/black-rocks-final-project-a-free-to-play-game/
Global Agenda free-to-play ? ?more users, revenue than ever Another free-to-play success story: the userbase of Hi-Res Studios MMO Global Agendahas grown five fold since the developer shifted to the freemium model.On top of that, according to COO Todd Harris, revenues generated ?are higher than they ever have been before.??We recently shifted it in the past quarter to free to play and we?ve only seen great things out of that decision,? Harris tells PC Gamer. ?We have many many more people creating accounts every day, many more people playing concurrently, our revenues are higher than they ever have been before which means we can develop content and put it into the game faster than ever before.? http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2011/07/05/global-agenda-free-to-play-more-users-revenue-than-ever/
Jagex CEO says Runescape will be cross-console, free-to-play (or else) Developer Jagex is positioned to ship Runescape across all consoles, free-to-play and with complete cross-platform capabilities, if CEO Mark Gerhard has anything to say about it. Which, as CEO, he does. Gerhard told Develop that some console owners wanted to charge for Runescape, which he sees as absolute lunacy. "People get this for free. You're shooting yourself in the foot," Gerhard said. "But Sony was ahead of the game; they said they get it. They understand free. But all three said, 'okay, but we won't let our console play online with any other.'" Gerhard is waiting for the console market to realize cross-play is a universally beneficial strategy, at least with Runescape, as it doesn't have any graphical aspects that favor one console over another. :demonangel: CLICK THE LINK 4 MORE :demonangel: Jagex CEO says Runescape will be cross-console, free-to-play (or else) | Joystiq
