Today in the world of game manufacturers there is a certain stagnation. Especially large-scale AAA-class projects do not go out, the market is flooded with boring arcades. In addition, many companies are stubbornly trying not only to sell the game once, but also to receive money from users in the future.
Additional DLCs are for sale, game payments are introduced. Finding a high-quality game (and a complete one) in Jewel-boxing is becoming almost impossible. The logical continuation of the current situation was the model of free-to-play.
What it is?
This is the name of the transfer order of the game to the client, in which the latter receives the product conditionally for free. The application is kind of free, but at the same time it widely uses internal payments. For example, to pass a particularly difficult level, you can pay a certain amount of "game" gold, which is purchased for real money. Theoretically, it can be earned in the game itself, but in practice it is simply unrealistic, since it is disadvantageous to the developers of free-to-play.
Simply put, this is the name of the product distribution model, in which the creators do not advertise the fact that the player will pay the same (even more) for a "free" application, as if he bought a normal game of AAA-class.
Main methods
Of course, the developers are well aware that in most cases the offer to buy some additional content will not be very well received by users, and therefore they will go to all kinds of tricks. In general, there are two fundamental aspects on which they emphasize:
- Interesting gameplay that should really “catch” the player.
- Close integration with social networks, with which you can share your achievements, thereby motivating friends to also install the game.
An ideal example is Subway Surfers, which is just a part of the free-to-play genre. Initially, it was possible to really pass the game for free, trying to run as far as possible, avoiding a collision with obstacles and trains. But over time, more and more paid “keys” began to be introduced there, which allowed to run further. In addition, many new characters appeared, for which they also had to pay.
Below we will consider all the basic techniques that are widely used to obtain the largest possible profits from the game.
Content Selling
The infamous "Merry Farmer" immediately comes to mind. As practice has shown, the developers get the most money from a “free” game by selling decorations for houses, which are useless for balance, and other nonsense.
Remember also all the games that exploit the idea of the famous "Tamagotchi". So, all kinds of hats for characters bring giant profits to the manufacturer. We warn you once again that such a scheme succeeds if the game provides for integration with social networks. Here takes its banal greed and competitive instinct.
Be "not like everyone else"
Customization is very popular in Free-to-Play games. People almost always tried to stand out, and modern mass media raised this desire into a cult. Game developers are extremely successful in exploiting such aspirations.
Even more or less serious projects did not escape such a miserable fate. For example, in online projects, selling and searching all kinds of “unique” items is very popular. They absolutely do not affect the balance, do not make the character stronger or survivable. A very vicious practice has become very common in recent years, in which initially an entire chapter is divided into parts, some of which are “locked” and revealed only for money.
Some exceptions
A small digression should be made here. If the position of the player himself is not completely absurd, when you have to pay for any win, the Free-to-Play model of the game can be quite viable: when you have a real chance to win, sometimes you don’t even think about hidden payments.
If the choice “pay or go out” is found at almost every step, the game producer can be suspected of fraud on completely legitimate grounds.
Additional Features Sales
Very often in games there are many hidden functions that do not have a visible effect on the balance, but they need to be bought. A good example is Butfield, a Free-to-Play model in which it is developing rapidly. There you can purchase various types of weapons, full analogues of which are also in the free version. In the arcade, this situation even reaches the point of absurdity when people buy (for example) "boots of the walkers" with which loading levels starts to go a little faster.
In a word, additional functions greatly contribute to the donation, as it implicitly, but facilitate the passage of the game, but more often just create such an impression. The developer does not even have to invest anything!
In a more honest version, some kind of “super-machine gun” actually affects the balance, but not so much that it could be used as a universal means of “bending”. It is very important to remember that it is in this case that Free-to-Play goes into the Pay-to-Win category (until you buy, you won). Then the direct extortion of money begins , and the sports excitement of the players instantly disappears.
In some games, the free-to-play (Dota 2, for example) is not so ugly. Yes, there you can purchase some items for your character. But they will not bring absolutely any changes to the balance: only the appearance of your hero will change, which you will dress in new clothes. You can treat such injections as collecting.
Selling a gaming advantage
This Free-to-Play scheme is increasingly appearing in online games. Despite the profit, it poses a serious danger to the developers themselves. If the game has the ability to challenge the enemy to battle, then the balance is skewed in the most cardinal way. This is very bad not for players: if gamers see how the advantage is being sold, the project will lose its entire solvent audience in a matter of months.
At the first stage (immediately after the introduction of such payments), there is a sharp purchasing activity of novice players. "Old-timers" begin to leave at this time. When the outflow of players reaches a critical level, attempts are made (obviously wrong) to stop it, giving paying players more advantages. When the model moved to this level in the Aion game, the project instantly lost almost a third of regular players.
And therefore, if you see that something similar begins in your favorite online RPG, think carefully about the meaning of pouring in your real hard-earned money there. You can lose them trite at any time, since there will simply be nobody to fight with: professional gamers will soon leave.
Selling ... time!
A very popular method to “shake” money from players. Do not want to build an altar in a day? Pay a couple of dollars and your hero will appear in a couple of minutes! The most impatient will transfer the money, but many will ignore this opportunity or will switch to another game. However, if the creators with this technique do not go too far, there is nothing particularly terrible in it.
That 's what free-to-play is. In Russian, we can say that this is the name of a special model for the distribution of digital content, in which the user is often misled by the imaginary lack of a game fee. In addition, one can also name those projects that are simply unrealistic to pass without a donation.