This article was taken from the January 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The sequel to your favourite video game might not cost you a penny. Ever-increasing numbers of games publishers are shifting to a radically different business model for their titles -- one that neatly skirts around the threat of piracy.
Traditional off-the-shelf games are pay-to-play, meaning you have to pony up before you hit the joystick. Free-to-play is the reverse: you download the game for free, and then can choose to pay small amounts for certain perks, such as faster skill accumulation, get-out-of-jail-free cards or cosmetic enhancements such as a nice hat for your character.
The business model originated in China, Korea and Brazil, where piracy was so prevalent that selling packaged titles was pointless.
Then it spread to the UK and US when creators of Facebook and iOS games wanted to make their titles available cheaply but still turn a profit.
Now it's taking the entire industry by storm. More than eight major online games have free-to-play elements either already implemented or in the pipeline. EA has 17 million users on free-to-play games, and at the time of writing seven of the top ten "top grossing" games in Apple's App Store are free-to-play.
Several of those are from a company called Tapjoy. At a panel discussion at the Mobile Games Forum in January, Tapjoy's Paul Bowen told attendees: "If you're making a paid-for game, stop. Make a
[free-to-play] game with virtual goods and you'll make five times the money."
Explore more: Big Ideas For 2012
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
