Some would think this is horrible, but to me, it would be wholly dependent on the title/what was bought and sold.
Nothing in this world is free. Development, servers, character licensing, it all costs money and if those costs aren’t passed down, you’ll never afford to continue. So for a game, especially one with online content or continuing content, to be free to play, money has to come from somewhere.
Where the road splits is what is being sold. Things that give an edge in the game, pay-to-win? Uninstalled. Time limited FOMO triggers? Disgusting. Random loot boxes? Begone foul spirit.
On the other end, if all that is for sale is shiny baubles and trinkets, things no one needs but can have as a reward for “supporting development”? I’m cool with that. If I feel no requirement to pay up, it’s being handled right, and if I like they game, sure, I can part with a fiver to look like I’m dipped in gold or whatever the supporter pack adds to help them keep the lights on(at least until I get bored of it in a week or two and switch back :P).
I’d be curious what the divide is between the two kinds of purchases are. I’m sure I’ll be disappointed to find it was mostly P2W scum, though.
I’ve paid to remove ads. Does that count? I don’t see it any different than playing a demo and purchasing the full version.
Don’t believe those numbers for one fucking second.
They are charging $11,500 to get access to their conjob “gamer statistics”
Six years ago I tossed Warframe 10 bucks before I stopped playing to thank them for 500 amazing free hours, but that’s literally the only time I’ve ever made any sort of freemium purchase.
Those free games? I can’t afford that shit
That sounds really high.
I haven’t spent money on a freemium game since the 2010’s
I think this is fine. Everyone can spend their money how they want.
Before the mobile gacha NieR Reincarnation shut down, I spent money on it, not even for characters or anything but just because I wanted Square Enix to let Yoko Taro make another game. I really enjoy his work.
Super Mecha Champions is another gacha game (this time on Steam) that I have spent money on, but I also have over 450 hours in the game. To say I have gotten my money’s worth would be a colossal understatement.
Now, there are also a lot of free to play games I haven’t spent a single dime on, for various reasons. NIKKE, Snowbreak, MechWarrior Online, Helldivers 2, Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero, and DanMachi Memoria Freese, to name a few. These games arent necessarily bad, I just haven’t felt that these games have earned my money yet. And usually it comes down to me just not playing the game enough. My Cost vs Time balance doesn’t feel justified spending money on a free game like a paid game without me getting the same amount of enjoyment.
I guess i did too. Mech warrior online, and warframe are the only ones i ever bought stuff for
Im extremely disappointed.
A new report has found that 82% of American gamers made an in-game purchase in freemium titles last year.
I think I can count the number of freemium games that I’ve played on one hand. DoTA 2. World of Warships. Path of Exile.
…actually, that’s all I can think of. There must have been some others somewhere in there.
Awesomenauts is now freemium, but back when I played it, it wasn’t.
And I can’t recall ever purchasing anything in-game from a F2P game.
I’m not ideologically opposed to it as such – I mean, I like traditional expansions, and I suppose that paying for a base game and buying additional content out-of-game isn’t that different from having a free base game plus in-app purchases. Or maybe like having a demo version, something that’s less-common these days. But I’ve never seen something that seemed worthwhile.
But I just can’t imagine what in God’s name people are playing and buying in this camp. I’d always assumed that it was a small handful of whales that actually bought this stuff.
Just based on other statistics…according to this, 48% of US games are females, and based on past reading, those kind of competitive F2P games that I’ve tried, MOBAs and the like, do not sell well with them. That is, if those statistics are correct, there has to be a whole genre of F2P games targeting female gamers.
kagis
https://quanticfoundry.com/2017/01/19/female-gamers-by-genre/
Yeah. The most-popular two genres among female gamers, according to this (slightly older) data, is Match-3, followed by Family/Farm Sim. There must be some huge world of F2P farm sims out there.
People buy cosmetics because they think they look cool and want to support the game they like. In WoWs, some premium ships are honestly hella fun in unique ways (while others are dumb op but of course some ppl pay for that too). In gachas it’s a mix of just wanting the character and gameplay advantages.
Personally the stuff I don’t get is spending money on the mentioned match 3 games, farm sims, and casual mobile games in general. Which are a huge market as mobile gaming is, for whatever reason I cannot comprehend, the largest gaming market in terms of revenue.
Which are a huge market as mobile gaming is, for whatever reason I cannot comprehend, the largest gaming market in terms of revenue.
Accessibility? Most people have their smartphone with them more than they do their computer, so they can play while waiting in a line or something.
I agree that technically, smartphones don’t compare all that well with computers, but the platform than you have beats the one that you don’t, I suppose.
https://time.com/6174510/how-much-screen-time-is-too-much/
Research published in 2021 found that Americans in their early twenties used their phones an average of 28.5 hours per week in 2020—up from 25.9 hours per week in 2018.
I wouldn’t care if it was only ever small and occasional. It’s the whales that I wish would go instinct.
It’s the whales that I wish would go instinct.
They are going instinct. The psychological tricks employed by these companies get us by tapping into our base instincts…and some people are more vulnerable than others.
