It's hard to believe that there wasn't a little pride involved in EA not making this choice much, much earlier. "By admitting that it could not compete with Activision Blizzard in the subscription MMO market, EA will have, in some people's eyes, capitulated" Will removing the barriers to entry really lead to a market where any game can succeed, and, perhaps more importantly, will it lead to better games? Dan Pearson Obviously, the perceived value of the product is vital here, but as more free-to-play products of all kinds enter the market it will only become more difficult to compete for the players' time and their incremental injections of revenue.
Zynga's current woes can be attributed to a number of factors, but, as Rob Fahey recently pointed out, the failure to monetise its new users is a key part of the problem. In the absence of hard numbers for revenue and profits we're left to assume that free-to-play leads to untold riches, but what's good for DC Universe Online won't necessarily be good for The Old Republic. The key question now is, will it work? Free-to-play has been the apparent saviour of a growing number of MMOs, but while these games have been given a second chance by adopting the model, the degree of success they have enjoyed since the transition is less clear. It's hard to judge the significance of any event in the moment, but it's worth entertaining the notion that The Old Republic's inability to sustain a subscription model will be regarded as a milestone in how games on this scale are created and sold. well, more or less.Ĭertain aspects of the game and all content beyond level 50 will remain behind a pay-wall, but for the most part these concessions seem to be more about EA's damaged pride than actual value for the consumer. For many, the outcome was clear even before the game launched, but after several months of encouraging rhetoric EA finally made the call: this November, Star Wars: The Old Republic will go free-to-play. Few needed the services of Michael Pachter to accurately predict the future of Star Wars: The Old Republic.
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