This is a question I think about often. If you are going to offer a live service game, should that game be free? Now this includes subscription fees and base entry fees. I understand charging for Battle Passes, DLC (expansions offering premium content), and the like. But if we look at something like Fortnite, which makes a FORTUNE off of Skins/Battle Passes/Crew Memberships, why is every game not following this model? Opening up your game to a slew of people waiting for the next big thing is in your best interest. These people are keener to purchasing skins, emotes, and whatever else you're offering.
There are games that offer the base entry fee and then either services die out OR they go to a free-to-play model months after release. The people who funded the game for the last few months do not get refunds. Now sure, that company is taking a loss as well but I really feel the way to move forward is to offer these games free initially. If you know you are going to have a gacha feature or earn your keep with premium skins/content, then why offer the base price? You are alienating a majority of your audience immediately. No one wants to pay for a game that nearly requires you to pay MORE for the game. This doesn't mean that just because it is free that it will survive.
Rotating content (new maps, quests, etc) are a surefire way to keep your players engaged. Having a barebones launch with a price tag ensures that your player base will shrink by the time you get that content out if at all. Looking at games like Knockout City which launched at 25 dollars and is now free to play. The numbers dropped so much between that time with minimal content that it is ultimately pretty hard to salvage.
With the F2P model, there HAS to be the content though as well or no one will play/spend money. If we use Rumbleverse as an example here, was a free launch (but a paid beta) was such a great concept but came with little to no premium content. Sure there were some costumes, but you had the same map, the same movesets, and the same gameplay structure. Match that with typical "Modern Day Gaming" launch issues (connectivity to servers, bugs) and it became a doomed IP. This was even coming from EPIC. You know, the Fortnite guys.
We can say that paying for it initially lets the developers/publishers get some money upfront, but will hurt your reputation in the long run. It may seem impossible to match the success of Fortnite, Warzone, and Apex Legends but they are all FREE and have been succeeding to the maximum. Making people pay $20 for Dragon Ball: The Breakers and then paying for the gacha feature to MAYBE get an extra character is insane in this day and age. I get it, you don't HAVE to pay if you do not want these characters, but still. It is the principal. I'm more than willing to spend a few sheckles on a well tuned F2P game than I am an entry fee for a game that may or may not survive a few weeks. We should be putting out quality content FIRST and FOREMOST.
So, to my point, if you are making a live service game (Looking at you, Avengers, please make sure it is something that people will enjoy first. Then, send it out to the world and get everyone's hands on it. You will see the money rolling in if you keep the updates coming, the skins a flowing and those maps rotating. Don't charge us upfront and then free it up once the ship starts sinking. It's just bad for business.
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