The Freemium Trend - Why F2P games could save quality gaming

[OmarFW]

It seems that more and more games nowadays are being converted to free to play games or becoming ‘freemium’ if they aren’t starting out that way already.

What that means if you aren’t familiar is that the game is free to play forever, requiring no subscription or initial fee, but there is a cash shop from which you can purchase premium items, gear, clothing etc. This concept has actually been around for quite a long time but only utilized in the realm of small time MMORPGs mostly. Popular indie MMOs like Rappelz and Maplestory, while still not having the massive playerbase of titles like World of Warcraft or EVE Online, are still thriving simply because they are free so they attract not only the normal crowd of gamers but also people who cannot afford a monthly subscription or costly expansion packs. Eventually MMOFPS titles like War Rock, Gunz: The Duel and the more recent APB: Reloaded have begun to pop up and increase in popularity over the years as well.

The question is does this make money and do people actually buy cash shop items? The quick answer is yes.

[continued...]

http://gamermc.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/...ium-trend/