Western Developers Embracing Free to Play

Free to play MMOs and MMORPGs have always been the traditional business model in Eastern games. Titles like MapleStory and Fly For Fun (Flyff) have been quintessential examples of good Korean free to play MMORPGs. Western companies haven't really begun embracing the free to play concept up until more recently. Prior to 2010 for example, Western companies were still focusing on subscription based games like World of Warcraft and Eve Online. Not to say that pay to play subscription games are dead, because they aren't. Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV for example has been thriving since it was relaunched as “A Realm Reborn” and buy to play games like Guild Wars 2 have received glowing reviews (including on this site!), but it's worth mentioning that Western developers have started to take free to play seriously.

Final Fantasy 14 - A Successful Subscription MMORPG

Blizzard Entertainment is one such example of a Western developer embracing free to play. One of the most successful online games of 2014 and 2015 so far has been Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, a free to play collectible card game that has earned over $100 million in 2014 alone, making it one of the most profitable MMOs currently on the market. Those numbers are set to rise as well with the mobile version of the game having launched. Hearthstone isn't Blizzard's only free to play offering either. Their Heroes of the Storm game is set for release this summer and is expected to give other MOBAs a run for their money. Despite not labeling itself a MOBA, the game features MOBA like elements. Another free to play game in the Blizzard lineup is Overwatch, which is basically a Team Fortress 2 clone with some MOBA/Arena elements.

Heroes of the Storm - Another F2P game by Blizzard

Blizzard isn't the only game developer taking free to play seriously. Just head on over to Steam's free to play section to see dozens of Western developed free to play games growing in popularity. H1Z1 from Daybreak Game Company (currently buy to play, but will be free to play on release) is one of the most popular titles on Steam with over 4,000 players online at any given time. Warframe reaches over 25,000 peak concurrent users while Unturned (A zombie survival game with Minecraft graphics) reaches over 10,000 users. It's clear that more and more Western developers are taking free to play seriously, and the reason is that free to play games world-wide make up about 70% of online game revenue while subscription based games make up the remaining 30%. Another relatively new Western developed title that's doing well on Steam is Marvel Heroes from Gazillion entertainment.

Warframe - Another Successful Western F2P Game

Western companies have been reluctant to embrace free to play until 2011. I think the turning point in the industry was when Valve decided to make Team Fortress 2 free to play on June 23, 2011. Team Fortress 2 wasn't the first pay to play game that went free to play, but it was the first time a big Western studio really embraced the model. Since going F2P, Team Fortress 2 has consistently remained in the top 10 most played games list on Steam. Dungeons and Dragons Online from Turbine went from subscription based to free to play in late 2009 and enjoyed a huge surge in players. I suspect that all major studios will continue to embrace free to play and Valve's next Counter-Strike game (Whenever that may be) will be free to play. I don't think we'll see many more subscription based online games going forward, but buy to play titles will last a bit longer. Even buy to play games will go fully free to play in the years to come.

Been playing MMOs since I first got my hands on Ultima Online when I was 12 years old. Played so many games from Star Wars Galaxies to MapleStory to DAoC to World of Warcraft. Long time League of Legends player too! I'm also Known as "ReMo" and "Remotay"