Free For All

Free-to-play games are now bigger than ever.

 

If there were ever any doubts about the mass appeal of free-to-play games they were dispelled when Riot Games released statistics for their enormously successful Defence-of-the-Ancients-a-like, League of Legends. The game has over 15 million registered accounts, 1.4 million players log in every day, peaking at 500,000 players on the North American and European servers, and has been played for 3.7 million hours. The figures are astonishing and show what a well made free-to-play game can achieve.
 

League of Legends has inspired other games. Hi-Rez Studios, makers of Global Agenda, cited the payment model as an inspiration for their upcoming free-to-play shooter Tribes: Ascend.

 

Tribes: Ascend.

 

Hi-Rez have mentioned that since Global Agenda became a free to play hit they've had five times as many players and their revenues "are higher than they ever have been before." Meanwhile fellow DotA-like Heros of Newerth has decided it too wants a slice of the free-to-play pie. The new system lets you play champions on a rotating basis or buy them with microtransactions. It splits players into basic and verified account, and anyone who has spent money in-games is allowed on verified-only matchmaking, keeping beginners and experts seperate. Players who previously paid for the full game gets a 'legacy account' which them all the heros. Team Fortress 2 kept up the pace after turning free to play a few months back, brinigng out a new update. Partnering with special effects firm Weta Workshop, they've produced a retro sci-fi themed update and crashed rocket scenery and new ray-gun weaponry for the Soldier. 

 

 

With the free-to-play-market doing better than ever, it can't be long until even more companies embrace the new, no-money-down philosophy.

 

Team Fortress 2 - Steam

League of Legends - LoL

DotA