Comments on: MMO Subscriptions vs. Free to Play http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/ A blog on virtual worlds, games, and digital content, from Matt Mihaly Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:04:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: Updates on My Robot Game | TylerCruz.com: An Internet Entrepreneur’s Journey http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-115668 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:52:38 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-115668 [...] One advantage of the idea of using virtual items, temporary powerups, or other small purchases is that you aren’t putting a cap on how much your biggest fans are able to spend on your game. Generally speaking selling virtual items works best in a persistant-world / MMO style of game, where you can put all kinds of social and economic effects into play to really leverage the idea…” [...] […] One advantage of the idea of using virtual items, temporary powerups, or other small purchases is that you aren’t putting a cap on how much your biggest fans are able to spend on your game. Generally speaking selling virtual items works best in a persistant-world / MMO style of game, where you can put all kinds of social and economic effects into play to really leverage the idea…” […]

]]> by: You Should Be Making A Premium Flash Game | Gambrinous Blog http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-111326 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:27:32 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-111326 [...] Luckily there's a better way to fund game development than scrounging for ad-pennies. It's been proven in almost every form of consumer entertainment ever made, from theatre to music to cinema and yes, even games: ask the consumer of the entertainment to pay you for providing it. That's it. Asking the players to fund game development takes away the dilution effect of trying to get ads to pay everyone's cut, and directly rewards the developer regardless of the size of their 'aggregated traffic-power'. It works for all those other kinds of entertainment, and it certainly works for the rest of the gaming industry. And it can work for flash games too. Several developers have been successfully charging players for full versions of their free flash games, by integrating a payment processor such as PayPal. This method (often called a "demo", write that down) is so proven that almost no console or PC game doesn't use it. Others have tried splitting out the purchase into smaller bundles using a microtransaction/virtual currency provider, and are charging for decorative things like a fancy hat or small upgrades like level packs and new weapons instead of selling the whole game in one go. In fact recently launched providers such as MochiCoins, GamerSafe and Heyzap have made it easier than ever for flash developers to take payments from players. One advantage of the idea of using virtual items, temporary powerups, or other small purchases is that you aren't putting a cap on how much your biggest fans are able to spend on your game. Generally speaking selling virtual items works best in a persistant-world / MMO style of game, where you can put all kinds of social and economic effects into play to really leverage the idea – just look at this breakdown. Regardless of how you are charging players, or what they are paying for, the fact that you are charging at all means you are using what I call the 'Premium Flash Game' revenue model. [...] […] Luckily there’s a better way to fund game development than scrounging for ad-pennies. It’s been proven in almost every form of consumer entertainment ever made, from theatre to music to cinema and yes, even games: ask the consumer of the entertainment to pay you for providing it. That’s it. Asking the players to fund game development takes away the dilution effect of trying to get ads to pay everyone’s cut, and directly rewards the developer regardless of the size of their ‘aggregated traffic-power’. It works for all those other kinds of entertainment, and it certainly works for the rest of the gaming industry. And it can work for flash games too. Several developers have been successfully charging players for full versions of their free flash games, by integrating a payment processor such as PayPal. This method (often called a “demo”, write that down) is so proven that almost no console or PC game doesn’t use it. Others have tried splitting out the purchase into smaller bundles using a microtransaction/virtual currency provider, and are charging for decorative things like a fancy hat or small upgrades like level packs and new weapons instead of selling the whole game in one go. In fact recently launched providers such as MochiCoins, GamerSafe and Heyzap have made it easier than ever for flash developers to take payments from players. One advantage of the idea of using virtual items, temporary powerups, or other small purchases is that you aren’t putting a cap on how much your biggest fans are able to spend on your game. Generally speaking selling virtual items works best in a persistant-world / MMO style of game, where you can put all kinds of social and economic effects into play to really leverage the idea – just look at this breakdown. Regardless of how you are charging players, or what they are paying for, the fact that you are charging at all means you are using what I call the ‘Premium Flash Game’ revenue model. […]

]]> by: MochiLand » Blog Archive » You Should Be Making A Premium Flash Game http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-111323 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:52:13 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-111323 [...] Luckily there’s a better way to fund game development than scrounging for ad-pennies. It’s been proven in almost every form of consumer entertainment ever made, from theatre to music to cinema and yes, even games: ask the consumer of the entertainment to pay you for providing it. That’s it. Asking the players to fund game development takes away the dilution effect of trying to get ads to pay everyone’s cut, and directly rewards the developer regardless of the size of their ‘aggregated traffic-power’. It works for all those other kinds of entertainment, and it certainly works for the rest of the gaming industry. And it can work for flash games too. Several developers have been successfully charging players for full versions of their free flash games, by integrating a payment processor such as PayPal. This method (often called a “demo”, write that down) is so proven that almost no console or PC game doesn’t use it. Others have tried splitting out the purchase into smaller bundles using a microtransaction/virtual currency provider, and are charging for decorative things like a fancy hat or small upgrades like level packs and new weapons instead of selling the whole game in one go. In fact recently launched providers such as MochiCoins, GamerSafe and Heyzap have made it easier than ever for flash developers to take payments from players. One advantage of the idea of using virtual items, temporary powerups, or other small purchases is that you aren’t putting a cap on how much your biggest fans are able to spend on your game. Generally speaking selling virtual items works best in a persistant-world / MMO style of game, where you can put all kinds of social and economic effects into play to really leverage the idea – just look at this breakdown. Regardless of how you are charging players, or what they are paying for, the fact that you are charging at all means you are using what I call the ‘Premium Flash Game’ revenue model. [...] […] Luckily there’s a better way to fund game development than scrounging for ad-pennies. It’s been proven in almost every form of consumer entertainment ever made, from theatre to music to cinema and yes, even games: ask the consumer of the entertainment to pay you for providing it. That’s it. Asking the players to fund game development takes away the dilution effect of trying to get ads to pay everyone’s cut, and directly rewards the developer regardless of the size of their ‘aggregated traffic-power’. It works for all those other kinds of entertainment, and it certainly works for the rest of the gaming industry. And it can work for flash games too. Several developers have been successfully charging players for full versions of their free flash games, by integrating a payment processor such as PayPal. This method (often called a “demo”, write that down) is so proven that almost no console or PC game doesn’t use it. Others have tried splitting out the purchase into smaller bundles using a microtransaction/virtual currency provider, and are charging for decorative things like a fancy hat or small upgrades like level packs and new weapons instead of selling the whole game in one go. In fact recently launched providers such as MochiCoins, GamerSafe and Heyzap have made it easier than ever for flash developers to take payments from players. One advantage of the idea of using virtual items, temporary powerups, or other small purchases is that you aren’t putting a cap on how much your biggest fans are able to spend on your game. Generally speaking selling virtual items works best in a persistant-world / MMO style of game, where you can put all kinds of social and economic effects into play to really leverage the idea – just look at this breakdown. Regardless of how you are charging players, or what they are paying for, the fact that you are charging at all means you are using what I call the ‘Premium Flash Game’ revenue model. […]

]]> by: Top Indie Game Development Blogs | Gambrinous Blog http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-94655 Thu, 07 May 2009 12:42:11 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-94655 [...] Interesting business-themed articles, particularly about charging models for MMOs, microtransactions & virtual goods. Despite my obvious affection for virtual asset sales in a free-to-play model, I don’t think the decision to go free-to-play or subscription (or one of a myriad of other business models for MMOs) is that simple. It’s not purely about whether you’re reaching a larger audience and I don’t believe it’s a given that you’ll make more money, overall, with the free-to-play model. I think it’s largely dependent on the game you make and the audience that ends up developing for it. Read full post [...] […] Interesting business-themed articles, particularly about charging models for MMOs, microtransactions & virtual goods. Despite my obvious affection for virtual asset sales in a free-to-play model, I don’t think the decision to go free-to-play or subscription (or one of a myriad of other business models for MMOs) is that simple. It’s not purely about whether you’re reaching a larger audience and I don’t believe it’s a given that you’ll make more money, overall, with the free-to-play model. I think it’s largely dependent on the game you make and the audience that ends up developing for it. Read full post […]

]]> by: peter http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-93619 Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:01:03 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-93619 So yeah, at least an order of magnitude, if not close two 100x difference. So yeah, at least an order of magnitude, if not close two 100x difference.

]]> by: Top Gamer Blog » Archive » GameSetLinkDump: Acting, Faces, Groovy http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-85171 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:09:07 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-85171 [...] The Forge · MMO Subscriptions vs. Free to Play This is ankle-deep in an ongoing discussion, but Matt Mihaly has lots of good points, so what the hey. [...] […] The Forge · MMO Subscriptions vs. Free to Play This is ankle-deep in an ongoing discussion, but Matt Mihaly has lots of good points, so what the hey. […]

]]> by: Azor http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-84933 Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:35:10 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-84933 I'm continually flabbergasted at the amount people are willing to pay to be among the most powerful combatants in Achaea, both in terms of time and money. It's funny that the goals I personally enjoy pursuing in the game cost nothing, while those who want to pursue combat end up paying through the nose. I’m continually flabbergasted at the amount people are willing to pay to be among the most powerful combatants in Achaea, both in terms of time and money. It’s funny that the goals I personally enjoy pursuing in the game cost nothing, while those who want to pursue combat end up paying through the nose.

]]> by: Playing together, business panel — frans goes blog http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-83938 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:23:30 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-83938 [...] More information at e.g.: http://jussilaakkonen.wordpress.com/ also: http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/ http://kotaku.com/350895/blizzard-loots-12-billion-from-2007-thanks-to-wow http://www.vivendi.com/corp/en/press_2008/documents/20080130_Vivendi_Revenues_For_2007.pdf [...] […] More information at e.g.: http://jussilaakkonen.wordpress.com/ also: http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/ http://kotaku.com/350895/blizzard-loots-12-billion-from-2007-thanks-to-wow http://www.vivendi.com/corp/en/press_2008/documents/20080130_Vivendi_Revenues_For_2007.pdf […]

]]> by: Brett http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-83839 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:38:25 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-83839 Reply to Matt: To be honest, I am sometimes surprised its viable at all, but yeah. I definitely see your point there. Reply to Matt:

To be honest, I am sometimes surprised its viable at all, but yeah. I definitely see your point there.

]]> by: Akiba http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-83771 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:35:37 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2008/10/04/mmo-subscriptions-vs-free-to-play/#comment-83771 Hi Matt, Interesting post. I can't help but see the parallels with the famous software pricing blog from Joel Spolsky: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html More food for thought on the same line and a fun read too. -Akiba Hi Matt,

Interesting post. I can’t help but see the parallels with the famous software pricing blog from Joel Spolsky:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html

More food for thought on the same line and a fun read too.

-Akiba

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