Nintendo and Free-To-Play Games, NOA President comments

[Wiintendo]

RolStoppable said:

Roma said:
i think games should cost something. sure free is good but they ruin the market for those who try to make a living out of it as indie developers...

Most people who play Facebook games wouldn't even consider paying for games, so indie developers don't get hurt anyway.

If your options at work are work, do nothing or browse Facebook, the latter is the most attractive choice. Facebook games (and other free ones) don't get played, because people absolutely want to, rather they just happen to be the best choice out of the limited options.

Think about why people play video games. The free-to-play model won't really work on dedicated gaming platforms, because those people who buy such devices are fully prepared to pay for video games, otherwise they wouldn't buy a machine that is first and foremost about playing games in the first place. So free-to-play is no threat to games on dedicated gaming platforms.

These figures below are projected by many to be only growing exponentially, estimates of a 5 fold increase in facebook revenue by 2013, & 5x increase in hardcore FB games.  There's said to be a gold rush right now, even a takeover, see below.

 

Kabam study suggests hardcore gamers are flocking to Facebook
82 percent of them come from the console game space
http://blog.games.com/2011/09/22/hardcore-gamers-facebook-kabam-study/


Among beta testers that played Star War Old Republic, 90 percent planned on buying the game, and -
About 55 percent of the players surveyed are currently playing games on Facebook.
http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/18/star-wars-the-old-republic-debuts-on-tuesday-as-one-of-the-most-ambitious-games-ever/


Nearly 120 Million People Now Play Social Games Weekly
-A Quarter of Players Have Purchased In-Game Currency, 31 million players
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-survey-from-popcap-games-finds-explosive-growth-of-social-games-in-the-us-and-uk-in-the-past-18-months-2011-11-14


Android, iOS Games Shifting To In-App Purchases, Ads
Ad revenue is growing, and free-to-play (also called "freemium" and F2P) games are now taking the lion's share of the revenue for the top games.
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/android-ios-games-shifting-to-in-app-purchases-ads/


practically this whole article is about how PC gaming went free-to-play, spotlighting upcoming high-profile 2012 PC games following this trend, as PC gaming does as a whole.
PC Gaming in 2011: Year in Review
2011 established something most already knew: people don't like paying for things. The trend of almost every MMO you've ever heard of going free-to-play continued...
http://pc.ign.com/articles/121/1214246p1.html

 

EA: Free-to-play can be "as profitable as a console game"

"The free-to-play group inside of EA Games is growing extremely fast - we've got 17 million users, 4-5 services stood up right now."

Free gaming has never been bigger, and it's likely to grow more as large publishers like EA take interest. "It's a very exciting time from our perspective because it's not all about consoles," says Gibeau, "it's about smartphones, tablets, free-to-play, browser, social."                                                                                                        http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/29/ea-free-to-play-can-be-as-profitable-as-console-games/

 

earlier this year in February EA said that "Free-To-Play"(and online) is becoming it's core business model
& late last year in November 2010 EA said that the Free-to-Play Market Will Threaten Console Business
now @ EA they're saying this,
 

Games industry seeing biggest transition in its history - Moore

Companies that "rely on the old model" will "die off" within three to four years

The game's industry is in transition. Smartphone gaming, social gaming, digital and cloud content delivery, free-to-play and a new console generation - big changes are ahead and the games companies that don't keep up will "die off" within three to four years.                                                                                                       

8-Dec-2011
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/328924/games-industry-seeing-biggest-transition-in-its-history-moore/

 

 

With all that said,

These freeium games can be quite hardcore, robust and varied offerings (sometimes major IPs, and from big developers) covering nearly all genres competently comparable to their console counterparts.