Love it or hate it, PlayStation's free-to-play business is booming

Revenues up 50 percent year-over-year, company says today during Game Developers Conference.

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The free-to-play business at PlayStation is booming. Today during a Game Developers Conference presentation, Sony revealed a handful of statistics that the company says speaks to the "huge potential" of free-to-play on PlayStation.

Across PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, free-to-play revenues are up 50 percent year-over-year, Sony said. The company did not, however, disclose specific revenue figures.

There are currently around a dozen free-to-play titles available today across PS3 and PS4, Sony said. Some of the big ones are Blacklight: Retribution, Warframe, and DC Universe Online. Sony is also working on PS4 versions ofPlanetside 2 and EverQuest Next.

Here are some other statistics Sony revealed today during the presentation.

PlayStation 3:

• ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) comparable to PC ranges
• Consumers use PlayStation 3 more hours/week than any other console
• Most engaged consumers who spend the most money

PlayStation 4:

• ARPPU skewing higher than PlayStation 3
• Over 90 percent of PS4s connected to the Internet
• Over 80 percent of users have downloaded digital content

All:

• Free-to-play revenue up 50 percent year-over-year
• Conversion rates (from free to paying) vary from 3-15 percent
• Average play sessions upwards of 90 minutes

PlayStation's free-to-play business hasn't been without its struggles, however. Speaking during the panel today, Zombie Studios (Blacklight: Retribution) studio director Jared Gerritzen said he's been frustrated by how long Sony's certification process takes for game updates. This is especially pressing, he said, because free-to-play games need to release new content regularly to keep players engaged.

PlayStation free-to-play manager Sarah Thomson said Sony is aware of developers' concerns surrounding patch certification turnarounds and pledged that Sony will get quicker going forward.

Gerritzen also warned of the doubled-edged sword of microtransactions. He said this business model can be problematic if developers don't design with the consumer in mind.

"Free-to-play can go down a very dark road," Gerritzen said.

Do you play free-to-play games? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/love-it-or-hate-it-playstation-s-free-to-play-business-is-booming/1100-6418437/

Personally I dont like F2P games but its nice to see that sony is doing great.

This is great news. More MMORPG devs might want to get some of that sweet console user market action.

I play some f2p mmorpg on my pc, and p2p ones too.

yeah good news although it was always gonna happen with PS4 due to background downloading and PS3 wasn't really the best for that (unless you were a PS plus member which was optional, again limiting their target audience somewhat).

I myself never touched them last gen but occasionally jump into Warframe for a game or two every now and then just because it only takes a couple of minutes.

iam disappointed. i was expecting much more.
i hope F2p doesnt really take off honestly. i want my 70$ games.

If it's making money, it's not free.

Huh? How many free to play games were their last year?

The EU is about to ban the use of the term "free-to-play"...

It is funny how companies are always using growth rates... comparing growth rates does not make much sense without knowing the absolute numbers.

Take this example.
Product A € 1.000.000 ==> € 1.020.000 ... 2 % growth
Product B € 10.000 ==> € 20.000 ... 100 % growth

which one did better?

I support the EU ban on the word free to play that being said it’s still nice to see Sony doing well in a new business model.

Over 80 % of users have downloaded digital content...

Do day one patches count towards this number?

I think that the majority of gamers still buy most of their games in retail stores (or retail copies via online stores), especially in European Countries, although Sony would probably like us to buy everything digital instead.