Will the F2P model end gaming as we know it?

[SeanP]

Despite the continued success of console and PC gaming, F2P apps on mobile platforms have been outperforming traditional gaming by a wide margin. The success of Pokemon Go is well documented, and recently, Fire Emblem Heroes, a "gacha" F2P title, is now reportedly making 500 million USD a day.

What is the business motivation for video companies to remain traditional? Game of War and Clash of Clans have both been remarkable financial successes, and the cost of making these games is nothing close to the budget required for AAA titles.

We'd be foolish to assume the market for traditional gaming will ever disappear forever, but the cynic in me fears that some video game companies will inevitably chase the money there is to be had in the "casual" phone market.

 

[TsuyoyRival]

This is a very interesting post, I need to say it upfront. First of all, in my opinion, the traditional gaming companies need to improve some aspects to outmatch the F2P games, otherwise, they might be surpassed in the future. Of course, the graphics and all are superb and much better compared to F2P games, but in the long run, companies might invest on F2P games in consoles and this could be problematic for the traditional companies.
Nonetheless, I think that for us, customers of the gaming company, we are at a brink of something extraordinary about to happen.

 

[PenguinManiac]

It is certainly a relevant phenomenon, and one we can't easily dismiss. Supporting a F2P game by constantly pumping out new content, thus keeping the user base satisfied and engaged throughout the months and, possibly, years, sounds way easier than investing millions of dollars to produce one major game every year or two, if not worse. It's too convenient for companies. That's exactly why they have introduced DLCs and micro-transactions into games.
The main difference between mobile gamers and traditional gamers, to software houses, is dedication, or, in other terms, income reliability. Console gamers buy multiple games for their console, especially from the same series, and are more likely to buy new products once a good level of fidelity is achieved. Mobile gamers, on the other hand, tend to move from one game to the other way more quickly, and these fluxes determine the rise and fall of mobile games with too unpredictable results. The Japanese mobile userbase is radically different, as they see mobile gaming as a natural evolution of handheld gaming (which is extremely popular there), which is why Fire Emblem Heroes is faring so well.

Our market isn't mature enough to let companies survive through mobile games only, and maybe it never will. Mobile games and console games provide vastly different experiences, and neither can invade the other's field because of how differently people play on their phones and on their consoles.
It won't end gaming as we know it, but we'll definitely see even more major companies jump into the F2P mobile market in the future. As long as the main series are still given the attention they deserve by the developers, that's fine to me.

 

[Soulwatcher]

I don't think that gaming as we know it is going to change. PC and console gaming is never going to go away. But you are going to see more FTP games for PC and Console and your going to see game developers use the FTP model. In the regular games we play. For example I believe when Elvove was released it was released with $1,200+ in skins that you can buy. Because they know there are people that are going to buy all the skins.

 

[arachnophobik]

I doubt this, I see no harm in an F2P game until they release a huge paywall where I basically have to spend real life money to get competitively strong. Sadly, a lot of F2P games are like this. Most of them, in fact, would offer you to buy certain items at a discounted real life cash price if you don't want to grind for months to get the same item. I think the models could be better, but at this point, I'd rather play a pay to play a game where you only pay once and everything else in the game is free and reasonable.