Analyst: Free-to-Play on the Decline - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 23 November 2014 / 3,646 Views
SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen speaking at the SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen attended by GamesIndustry, has stated that free-to-play games are on the decline. However, he stated that paid for games like World of Warcraft show that there is demand for premium content.
"I think games are splitting up the same way," van Dreunen said. "You have the free-to-play, social/mobile experience, and then you have the blockbuster, super-produced fantastic stuff. And there are really different audiences here. So I think what's really happening is on the one hand you have the free-to-play audience, and I think that's reached its limits, to some degree."
"Then there's the premium audience saying, 'Yes, I want to buy a game," he continued. "I don't want to deal with the ads and in-game items. I want premium.' While in the mobile market, three-quarters of stuff is built with free-to-play as its dominant monetization model, you see somewhat of a backlash."
"[Kids] prefer premium," he added. "So like Minecraft, you buy it for $6 on tablets and that's all you need. Sure, you can buy an expansion, but the experience is there. And I think that works well for kids as well as for parents, and game companies have kind of figured that out. Certainly platforms have figured it out by saying, 'We don't want people advertising in-game spending to little children.' Because that borders on the unethical."
________________________________________________________________________________________
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. Outside, in the real world, he has a passion for the outdoors which includes everything from hiking to having received his B.A. in Environmental Studies. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
