gaming Pay-to-Win Freemium Mobile Games: The "Glorious" Future of Video Game Industry?

[Solid 1,326]

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/why-did-hideo-kojima-leave-konami

 

EDIT: As of right now this has been confirmed to be false by Konami, quoting that Kojima is "taking a long term break."

 

McCarthy's ignorant quote aside (he obviously has not been trying very hard to search up more reliable information about Metal Gear), this raised some concern for me, not just because of how I am a Metal Gear fan.

 

I do not know specifically when the pay-to-win freemium mobile game hype all started, and perhaps Japan's video game industry is starting to give in as well, but I know it is a huge issue over here in China.

 

China's video game sphere is plagued by those low quality pay-to-win freemium mobile games that are basically rip-offs of other not as low quality but still pay-to-win freemium mobile games.

 

AAA console game industry is virtually non-existent here, with some rare PC game industry that pretty much follows the same pattern as the significantly more popular mobile game industry (refer to previous paragraph).

 

I can definitely see the appeal from a business point of view. It's very very very cheap (literally a few hundred/thousand times cheaper than AAA consoles) to make, it offers better relative return (due to cheap start-up cost), and creativity is apparently optional (just look at all those Clash of Clans ripoffs on the App Store). However, from an artistic point of view (video game is an art too!), this is catastrophic, I know Kojima is not amused by this trend.

 

This may or may not be an issue elsewhere, and I am 100% aware that there are quality freemium games out there (Supercell I am looking at you ), but is this hype just a temporary hype? Or is it becoming a permanent trend that will slowly kick out the AAA blockbuster game industry, replacing it with low quality, cheap-to-produce, pay-to-win freemium games played on tiny screens?

 

Let me hear your thoughts and opinions on this. Thank you for your time.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Solid Scorpion

[NeonCobalt 256]

I can't stand this trend. If you want to have unlockables that we pay for, I'm okay with that. But don't make it so that the game is practically unplayable without them, effectively making a "free game" one of the most expensive games you have. Paid items should be aesthetics or slight enhancements that don't effect how you play vs. other players.

 

Now granted, I play TF2, which is kinda freemium nowadays, but I don't feel like my experience is any less because I barely, if ever, buy anything for it. Sure, I could advance a bit faster, but that's what trading is for. But I don't feel like I am getting less out of it than those who pay incredible amounts on this stuff. And that, quite frankly, is how it should be.

[Dark Horse 12,799]

Freemium games are here to stay, I've little doubt about that. With the rise of smartphones they've become cheap, profitable sources of income for many developers, smaller ones that may not have the budget or workforce of corporate giants. They're also generally simple games that any user can pick up and play, regardless of past experience, and can be done so virtually anywhere. You don't need a big TV or sound system to go with it for the full experience. The games themselves are usually only a couple of dollars at most, so it's a much cheaper experience. Of course where they get you is the often ridiculous amount of micro-transactions which they almost shoehorn you into purchasing or else force you to wait an almost ungodly amount of time before you can get what you want for free. The thing is though that if a person really enjoys the game they often won't mind paying a couple extra to get this really special item or new level or whatever it may be, so it's a system that seems to work. My point is that I understand why the games have become so popular despite seemingly just being a cashgrab, especially for the likes of Konami who have the budget and team to create much bigger projects. But that brings me to your question:

 

No, I personally don't think AAA titles are going anywhere. The market and demand for them is still huge, and still hugely profitable, even for the large amount of budget that goes into them. I also think that there are certain developers who continue to strive to make the next big "Epic" game, something that makes us go "WOW!" and you just can't do that with low budget titles. Video games especially in the last decade or so have mostly become all about the spectacle; big flashy graphics and scenery, epic orchestral pieces, engaging story-arcs that span multiple titles etc. I don't think the industry would survive if it were to throw that away for cheap money makers, even if they are profitable. That would just be massive step back for the industry on so many levels, and I'm pretty sure most developers know that.

 

Konami are just a unique case in my opinion, they haven't been what they used to be in years. A lot of their mainstream franchises had been suffering. When was the last time you played a good Castlevania or Silent Hill game? (Well, Silent Hills could have been awesome but alas it wasn't to be...) But the last HD Collection was atrocious. Even Metal Gear has suffered with the breakdown between them and Kojima, easily one of their best assets. I think Konami had been planning this move for quite a long time now.

[Mouse 302]

Every time I see a freemium game on mobile I graze past it with no hesitation. There all the same; just terrible. I sure wish this freemium trend would screw right off.

[Solid 1,326]

I can't stand this trend. If you want to have unlockables that we pay for, I'm okay with that. But don't make it so that the game is practically unplayable without them, effectively making a "free game" one of the most expensive games you have. Paid items should be aesthetics or slight enhancements that don't effect how you play vs. other players.

 

Now granted, I play TF2, which is kinda freemium nowadays, but I don't feel like my experience is any less because I barely, if ever, buy anything for it. Sure, I could advance a bit faster, but that's what trading is for. But I don't feel like I am getting less out of it than those who pay incredible amounts on this stuff. And that, quite frankly, is how it should be.

TF2 player here too.

 

To me TF2 is more in the "Pay-to-Play" category, since people have to literally "pay" to participate in some of the events and get those cool looking stuff. Unlike "Pay-to-win" games, TF2 is still enjoyable even if you don't spend money, you don't all of the sudden get ridiculously overpowered with all those $$$ equipments and go on a server clearing spree one-shotting everyone while you are practically invincible. The equipments are (mostly) balanced out, so that they have no overpowering advantage over another, so that people can still do very well even with the default stock weapons, plus they are accessible to everyone, just need to get lucky with the drops to get what you want. I'd say most of TF2's income, apart from the events, comes from the cosmetic items, which does not give you ridiculously op attributes (in fact, more like no attributes at all).

 

I have some thought about this sort of feature being more used on this mobile freemium hype, but apparently the "pay-to-win" option is evidently beating the "pay-to-play/pay-for-cool-cosmetic" option.

 

Take a look at these two mobile shooter games "The Respawnables" (By Digital Legends) and "Blitz Brigade" (By Gameloft, the company that brought you the My Little Pony: Gemming Friendship is Magic game app) for example. Both are visually very similar to TF2, except they are out right "pay-to-win."

 

In Respawnables, they have this weapon called the battle ram, it kills everyone in three to four shots, has infinite range, and has a fire rate of roughly 3-4 shots per second. That's right, you die in 1 second. How to get this hyper op weapon? Only for $11.99, a.k.a in app purchase. Other rage inducing Inta-kill weapons with infinite range include: flare gun, thumper, dragon breath cannon, etc; you can obtain them via paying anywhere around $19.99, or you can grind your way in the events for dozens of hours in which you would up having to pay anyways because you simply cannot compete with all those other guys who are running around with insta-kill weapons.

 

In Blitz Brigade, virtually all the high end weapons are one-shot kill, but they have to be bought with a hefty amount of diamonds. How you get diamonds? Well, in app purchases, give them a good load of $99.99's and you will be able to start racking in the kills.

 

I don't know if TF2's more free-to-play friendly kind of freemium would mean significantly less profit to the point where a company would run into deficit of it relies its income on a freemium game like TF2, but if this is true, it could explain why "pay-to-play/pay-for-cool-cosmetics" freemiums are rare in the mobile game industry.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Solid Scorpion

[1111 1,284]

Freemium games aren't bad if done right like tf2, and aren't that bad if its a fun game to begin with, and paying doesn't give you that much of a advantage. I think the way they do DLC is as bad.

[Megas 27,079]

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/why-did-hideo-kojima-leave-konami

 

EDIT: As of right now this has been confirmed to be false by Konami, quoting that Kojima is "taking a long term break."

Yeah, they're lying. Konami's just saying that just to save face. Everyone knows what really happened, and his contract with the company ends in December

 

 

As for the topic at hand, I do think there's a place for the Free-to-Play model. But unfortunately it's poorly implemented into tons of games and serves as a "Pay-To-Win" method, which which is the most common practice. It's only a matter of time before companies finally realize people are sick of "Free-To-Play" games and microtransactions.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Megas75

[cmarston1 5,952]

I hope not.  

Microtransactions are so annoying.