Today in an interview with IGN, King's Tommy Palm spoke about how conventional game developers are trying out the free-to-play model of games and how he sees free-to-play and micro-transactions as being the future for gaming.
“If you talk to many hardcore gamers, they’re not happy about it right now, but if you asked them about the long term, “Do you want to continue playing your favourite game for years to come?’ And the answer will be yes.” Palm said, talking about how he sees the micro-transaction as being strong and a 'better model' for games in general.
He did acknowledge that free-to-play games needed to sensibly price their micro-transactions though, and take care to avoid the pay-to-win mechanics that sometimes result. “At King, for instance, we took the decision to make our games truly free-to-play, so you will never end up in the position where you’re forced to pay. So you can play all the way to the end without having to pay.”
He pointed towards Blizzard's card game Hearthstone as being a good way to do a free-to-play game and avoid the pitfalls. Indeed, the game was a runaway success, partially because it was based on an already existing property (Blizzard's long-running and popular World of Warcraft MMO) but also because unlike Blizzard's previous games it didn't require a constant costly subscription fee and the card packs and Arena runs you can purchase with real money can also easily be bought with the in-game gold you earn by completing the daily challenges set.
The problem is though, most free-to-play games are not Hearthstone or even close. Free-to-play has become associated with the sort of game that has been made not to give the audience enjoyment, but to mine their pockets as much as possible, as quickly as possible. If f2p is indeed the 'future' of gaming, I can only hope it's through games like Hearthstone and not ones such as the much-maligned Dungeon Keeper mobile game.