At risk of sounding satirical, back in my day I remember gaming being a little different — chiefly in regard to free games. I remember free "games" beginning and ending at demos on the Xbox 360. I became more aware of free gaming on mobile; the entire ecosystem seemed to be comprised of games free to download with microtransactions and ads aplenty. Only in recent years, however, has there been a concerted effort to bring this aforementioned model to the console and PC scene. Long gone are the days of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and F.E.A.R. Combat, when free PC games were genuinely free.

With games starting free and going on to achieve great success such as Apex Legends or Fortnite to games that saw revitalization by going free later on in life, such as Rocket League or Fall Guys. This latter aspect was particularly highlighted by the release of Overwatch 2, which entailed more-or-less a mandatory DLC patch to the original Overwatch that, alongside other changes, made the game free-to-play. As paying at point of entry becomes increasingly sidelined in the AAA side of gaming, some questions must be asked; how did this happen, what does it mean for the industry, and how long will it last?

Prices for Apex Coins in the Apex Store

When inspecting the reason for this mass trend, we must look to the breakout success of Fortnite. Following the success of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds, the developers of cooperative PvE shooter Fortnite: Save the World quickly created a similar experience with the free-to-play Fortnite Battle Royale. Whilst PUBG is now free as of 2022, the contrast between the at-the-time upfront cost of PUBG and the free entry of Fortnite created clear distinctions in success. Fortnite has become a household name with its incalculable amount of cross-brand pollination, its incredibly successful ports, and the game's influence in pop culture. That's not to say that this is entirely down to its monetization, but it's plain to see how its revenue systems have brought in the V-bucks for Epic Games. Not only did Fortnite's Battle Pass feature become a mainstay of free-to-play gaming, but made the leap seamlessly into traditional AAA gaming.

Throughout the last two console generations, console and PC gaming have increasingly followed the microtransaction trend of mobile gaming. It's now near unheard of for any AAA multiplayer release to not be choc-a-bloc with in-game purchases. However, this trend began with — and indeed continues to see — developers wanting to have their cake and eat it too; in-game purchases combined with an upfront charge. This came to a head with the trend of lootboxes, particularly in games such as Overwatch and Battlefront II. These skinner-boxes were met with incredible backlash — especially with EA's decision to gate a great degree content in Battlefront II behind a dubious paywall, within an already paid game. However, these microtransactions have been seen as more permissible in Fortnite because it's free-to-play. Purely cosmetic items that exist within a free game are much more acceptable than in a game with an upfront charge.

This has allowed free games to get away with greater schemes; Apex, for instance, hasn't seen nearly as much outcry about its lootbox system of Apex Packs as its predecessors have seen. Moreover, games being free to play make them more accessible — there's no opportunity cost to downloading a free game. This is how games such as Fall Guys have seen mass revitalization upon going free-to-play; the system works akin to a try-before-you-buy scheme where players can opt in to making purchases after first familiarizing themselves with a title — lending more to the permissibility angle of free-to-play monetization.

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Continuing the thread of accessibility, free-to-play games work brilliantly with the modern online climate. Many gamers in today's age pick up new games based on what their favorite content creators play on YouTube, TikTok, or Twitch — with free gaming making this all the easier to do. The impact of social media marketing on gaming has been undeniable, as the world of recorded and streamed gameplay becomes more and more interwoven with an industry that initially showed much more hostility towards it. Content creators share the limelight in these online experiences just as brands do with Esports tournaments, influencer-themed skins and sponsorships. Social media-based mass marketing is by no means exclusive to the freemium industry, but being free at point of entry gives them a massive boost. Players can easily pick up a game if the media ecosystem has convinced them that it'll tickle their fancy, no charge.

Rocket League Store

These selling points for the free-to-play model are certainly beneficial for gaming. Making microtransaction-filled games free is a net improvement for the industry and accessibility is always a good thing. However, this boom is not without its drawbacks. Firstly, there's the issue of what's happened to the mobile market that inspired the flow of freemium systems onto console and PC gaming. Mobile gaming is both setup and punchline — a market oversaturated with shovelware and skinner boxes given app form. This isn't to spit on the medium of mobile gaming nor is it to attribute the rampant issues with it solely to freemium play, but the ease at which free gaming allows for microcosmic gambling simulators in the mobile gaming cannot be ignored.

More pressingly, however, is that the new free-to-play model still relies on the same monetary trappings as games that cost upfront and within. They still rely on 'whales' overspending on the game to subsidize for those who don't spend anything. They still use lootboxes that can cause a cycle of addiction. Prices can be exorbitant and those imitating the Battle Pass system brought on by Fortnite have often been criticized for offering little value in the quasi-subscription service feature. Of course, having these games be free upon being bought is an improvement, but that doesn't change the exploitation inherent with some of these practices.

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So, will free-to-play ever die? I don't think so. If anything, I think with the dramatic success of the free-to-play model across all platforms of gaming we'll see more AAA games go free. The market is risky, certainly, but also very lucrative. It's perfect for established IPs or games with the backing of a major publisher. It's not that the days of the middle-shelf, single-player experiences are ending either, thanks ot the growing AA sector and indie games scene are increasingly filling the gaps left by the biggest budgeted games..

Of course, we'll still see singleplayer releases backed by big publishers as well as for-purchased and smaller scale multiplayer titles, but I think foregoing the upfront charge that will become the norm in due time. This, in a vacuum, will be a positive for the game industry — but there is the potential issue of it accelerating the covetous attributes of microtransactions. Whether it does or not, those practices will be here to stay even if they're improved by games going freemium. A tectonic shift in the landscape of the industry is what will be needed to fully shift away from what has been established in the 2010s. Will the microtransaction bubble burst? Only time will tell.

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