Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Dying Light: The Beast
  • Borderlands 4 review
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Gustave winces
Games $80 games have retreated for now, but analyst says the old $60 or $70 pricing model is dead in the "Wild West" of 2025: "I know a lot of people don't like it, but people still buy these games at these high price points"
Ultimate Chicken Horse screenshot of raccoon
Games "Most players have no idea" how much games cost to make and "everything's more expensive than people think," devs say, as indie hits like Balatro are "the exception"
Best Assassin's Creed protagonists: A close-up of Kassandra during Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
Games Ubisoft claims microtransactions help players "experience more fun"
Rematch
Sports Games Rematch devs "never considered free-to-play," even if it risked being "dead on arrival," because "the best way to make a commercial success is to just make a very good game"
The Outer Worlds 2 gameplay trailer screenshots
Games Microsoft caved to pressure over $80 games in less than 3 months, but I don't think the fight for sensibly priced games ends here
Duet Night Abyss characters with white hair
Action RPGs A gacha RPG is cutting all the gacha garbage so it can just be a better game: "We're completely removing all character and weapon banners"
Rusty's Retirement main character Rusty on a bench
Simulation Games Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, and a strange strategy game from 2023: the now wildly successful dev behind idle farming sim hit Rusty's Retirement says he learned from the greats, and literally called his latest game "Idle Valley" internally
Monster Hunter Wilds beta low poly bug
Monster Hunter Analyst says stumbles like Monster Hunter Wilds' PC fiasco are only getting uglier with intense competition: "A prominent streamer or YouTuber can single-handedly, by showing one screenshot, really impact what the perception of a game is"
Team Fortress 2 soldier holding two grenades
Games Valve "cracked the problem that Netflix was struggling with" using diehard gamers and their backlogs, Steam expert says: "You get access to a bunch of drunken sailors who spend money irresponsibly"
Hollow Knight: Silksong still of Hornet dueling a sword wielding bug
Action Games "Silksong's price is Team Cherry being cool and giving their game away": Metroidvania devs wonder if $20 is unrealistic for their games after Silksong, but "can't afford" to go super low
Third Person Shooters Mass Effect veteran says open-world bot flop Anthem gained momentum within EA because the pitch was "what if BioWare game but it could do FIFA numbers?"
Gnomes art of gnome holding a bloody knife
Strategy Games Paying Valve $108,000 just to be on Steam is "totally worth it," says dev of roguelike strategy game made in 10 months which has now earned over $360,000
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Games After discourse around Xbox Game Pass being an "unsustainable model," industry analyst says that the likes of Fortnite and Marvel Rivals are a "far bigger threat"
Bongo Cat bangs on a counter that displays 47,177. The background is a light, peachy orange color.
Simulation Games Steam's fourth most popular game isn't really a game at all, but it's doubling as a "marketing tool" so effective its devs don't mind that "it's actually losing us money"
Hollow Knight Silksong
Action Games Hollow Knight "was so underpriced" that a fellow Metroidvania dev was nervous to go higher than $15 and bought Team Cherry's masterpiece "multiple times because I'm just like, take my money, please"
  1. Games

In Perspective: Why is everything free-to-play?

Features
By Connor Sheridan published 26 July 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Free-to-played out

Free-to-played out

Cliff Bleszinski's next project is free-to-play. The lead designer of StarCraft's next project is free-to-play. Two of Blizzard's big new games are free-to-play. Obsidian (y'know, the RPG people) are making a free-to-play tank game. Every other paid subscription MMO is converting to free-to-play. You get the picture; game creators and executives are flocking to free-to-play like it's some kind of religious revival.

Nearly matching the upbeat clamor of free-to-play press releases is the distraught roar of gamers conditioned to react to the phrase like lab rats to electric shocks. Where consultants see more accessible games for a wider audience, gamers see more sinister nickel-and-diming. But why are the suits so excited and the gamers so aghast? Turns out they do share (a little) common ground.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
Before we start...

Before we start...

Ok, so you'd be forgiven for feeling like every other video game announced these days is free-to-play, that the freemium business model is popping up everywhere you would expect it and a bunch of places you wouldn't like a bad rash. And it is widespread.

F2P is the best-established new payment scheme for gaming, but it's not the only one. Just look at Humble Bundle, which packs a bunch of games together and lets players pay what they want for them. Even better, look at Itch.io, which lets developers host truly free or pay-this-much-or-more projects with relative ease. Or gaze with one part joy and one part consternation at Steam Early Access, which hosts dozens of successful premium-priced games in their infancy. F2P isn't the only way forward, it's just the one most likely to be compared to a skin condition.

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
They're harder to pirate

They're harder to pirate

Free-to-play games can be hacked, exploited, and linked to illegitimate servers, but it's a lot more difficult to pirate them to the same extent as paid-up-front games. Their marketplace subsistence means they're built to live online. They become as much of a service as they are a product, and it's a lot harder to steal cable than it is to pirate an episode of Game of Thrones.

That makes the genre's growth on PC in particular even less surprising. Many subjects of interest were cited in PC gaming's alleged disappearance, but one usual suspect was piracy. It's impossible to say exactly how much impact piracy actually had on software sales, but it was a grim specter for companies interested in the platform. Making a free-to-play title neatly circumvents that issue, bringing one of the world's most accessible gaming platforms back to the spotlight.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
You can't sell them to GameStop

You can't sell them to GameStop

Of course, all those developers that hedged their bets on consoles in part to avoid the specter of piracy ran into a new problem. Unlike PC games, which had used CD keys as a security standard for years, most console games could be played by anybody with the disc. Enter the online pass, season pass, and Xbox One's since-abandoned game-locking DRM schemes, each one the source of endless irritation.

Nobody has to worry about any of that crud with free-to-play games because it's all built in from the beginning. Players gladly pump money into an account rather than a resale-ready product, and they don't generally mind the tradeoffs. Yeah, those accounts can technically be sold, and there will always be a black market for them, but it hardly compares to your neighborhood used game peddler.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
Players are their content

Players are their content

The other players in a multiplayer game can often be classified as: a) assholes, b) racist assholes, c) racist sexist assholes, and d) so high right now. They feed the enemy team, shoot you in the back, spam the chat, play terrible music so loud it gets beamed into voice chat, and in general make you wish you were dead. They're not worth the pixels they take up on your screen except, they actually are.

Players--not new characters, levels, or costumes--are the most valuable content a multiplayer game can provide you. Without other players, all of the other stuff is pointless. The easiest way to make sure that high-value players stick around for a long time is to give them plenty of company, and the easiest way to do that is to bulldoze one of the largest barriers to entry: the price tag.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
They're easier to share

They're easier to share

Back in the day, we had these things called "demos." It was short for "demonstration", but it was also fun to pretend it stood for "delineated moment" or maybe "definitive monster (battle)". They would come on discs inside magazines or slowly download to your computer from websites with "Planet" somewhere in the URL. Then you'd play for half an hour and try to extrapolate whether the rest of the game was worth a trip to the mall (probably in the sleet, it was always sleeting back then).

Now you can see your friend geek out about Blacklight Retribution on Twitter at 6:30 and start machine gunning zombies with her by 7:00. You can watch your preferred YouTube personality shriek praise for Infinite Crisis and try on steampunk Batman for yourself without laying down a cent. By moving from the locked display case to the samples box, games cast an infinitely larger net--and they're bound to catch a few whales.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
They're more accessible

They're more accessible

But forget the whales. The free-to-play publishers would prefer we didn't, but forget them, too. Lowering the barrier to entry by eliminating up-front cost doesn't just mean more people can play, it means more kinds of people can play: the kind of people for whom $60 will keep them from paying rent this month; the people who can't justify buying a home computer but can put enough cash together for a few hours at an internet cafe here and there; the kind of people that our expensive hobby typically overlooks.

Yeah, you still need access to a computer or console to begin playing, which is a significant hurdle of its own. But thanks to games like Team Fortress 2 and League of Legends, many folks who would otherwise be out of the hobby can enjoy great game design and maybe be inspired to make some cool games of their own. Or they could play Farmville, but no system is perfect.

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
They can get in your head

They can get in your head

Buying a $60 game is such a simple decision (we're living in a perfect little world with no DLC for the moment, just entertain the thought). You can do some research on the product, read some reviews, consider your prior history with the series or the developer. If you still want to buy the game after all that consideration, you can bring it home and feel confident about getting your money's worth.

But free-to-play games let you get personally invested before they start asking for cash. They might wear down your self-control with a cash-circumventable grind, or they might show you an opponent rocking a particularly stylish costume that you feel more compelled to acquire every time you see it. It's tough to do a satisfactory cost-benefit analysis of the Towering Pillar of Hats, and it's harder to see its impact on your wallet until you add it up with all the others.

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
Running free

Running free

So yeah, there are a few less-than-wholesome reasons for developers to pursue free-to-play games. But there can be just as many benefits for players, as long as they stay aware of the trade-offs. Do you think it's a fair bargain, or would you rather pay up front and be done with it?

For perspective on another sweeping industry trend, check out why everybody's making MOBAs. Or if the sight of "F2P" and "MOBA" in one slide make your blood boil, maybe read why we're all hurt by the "angry gamer" archetype.

Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
CATEGORIES
Android iPad iPhone PC Gaming Wii-u Nintendo PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms Mobile Gaming
Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
Social Links Navigation

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.

See more Games Features
Read more
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Gustave winces
$80 games have retreated for now, but analyst says the old $60 or $70 pricing model is dead in the "Wild West" of 2025: "I know a lot of people don't like it, but people still buy these games at these high price points"
 
 
Ultimate Chicken Horse screenshot of raccoon
"Most players have no idea" how much games cost to make and "everything's more expensive than people think," devs say, as indie hits like Balatro are "the exception"
 
 
Best Assassin's Creed protagonists: A close-up of Kassandra during Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
Ubisoft claims microtransactions help players "experience more fun"
 
 
Rematch
Rematch devs "never considered free-to-play," even if it risked being "dead on arrival," because "the best way to make a commercial success is to just make a very good game"
 
 
The Outer Worlds 2 gameplay trailer screenshots
Microsoft caved to pressure over $80 games in less than 3 months, but I don't think the fight for sensibly priced games ends here
 
 
Duet Night Abyss characters with white hair
A gacha RPG is cutting all the gacha garbage so it can just be a better game: "We're completely removing all character and weapon banners"
 
 
Latest in Games
Dying Light: The Beast promotional screenshot
Dying Light: The Beast is launching 1 day early because Techland is super jazzed about hitting 1 million pre-orders: "We pushed ourselves to make the impossible possible"
 
 
Metroid Prime 4
Metroid Prime 4 is starting to look like an open-world game, and that release date trailer is building as much concern as excitement: "Samus bike will either be incredible or the worst decision they've ever made. No in between"
 
 
Hollow Knight Silksong Widow boss Hornet attacking Widow
How to beat the Silksong Widow boss fight
 
 
Tomodachi Life: living the Dream
After a 12-year wait, Nintendo's weird life sim sequel Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream just got a spring 2026 release window with a new trailer showing off deeper Mii customization and more
 
 
Pokemon Pokopia screenshot showing Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle all gathered around a Ditto in human form between two green trees
Pokemon Pokopia: everything we know about the Pokemon game that looks a lot like Animal Crossing
 
 
Dying Light: The Beast
When is Dying Light: The Beast out? Release date and times updated
 
 
Latest in Features
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Downton Abbey helped me through the toughest times, but The Grand Finale feels like the perfect time to wrap things up
 
 
Upcoming video game movies: Mario, Princess Peach and Toad in The Super Mario Bros Movie.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie release date, cast, plot, and everything else you need to know about The Super Mario Bros. sequel
 
 
Hade 2 early access screenshots
After 105 runs in Hades 2, I suddenly unlocked three huge side stories I thought were bugged and I guess I'll be here 'til launch
 
 
Cronos tips
Bloober Team just teased its unannounced Switch-only horror game for maybe the first time since 2024, and my dream of seeing Nintendo get NSFW has been reignited
 
 
Transformers #25
The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman is taking over Transformers with plans to "methodically" expand the Energon Universe, but don't worry about buying "567 monthly titles" to keep up: "We're not looking to blow up anyone's budget"
 
 
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle continues an unfortunate trend for the anime series, and lets down one of its most important characters
 
 
  1. Gwent: The Legendary Card Game box on a wooden surface, with cards visible in the background
    1
    There's now a real version of the Witcher Gwent card game, and it's just as engrossing as the original
  2. 2
    Borderlands 4 review: "Undeniably an excellent looter shooter, but one that requires a bit of tunnel vision to fully enjoy"
  3. 3
    This enormous exploration board game won't be for everyone, but it's a masterclass in narrative and sandbox gameplay
  4. 4
    Hollow Knight Silksong review: "Worth the wait and then some, this isn't just more Hollow Knight but an evolved, spindly beast all its own – even if it's fiddly at times"
  5. 5
    Cronos: The New Dawn review: "An unabashed mash-up of survival horror greatest hits, from Dead Space to Silent Hill, with plenty of its own gory ideas"
  1. Vera Farmiga as 'Lorraine' in The Conjuring: Last Rites
    1
    The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"
  2. 2
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  3. 3
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  4. 4
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  5. 5
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  1. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams in Wednesday season 2 part 2
    1
    Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"
  2. 2
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  3. 3
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  4. 4
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  5. 5
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...