Free to Play or not Free to play...that is the question

Star Wars: The Old Republic is unlikely to be the last subscription MMO to successfully use the traditional business model, according to BioWare.
BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk expressed his belief that subscription-based MMOs will continue on in the future.
This is interesting considering some of the larger user based MMO titles have adopted the free to play model as a way to retain players and increase revenue. Star Wars is a relatively safe bet however, free to play works well on titles that people aren't over familair with, a sentiment that Zeschuk firmly believes in.
"Free to play is very much about trial, about 'Hey, I don't know what this is, I don't have confidence that it's any good, but I'm willing to take a look at it,' versus 'I know this is good, from a trusted source, and it's the biggest license in the world.' So it's a different value proposition."


Premium MMO's can still work, they just need to deliver the content and quality that players are willing to hand over hard earned dollars and pennies for. World of Tanks subscriptions skyrocketed earlier this year and has established itself very well even if it is a World War 2 tank sim. DC Universe Online revised its subscription model after only 9 months on sale and another clear sign that overall the genre is finding better revenue through free access. Ubisoft too will launch Ghost Recon online as a free to play model with micro-transactional content in addition to versions ported to Facebook and social network platforms. Browser based games attract millions of players through the genre and experiences they provide, moreso the playing 'experience' is vital to retaining players and market share-something that traditional publishers are only really just focusing on, the market size has been eroding the console player base as more and more viable mobile formats are becoming available to play the games on. In fact if you look at social games like Angry Birds and Moshi Monsters both those properties have now expanded onto console. Angry Birds merchandise lines and its wider adoption into the social space all initially came from a free to play model, Moshi Monsters too is now branching out into handheld platforms with moshling Zoo on DS, its lady Goo goo single and TV station, again all from a free to play module of business that generated enough revenue to compete in an aggressive marketplace.


Intellectual property, especially Sci Fi always has a massive fanbase, titles like Star Wars, Star Trek and BattleStar Gallactica have devout followers, bringing those fans into a social gaming environment is  a way to increase their experience of a brand and for the property holder to monetize its content. Battlestar for example from Bigpoint games is owned in part by NBC Universal which owns SyFy, the channel that brought Battlestar to our TV screens.