MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Three big PC brands are spearheading Ubisoft’s push into free-to-play. The firm told MCV at Gamescom in Germany that it can use core games brands with freemium models to attract new audiences. The Ghost Recon, Might & Magic and Anno series are first up. At Gamescom this week, the firm …
Read More »Free-to-play games typically lose 70 per cent of initial user base
Former Empire: Total War designer Jan van der Crabben warns free-to-play developers to expect a 70 per cent drop in initial registered users. Crabben, speaking during a keynote at GDC Europe, emphasized that player retention is key for free-to-play titles to find any kind of success. Crabben went on to …
Read More »Indie dev PerBlue reveals huge sales figures, sees Android passing iOS
Mobile developer Perblue has revealed staggering financial figures for their free-to-play MMO Parallel Kingdom, also declaring that Android is currently outpacing iOS in nearly every way. Perblue’s CEO Justin Beck spoke at GDC Europe on how his Madison studio of nine staff members started with just $20,000 in savings. In …
Read More »Double Fine aiming to ditch work-for-hire projects, stay independent
Double Fine is looking to prove their crowdfunding success on Kickstarter was more than a flash in the pan for the studio. In an interview with VentureBeat, the developer describes its hope to maintain independence by continuing to look to crowdfunding and private investing as consistent methods for funding future …
Read More »Star Wars The Old Republic F2P announced for fall as subs dip below 1m
EA and Bioware have announced MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will be making the switch to the free to play model later this year. Some notable restrictions apply to what players get free access to in the game. Characters are capped at level 50, and those unwilling to pay …
Read More »‘People don’t want to pay for games’
Freemium will become the dominant force throughout the global games industry, leading experts claim. Digital specialists at EA and BBC have both told MCV that free is the price that consumers want to buy their games. And that the model – which is currently popular online and on mobile – …
Read More »GREE teases Gamescom line-up
Social mobile giant spills the beans on its plans for 2012 conference
Read More »UPDATED: BioWare reveals new F2P Ultima Online MMO
A brand new version of Ultima Online is on the way. EA-owned BioWare has revealed Ultima Forever, which it describes as the first great Western RPG” that has apparently been lovingly restored”. The game will be free to play and, most likely, supported by microtransactions. Whether that means it’s a …
Read More »Star Wars: The Old Republic gets free-to-play trial
The millions of voices that suddenly cried out in terror when they discovered that Star Wars: The Old Republic would have a monthly subscription have been suddenly silenced. No, your eyes have not deceived you – EA has announced that a free trial of the MMO is now available that …
Read More »VIDEO: Free to play Call of Duty Online in development
China’s biggest online games company Tencent has just announced a brand new entry in the Call of Duty series – Call of Duty Online. MMO Culture reports that Tencent has formed a strategic alliance with Activision” that will see the successful Western IP make a big push into Asian markets. …
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