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Publisher NCsoft has revealed that City of Heroes, its successful PC superhero MMO, is to become a free-to-play title. It’s also getting a new name – City of Heroes: Freedom. The move mirrors that made by both rival title Champions Online and also by other MMOs such as The Lord …
Read More »Iwata dismisses free-to-play
The freemium model for video games isn’t just a sector that Nintendo will be avoiding – it’s one that president Satoru Iwata believes actually threatens the health of the industry. "When we look at the entire system of freemium, it’s not always that everyone is happy with the offers," he …
Read More »Valve opens micropayment model for Steam devs
Wealthy Washington group launches new revenue model on PC store
Read More »Steam introduces free-to-play games
The first wave of free-to-play games have now gone live on Steam. Valve announced it is now offering support for such titles, including use of Steam’s micro-transaction backend system to handle in-game transactions. The system is already available to Steamworks partners and currently used in titles such as Team Fortress …
Read More »Age of Conan gets free-to-play relaunch
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures will be remodelled as a free-to-play game this summer. The MMO will be be relaunched digitally as Age of Conan: Unrated, and will allow players to either play for free or subscribe for access to extra content. Funcom will introduce an in-game store that enables …
Read More »Ghost Recon goes free-to-play
Ubisoft has announced it currently working on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online, the first free-to-play entry in the series. The game is being developed by Ubisoft Singapore and is a multiplayer-only, third-person tactical shooter. It will be available to download on PC, with a closed beta due to start later …
Read More »Xbox Live ‘to embrace free-to-play’
'Inside sources' claim free games will feature in-game currency
Read More »Ben Cousins departs from Easy Studio
General manager of free-to-play division makes a shock departure from publisher
Read More »Cousins leaves EA’s Easy Studio
Ben Cousins, the man behind EA’s successful forays into the free-to-play games market, has announced his departure from the publisher. In a brief statement issued on Twitter last night Cousins stated: "Battlefield Play4Free launches this week and it’s time for me to leave EA. Very proud of what I’ve achieved …
Read More »‘EA in better digital shape than Acti’
The founder of mobile games firm Ngmoco has said that EA is best positioned to face the transition from boxed sales to digital downloads. Neil Young – also a former EA Los Angeles executive – claimed that publishers such as Activision are doing a worse job of preparing a strong …
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