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South Korea's Free Computer Game Business Model Hits the US
Posted by
Soulskill
on Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:01 PM
from the nickel-and-dime dept.
from the nickel-and-dime dept.
Anti-Globalism writes with this excerpt from AFP via Yahoo! News:
"Seoul-based 'free-to-play' computer game titan Nexon on Wednesday blasted into the US videogame arena with a 'Combat Arms' online first-person shooter title that makes its cash from optional 'micro-transactions' by players. The game makes its money from players that buy animated helmets, outfits, emblems or other virtual items to customize in-game characters. To keep the battlefield even, players earn experience or advanced weaponry by skill so people essentially can't pay for power. ... Startups and established game makers including Japanese goliath Sony are venturing into the free computer game market, according to DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole. 'It looks like it could be very big,' Cole told AFP. 'It's one of the things everybody seems to be looking at. The challenge is it is a very new model and it remains to be seen whether customers used to a free model will be tight when it comes to actually spending money on it.'"
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Hrmm (Score:5, Funny)
So essentially, people will be paying for pieces of flair on their characters?
How many pieces of flair should you wear to express yourself?
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Especially in an FPS. Wouldn't an animated helmet scream 'Shoot here!'
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Right, 20 pieces of flair is pretty stupid IMHO... i think it's a lot more interesting if you're paying for items that actually make a difference. The summary was very specific to point out that this isn't what you're doing, but why not? All you have to do is make the items that you can buy also items you can skill up to.
Think about it this way... there are kids out there who have all the time in the world, either on summer break, or they just have free time, etc. And there are adults who want to play b
Re: (Score:2)
See, you've got a set of "entry level" items, which you get via experience. Then you've got a set of "medium-level" items you buy with cash. And then you've got the "top of the line" items you get with experience too.
This way, lazy/casual gamers can skip the crappy starting items by spending $10, but they still don't become über powerful cos experienced players still win with a combination of playing experience and high level items
Re:Hrmm (Score:5, Insightful)
This would also means that the gaming companies will most likely incrementally increase the power of items to keep people purchasing new thing (and to perhaps keep people interested in this type of system). Most MMORPG's do this with their incremental additions of more powerful equipment, levels and stats with game expansions. The only difference is that they encourage equal opportunity, in that they ban external trading.
I don't know about you... but I prefer to play in a system that encourages equal opportunity.
- John
Parent
A new age of micro-transactions? (Score:4, Interesting)
We've heard about micropayments for years, mostly for web content. But clearly this kind of market for virtual goods emerged in WoW -- without the explicit support of the company. It looks like the vendors are catching up! Still, there are lots of games that aren't based on continuous user profiles, and where the imbalance created might be significant and disruptive.
The other concern I have is about how to manage this between kids and parents. It's one thing to have a fixed up-front payment to buy a game, but to have kids (teens) linking credit cards (or even pre-paying) to a game seems like it might not go over well with the parents...
--
Hey code monkey... learn electronics! Powerful microcontroller kits for the digital generation. [nerdkits.com]
Re:A new age of micro-transactions? (Score:5, Insightful)
So far as teenagers linking credit cards to the games.
We've had pre-paid charge cards for online transactions for a while, with the explicit purpose of allowing minors access online "credit" transactions without involving the related credit approvals required with "real" credit lines.
This sounds like an excellent place to apply it.
You get X dollars a month to spend on this game, when you run out you run out.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
But clearly this kind of market for virtual goods emerged in WoW -- without the explicit support of the company.
The big difference here is that with WoW, the virtual goods must first be farmed by a player or a bot. While this might not sound so bad, having a bot farm herbs 24 hours a day denies them from other players and can affect realm economy since the gold farmers will generally flood the auction house with stupid prices. While you could theoretically get a person to play for that long, or even in shifts, it's very uncommon.
The main legal issue here is that you're trying to sell a virtual property that is not
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
i think MapleStory and Second Life both came out before WoW, so WoW certainly wasn't the first game to create a market for virtual goods.
and no one is saying that all games will become free and supported by micropayments, just that this model is gaining a lot of attention as there have been several successful releases.
if you RTFA, the author talks about keeping the playing field even by not allowing players to pay for power. in Maple Story the micropayments were used for buying cosmetic items to customize
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
in Maple Story the micropayments were used for buying cosmetic items to customize your character's appearance. so you could purchase sun glasses, designer shoes, hats, etc. but they have no effect on gameplay.
Which is complete nonsense now, as they do have numerous items that "affect gameplay" to a significant degree, such as experience rate boosters, drop rate boosters, an item for penalty-free resurrection (death usually results in the loss of 3-10% of that levels EXP, which can be huge (double-digit hours of training) at higher levels), pets that allow automatic looting and automatic healing (if your HP or mana drops below a set point, it will automatically use a potion if you have the item to do so), among o
Re: (Score:2)
that is pretty lame. i stopped play MapleStory a long time ago (when they came out of beta and everyone lost their stats/items or whatever). i guess they sacrificed gameplay/fairness for profitability. i hope that this will hurt them in the long wrong as players realize it's complete BS to be able to buy power, as TFA warned against.
otherwise it just becomes another ZT Online [danwei.org], which is an thinly veiled attempt to disguise a virtual auction as an online video game.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I stopped about a year ago. Played their Mabinogi game for awhile, though I'm into WoW now. I still work as staff at one of the major maplestory forums (sleepywood.net), though i pretty much don't do anything in the maplestory sections.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
http://kingdomofloathing.com/ [kingdomofloathing.com]
Way too much time invested. You can buy an IOTM or the likes but you can also work to earn them via earning meat.
Re: (Score:2)
Can cowards actually disable sigs?
Maybe it is my ethics or morals or what have you but I figure if I'm going to insult someone then I should do it with my username (easily traced actually) attached instead of hiding behind cowardice and using that as an excuse to resort to vulgarity and/or aggression. Hell, I even say some of the most incendiary posts on /. other than the goatse and racist stuff. All with my real nick, my only nick, and with a tiny bit of accountability.
Re: (Score:2)
A point well made.
However OP is still a fuckface - I'm sick of his bullshit as well.
An interesting market experiment... (Score:5, Interesting)
I have played several Korean MMO's (with engrish interfaces, of course) based off the business model (Maple Story, Flyff and the like), and from my experience, most people can't/won't spend money on them, but those that do tend to spend big, customizing every piece of equipment they possible can. The fact that these games are still running several years on is proof of profitability.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. It might be quite nice to play a free game with decent english ingame.
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Problem with them was they were a mindless grind. I think this would mesh with an FPS much better. Instant action, always action, and the pro people can differentiate themselves with crazy looking gear.
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From what I've seen, a significant portion of MapleStory players buy those stupid accessories. Many have dozens of outfits, marriage licenses, etc.
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The business model is interesting: basically there is nothing ingame which forces you to buy anything, but buy-only items help in leveling or make you more powerful for a short time, or provide decoration to personalize your character. From what I've seen it works well. There's a large part of population which is ready to spend a lot of money (I've heard people hitting the cap, which is something like $500/month) either for powerleveling or just to have the
Re: (Score:2)
I posted earlier in the thread but I think you might want to check out Kingdom Of Loathing. The methods used there could easily be applied to a real game. Not that KoL isn't a real game but, c'mon... They've got stick figures. (Yes, yes I play and have for a LONG time now.)
Side note: I actually found KoL through a signature here on /. long before I actually posted here at /. but rather just read the articles. (I never had time or interest in posting back then.)
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I am not sure if this is entirely off topic or if it is potentially funny but, well, concerning your nickname...
What do you call a buck with no nuts and blind in one eye?
(Give you a hint... It is pretty close to your username.)
War of Conquest (Score:3, Informative)
War of Conquest [warofconquest.com] has a similar model. Its free, but you can buy upgrades, items, tech, etc. They even give out points that you convert to either cash or buy more items, tech, etc.
Not nearly the first (Score:5, Informative)
Nice. This article forgets that there are tons of free-to-play MMO's already available in the US.
Knight Online
Fly For Fun
Granado Espada
And lets not forget our own domestic free-to-plays, such as Guild Wars, Minions of Mirth, Graal Online and the like.
Here's a great resource for all of these- http://www.gameogre.com/ [gameogre.com]
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Don't forget Project Entropia [wikipedia.org] (now Entropia Universe), one of the oldest, which explicitly allows conversion of currency from game money to real money, and encourages people to set up money-making activities there. They seem to be doing well; they're apparently profitable and the Wikipedia page claims a turnover of about 360M USD...
Question: (Score:3, Insightful)
That said I hope it works out for them, but I'll take my $50 games with everything included.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
you don't have to customize your character. that's the whole point. you can play it completely for free if you want to, and many people do. most people who play MapleStory do not spend any money on it, but it's still profitable enough to be a huge success.
and the whole point of customizing how your character looks is for it to be seen by others, not you. do you buy expensive clothes just to look at yourself in the mirror all day? it's just like how people wear fancy clothes in real life to impress others. y
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Kingdom of Loathing (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.kingdomofloathing.com/ [kingdomofloathing.com]
Different type of game entirely, but same basic business model. And they've been doing things that way for 4 years now. Free to play, but $10 gets you a nifty trinket.
Yes, the business model works in principle and in practice. And it's about time that more genres of games that use that model become available.
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If you want to play on a level competitive playing field, play hardcore.
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That stuffs over my head, I mainly played before ascensions.
Re: (Score:2)
Why am I surprised to find KoLers here at /. in this number? (I actually found the link to KoL from someone's sig at /. btw.)
I now wish I'd spent more time reading down through all the posts (who has time and memory for that really) as I posted a couple of KoL links further up on the page. Yes, yes... I *do* have the classy "KOL" bumper sticker that looks like a country sticker on my truck. Yes, yes I do have the My Other Car Is Made Of Meat on the car.
I haven't played since NS13 much really (fucking MMG, b
The Bottom Line (Score:2)
The Bottom Line is that the game has to be enjoyable enough to keep players interested for them to continue spending on items.
This appears to be the same model that the Korean game PANGYA [pangya.com] uses. You play the game for free, but you can buy (or earn) items that improve your play or just make you look unique. It just so happens that it is much easier to pay money for the items than it is to earn them.
PANGYA was released to US Americans a while ago as Albatross18 [ogplanet.com]
Kart Rider (Score:2)
They had an open beta a while back for Kart-Rider, which was basically a Mario Kart clone. It was excellent, dare I say even better than Nintendo.
Just some background on the company.. as for buying anything for my 'character' I don't see myself doing it.
This is old news .. (Score:5, Informative)
Every MMO to appear in Korea for several years now have been based on the Free-To-Play model.
Even those who were launched on a subscription one migrated to it, forcing their western licencees to do the same.
Example :
_RF Online (CodeMasters dragged their feet but had to accept the free to play model)
_Granado Espada aka Sword of the New World (K2 Networks wanted a hybrid system, but had to change to a pure free to play one)
Even legacy power house Lineage 2 from NCsoft is heading towards a cash shop item addition to its subscription based model.
More recent ones like Perfect World are free to play from the start.
To sum up :
Free-to-Play IS the de facto business model in asia, and has been for years. The western licencees also are bound to use free to play.
Nothing new under the sun.... (Score:2)
Some American-based MUDs have had a similar payment model for at least 10 and probably more like 15 years.
F2P is a good model...in some ways. (Score:2, Informative)
The people with money will pay for the extras and the people without money will play because its free (not really free just being paid for by people willing to do so). All the free players stay because its free fun and the pay players stay because there is always something interesting going on when the server is full. Cash shops are usually addictive as hell too. I've had to set some pretty strict rules on myself about using them or else I'll go nuts and spend spend spend.
The International (U.S) Ragnarok
Re: (Score:2)
Thank you for your honesty and expressing your age.
I am posting this NON-AC meaning this is my real account etc...
I am not normally a grammar Nazi or anything but seeing as you stated your age I want to share something with you.
You *probably* meant "ensure" meaning that it prevents. To "insure" means to protect after the loss.
"I wear shoes to ensure that my feet aren't cut up by hazards on the sidewalk."
"I insure myself to be able to cover any problems should my shoes fail and injury occurs."
I could be wron
Netcraft confirms... (Score:3, Funny)
Only old people in Korea get cheap car insurance for playing free video games.
WOW so many bad facts (Score:5, Informative)
Pah Second Life has them beat (Score:3, Insightful)
On these things you pay money to customize your player - clothe them etc.
On second life you pay money so you can take off your clothes and not be the only one lacking a virtual penis.
Second life has you by the balls my friend!
Runescape (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Probably because they have only "talked" about implementing micropayments in BF Heroes, just as the idea of micropayments is in the "what if" stages with titles like Spore.
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News is that Combat Arms actually has pretty fun gameplay, unlike any of those games.
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too bad this is windows only :(
looking at the trailer definitely got me hooked, would play it if it would be available for mac or linux.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Dual boot?
If the OS running under what you're wanting to do is so antithetical to you then you *might* want to take a look at your values. If you don't have a copy of a legit Windows OS running around than my apologies and you are correct in saying so but, really, unless it is financial reasons it isn't that hard to boot to another OS to run what you want.
The day I let an OS decide, or even a goal, what I use for software is the day I fail. What matters to me is getting what I want or need out of the system
Re: (Score:2)
Well, according to this [wikipedia.org] the USA isn't exactly a country with a small population either. As for spending power [wikipedia.org] the USA is still taking the lead.
Sure, you might have a billion people next door, but that doesn't mean all of them can afford the few "cents" of "micro" payment.
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Given the cost of labor and the ability to replicate it, these items need to only be created once and then can be added to characters automatically with no human intervention. The cost of labor is really low there.
My point? I don't think they need to have a profit margin on all items sold. After the first few they have paid for themselves probably. In a market that large that's likely done quickly. Anything else is pure profit. After profitability has been reached there's no *need* to make a continued profi