Mon, Nov 05, 2012 | 12:03 GMT
Crytek: ‘F2P could make PS3 the key console’
Crytek boss Cevat Yerli has discussed why Sony’s move to the free-to-play market could propel PS3 to the top of the console food chain. It comes as his company moves into free-to-play development with Warface and other projects.
Speaking with MCV, Yerli commented on Sony’s interest in the free-to-play space, “Sony making that game is a great step forward, and they should be applauded. If Sony embraces free-to-play as a major way for PlayStation, that could be the key console.”
Yerli’s comments follow Sony’s decision to reposition Singstar as a free-to-play service, and its adoption of CCP Games’ MMOFPS shooter Dust 514. On the latter, CCP’s marketing boss David Reid added, “It’s natural that the console challenger is going to be more ambitious and take more risks than the leader.
“Last generation I was at Xbox and we were having our arses handed to us,” Reid continued, “And Xbox was the one that was trying to do crazy things with Xbox Live and so on. Five years later, things have changed and now Sony is being more aggressive. It is a cyclical business and it feels like we’re coming around to another big turn again.”
What’s your take on the matter? Should console platform holders do more to embrace the industry’s interest in F2P gaming? How could that be achieved? Let us know below.
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Posted in: Free-to-Play, MMO, MMOFPS, PS3, Sony
Tags: CCP Games, cevat yerli, crytek, dust 514, Singstar, Warface
12 comments
#1
ps3fanboy
05/11/12, 12:57 pm
they can just stop calling it free2play now. they ain’t fooling nobody, call it for what it is…
freemium
“A digital offering such as games or web services is provided free of charge, but a premium is charged for advanced features, functionality, or virtual goods”
read more here.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium
#2
Clupula
05/11/12, 1:05 pm
“It’s natural that the console challenger is going to be more ambitious and take more risks than the leader.
Last generation I was at Xbox and we were having our arses handed to us. And Xbox was the one that was trying to do crazy things with Xbox Live and so on. Five years later, things have changed and now Sony is being more aggressive. It is a cyclical business and it feels like we’re coming around to another big turn again.”
And this is exactly why anyone who actually cares about gaming would never want one of the big companies to go out of business. Competition is what fuels innovation.
#3
Dragon246
05/11/12, 1:30 pm
@2
Exactly.
#4
Gheritt White
05/11/12, 1:53 pm
Who cares? New consoles are coming next year anyway.
#5
Cobra951
05/11/12, 1:53 pm
I don’t want Sony to go out of business. I just want F2P to do so.
#6
Christopher Jack
05/11/12, 3:24 pm
Nothing wrong with F2P. The premium side should just never give out unfair advantages, quicker leveling is fine, as is cool cosmetics, but just don’t hand them rocket launchers or frankly anything that unbalance the game in their favour.
#7
ManuOtaku
05/11/12, 3:38 pm
Like Chris brightly put it, if the F2P games are well balanced, then i dont mind them, really.
#8
Erthazus
05/11/12, 3:45 pm
F2P are awesome if they don’t give you extra bullets with a lot of damage compared to people who don’t buy these things.
#9
polygem
05/11/12, 4:15 pm
there´s not one f2p game i am only slightly interested in.
i don´t like that business modell. i hate to be bothered with micro transactions, always checking what´s new in store and then thinking if it´s worth purchasing, then purchasing, then relising it wasn´t worth it…really not my cup of tea and totally turns me off….completeley. i want to unlock stuff in a game i bought.
i am all up for a subscription online and hardware model but not for actual games. i think ms and sony will go that path next gen. i don´t mind some f2p, but as a main focus i think it´s shit.
#10
SplatteredHouse
05/11/12, 4:17 pm
Too high a mountain, often too ineffective a marketing push for PS3 to rise off a late-game hail mary like this. If they’re serious, and give it good placing in their service going forward FTP could make a difference for them, though. They gained some new friends this gen, with their online strategy and relationship with developers, while some of Microsoft’s strategies and platform policies proved damagingly divisive.
#11
Mordecai Walfish
05/11/12, 6:40 pm
Or you could just go the extra mile like EA and sell your customers a full product like Battlefield 3 for $60 and then charge them a $50/yr fee for “Premium” which unlocks stuff faster and gets new additions first.
It’s just like F2P, but you pay full price up front for your game too! DICE must think they have an MMO in their hands with Battlefield!
#12
Mineral4r7s
05/11/12, 7:10 pm
@11 No they just have a bunch of stupid customers that likes to be ripped off.