Free-to-play consultant encourages new generation of developers to forget traditional monetisation models
Speaking on stage at today's ExPlay festival, consultant Oscar Clark has claimed that those making premium games are the development industry's 'living dead'.
Presenting a session titled 'Finding Love in the Zombie (Freemium) Apocalypse', Clark suggested to an audience made up of a significant student and start-up contingent that they should seriously consider only making games that harness free-to-play and fermium-related business models.
"If you're making a premium game, you're the living dead," said Clark. "You're basically dead, you won't be here in a few year's time, and if you want to live you'll have to adapt. And if you're making a copycat premium game, your'e also the living dead."
In his session looking at the changing nature of marketing games, Clark also stated his belief the industry has much to thank Zynga for.
"Whatever you think of Zynga, what they did was make it possible for us to have a mass market audience," he said. "We have to adapt to all of the different kinds of people playing, and not just us."
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What else to expect from free to pay consultant? He is not going to say "don't make f2p games" that is for sure....
so games industry is full of dead companies?
much better business than games for sure
Dont trust anything a man in a black hat says
Surely "copycat premium game" is an oxymoron?
I worry about consultants, sometimes.
And the revenue potential for ftp games is? Farmville was getting most of it's revenue from something like 3% of its players. Is that seriously going to support an entire industry? Has any ftp game anywhere made the type of revenue that a big blockbuster premium game (Halo, Mass Effect, etc) has made? Those blockbusters are what allow companies to weather the duds. How are ftp focused companies going to have the revenue they need to weather the loosers they produce? Hey Mr. Clark - there's such a thing as a 'fad.' Perhaps you should look up the phenomenon.
Meanwhile the 2nd highest earning MMO in 2012 behind WOW is still fully P2P. He should say if your going to make a MMO that's not AAA & near pushing WOW then make it F2P as you don't have a chance to earn enough subscriptions if your not good enough your game has to be worth $15 a month to the player which most are not...
The thing is they think that all F2P games are going to be a AION, Runes of magic or a Runescape which actually makes most of it's money from subscriptions not the F2P game.
Or there basing it off the massive leaps that the likes of D&D & LOTRO saw after going F2P the truth is most F2P games are dead there's game after game with virtually no one playing. Most premium games are going ok only a few are dead & that's because they weren't good enough to command $15 or they stoped producing updates & moved on still expecting there customers to pay for a game that's seeing no progress or didn't advertise enough so not to many knew about them WOW has spent heaps on advertising take a hint.
This "consultant" doesn't really look prosperous to me. His clothes look kind of shabby, like he's not as successful as he is making himself out (or being made out) to be. We'll all end up in black outfits & cheap hats on a cheap-looking stage if we follow his lead. You know it's the truth.
"Free-to-play consultant encourages new generation of developers to forget traditional monetisation models" ...so what stance did we THINK a f2p consultant would take on the issue?
Free to play is not a game changer, it's an alternative to P2P and will exist alongside it (it already does). One success and everyone thinks its a golden bullet for the future, they all rush in and look confused when they loose it all.
Pay to Play will always outgross F2P except in mobile land. He's right about studios making one project at a time are going to struggle. Customers continue to look for cheaper gaming fixes. The £40-50 game is definitely an endangered species. But it isn't F2P causing this, it's simple economic changes. I say studios should shrink down and produce, say 3 smaller titles simultaneously instead. Each taking a different approach to balance the risks.
