Microsoft may have taken another cue from Facebook. IGN reports that, according to a trusted source, free-to-play games could be coming to Xbox Live as soon as next year. As you already know, the free-to-play, or F2P, pricing model is generally left to Facebook games and MMOs. However, a number of developers including id Software and EA have experimented with the F2P model in the shooter genre. Of course, the free Xbox games would be supported by in-game purchases much like the FarmVilles and Bejeweled Blitzes of today.
It's already known that Dungeon Fighter Online, a F2P MMO for Windows released by Nexon last year, is in the works for Xbox Live. While a pricing model has yet to be announced, rumors like this flying around point to the same F2P distribution method. This and the recently leaked Microsoft video detailing future plans for Xbox all but confirm the rumor, though an official statement would be nice. And how do most F2P games, including social games, makes lots of money? By spreading the word through social channels, of course. If this truly is where Xbox Live is headed, social games could take over consoles. And Microsoft will usher them right in.
[Via Afterdawn]
Could you see F2P, or even social games, coming to Xbox Live? Would you play FarmVille over Xbox Live if you could?
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn virtual goods. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn virtual goods. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Thứ Sáu, 30 tháng 12, 2011
Facebook game profits are big, but MMO gold farming is huge
Gold Farmers
In fact, a report (PDF link) by the Word Bank's infoDev finance program suggests that 75 percent of all virtual goods sales globally are from gold farmers. Gold farmers are folks who make money off of gathering gold in games like World of Warcraft and selling it for real world currency. The types of gold farmers range from those who do it for a wage to those who steal it directly from players' accounts to bots, or automated programs that do the in-game dirty work. Facebook games might be worth $5 billion in four years, but gold farming was worth at least $3 billion in 2009.
Because most gold farmers originate from poorer countries, infoDev recommends that these services be supported whose revenue could help the development of said countries. The only problem is that this practice is largely forbidden within the agreement that players accept when first signing up for their MMO of choice. The report goes so far as to recommend that the US companies behind these games support the largely Chinese gold farmers, which has all but become a business in the past few years.
However, considering companies like Blizzard make absolutely no money from gold farming, it's terribly unlikely that developers would support such a thing unless it involved them. Unfortunately, what's more likely to happen is that developers will cut out the $3 billion middle man and develop currency sales platforms like those in FarmVille and other Facebook games. The Facebook games and gold-farming industries are putting the pressure on subscription-based MMOs to adapt, which increasingly seems to be their only option.
[Via Gamasutra]
[Image Credit: Next Nature]
Have you ever bought gold for an MMO game or currency in a social game? Do you see gold farming lasting much longer as a business model?
In fact, a report (PDF link) by the Word Bank's infoDev finance program suggests that 75 percent of all virtual goods sales globally are from gold farmers. Gold farmers are folks who make money off of gathering gold in games like World of Warcraft and selling it for real world currency. The types of gold farmers range from those who do it for a wage to those who steal it directly from players' accounts to bots, or automated programs that do the in-game dirty work. Facebook games might be worth $5 billion in four years, but gold farming was worth at least $3 billion in 2009.
Because most gold farmers originate from poorer countries, infoDev recommends that these services be supported whose revenue could help the development of said countries. The only problem is that this practice is largely forbidden within the agreement that players accept when first signing up for their MMO of choice. The report goes so far as to recommend that the US companies behind these games support the largely Chinese gold farmers, which has all but become a business in the past few years.
However, considering companies like Blizzard make absolutely no money from gold farming, it's terribly unlikely that developers would support such a thing unless it involved them. Unfortunately, what's more likely to happen is that developers will cut out the $3 billion middle man and develop currency sales platforms like those in FarmVille and other Facebook games. The Facebook games and gold-farming industries are putting the pressure on subscription-based MMOs to adapt, which increasingly seems to be their only option.
[Via Gamasutra]
[Image Credit: Next Nature]
Have you ever bought gold for an MMO game or currency in a social game? Do you see gold farming lasting much longer as a business model?
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