The Power of Free-To-Play

The Power of Free To Play

Adrian Crook [email_address] www.FreeToPlay.biz

“ Free” In the Real World

Free To Poop No cost to public or taxpayers Providers recover costs/profit via ads on exterior

Free To Rock Download only launch Free / Name Your Price 40% conversion $3M revenue Still debuted at #1

Free To Fly Nearly free, 5€ flights across Europe Airline derives revenue from cargo, incidentals, etc

Back to games…

What is Free To Play?
NOT a genre
NOT a platform
Numerous revenue models
Players play without paying
Increased player base allows for alternate monetization

KartRider 160M users world-wide

Runescape $60M annual revenue

Webkinz 7M unique users per month 340% growth in 1 year

Club Penguin Bought by Disney for $700M

All Eyes On Free The Battle for Attention NPD: 91% of kids PC Online gaming = f2p

Current F2P Revenue Models

Virtual Item Sales
Unlimited ARPU – users decide ceiling
Value drivers
Rarity/price
Visibility
Dual currency systems
Attention-based
Real money-based
Basics
5-10% conversion rate
Functional, decorative, consumeable, etc

Merchandise
Barbie Girls
9.5M users in 9 months
Webkinz
$20M retail in 24 months
Maple Story CCG

Information Sale
Food Fight
Surveys for Vcash
Potential
36K users daily
Avg 2 surveys/user
25c per survey
$18K/day
ANNUAL: $6.6M

Other Revenue Models
Advertising
Banners, PPC, Video, Sponsored Items
Auctions/Player Trades
Live Gamer, Entropia, Station Exchange
Subscription Tiers
RuneScape, Club Penguin, DR
Event/Tournament Fees
Shot Online (Golf), Ultimate Baseball
Real Estate/Land Use Fees
SL, Entropia
Affiliate
TrialPay, $uperRewards
Donations
Kingdom of Loathing
More on www.freetoplay.biz

Looking Forward…

F2P Design Tips
Respect the free players!
Support integrated graphics
Be browser-based (or small dl)
Offer regional payment systems
Provide short compulsion loops
Defer user sign up

F2P Growth Challenges
Virtual property
Linden v Bragg
Slow broadband
6mbps US vs 45mbps Korea
Rising dev costs
Battlefield Heroes

F2P Growth Challenges
Second Life slowdown
Electric Sheep layoffs; UX issues
Secondary markets
IGE; unsanctioned item sales
Kids-only games
NPD: After 18, kids leave F2P

F2P Trends & Opps
New F2P platforms: social networks, iPhone
$upercash, EA Blueprint
Breaking down the walled garden model
Metaplace, WoW Armory, DR Char AP
NPD top sellers as F2P games
“ We’re looking at the sort of game that five, six or seven years ago , they would have been putting in a box and selling on retail shelves. With the new technology, we can deliver this through the browser.” – Mark Faulkner, Jagex

Adrian Crook [email_address] www.FreeToPlay.biz

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The Power of Free-To-Play

by adriancrook on Feb 24, 2008

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The Power of Free-To-Play — Webinar Transcript