Ethics of free to play games
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Free-to-play games are not inherently evil according to the author. While some concerns about microtransactions and children are valid, the business model itself is not exploitative if done properly. Free-to-play games can be very successful financially by converting a small percentage of free players into paying customers. However, developers should focus on creating high-value content for true fans rather than preying on "whales" or making players feel buyer's remorse. If free-to-play games are implemented in an ethical way that prioritizes player enjoyment over monetization, then they do not have to be evil.
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Ethics of free to play games
- 1. Whales, True Fans and the Ethics of Free-to-Play Nicholas Lovell GAMESbrief Develop Liverpool November 24th 2011
- 2. Nicholas Lovell, GAMESbrief • Author, How to Publish a Game • Director, GAMESbrief • Clients include Atari, Channel 4, Channelflip, Firefly, IPC, nDream s, Rebellion and Square Enix • @nicholaslovell / @gamesbrief
- 3. Subscribe to the blog
- 4. Show offer: Get 80% off • Go to www.gamesbrief.com/store • Enter code DEVELOP • Get How to Publish a GAME for 80% off: • Digital: £99 £19.80 • Physical: £149 £29.90 • Both: £149 £29.90
- 6. Q1: Are free-to-play games evil?
- 7. Q1: Are free-to-play games evil? Interactive options: Yes 14% No 86%
- 8. Q2: Is Zynga evil?
- 9. Q2: Is Zynga evil? Interactive options: Yes 46% No 54%
- 10. Q3: Is Tiny Tower evil?
- 11. Q3: Is Tiny Tower evil? Interactive options: Yes 10% No 30% What’s Tiny Tower? 60%
- 12. Q4: Is the National Lottery evil?
- 13. Q4: Is the National Lottery evil? Interactive options: Yes 35% No 65%
- 14. FREE – IT WORKS
- 15. Free has been hugely successful • Zynga: • filed its S-1 • $600m + in revenues • Valuation expected >$10bn • Tiny Tower: • 2 men, four months • Currently #12 in the top grossing chart • Conservative estimate: $3m revenue in first 12 months • (PS: # 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 are free too) • Bigpoint • €200 million in revenue • €650 million valuation
- 16. Free is a marketing technique • Free means you have a lower barrier to entry • Free means more people try your game • Free gives you players; players are potential customers • It’s all about the conversion from free users to revenue generating users • If you are not free, you are competing with free • Advertising-funded • Pirated • Free from someone else
- 18. The price/demand curve • In an era of physical PRICE distribution, you need to set a single price • For games, around $40 “It’s great value, I’d have paid much more” “That’s too expensive for me” Demand
- 19. Now we let users set the price • Hypothesis: Allow users to choose how PRICE much they spend on your product, and your revenues will go up DDO revenues up 500% LOTRO and Everquest II showed a similar story $3 $5 $5 $1 $5 $3 $10 MMO $3 $3 $3 $1 $5 subscription Demand
- 20. WRONG!
- 21. Allowing users to choose how little to pay is not the secret • We all knew that 95% of users played for PRICE free • We now know that 80-90% of revenues come from 0.5% of users Spending $50 - $10,000 or more Demand Paying: 5% Free: 95% 80-90% of revenue from 0.5% of users
- 22. Making it pay • The 10th Drone from DarkOrbit • Sells for €1,000 • 2,000 sold • That’s €2 million in revenue • In 4 days!
- 23. The Nine Inch Nails Example Ghosts I – IV Ultra Deluxe Edition: $300 PRICE Ghosts I – IV Deluxe Edition: $75 Ghosts I – IV physical: $10 Ghosts I – IV digital: $5 Ghosts I: $0 Demand
- 24. The rule of 0-1-100 • Make it enjoyable for people to play for free for ever • Make it easy for people to spend $1 • Make it possible for people to spend $100 per month
- 25. An iOS example: Pocket Frogs
- 26. An iOS example: Pocket Frogs
- 27. ARE FREE / FREEMIUM / F2P GAMES EVIL?
- 28. NO
- 29. F2P = evil (or not) • The business model is designed to take money from you • So is the coin-op, or the MMO, or the DLC • Games are a business – we should always remember that • Some people spend lots of money on it • You get lots of content for free • Instead of paying for access, you pay for the experience that you VALUE • They’re not real games • Grow up. • Oh, and the games will grow up too • They don’t have enough skill / fairness / challenge • Well don’t play them then • Just because you don’t like them, doesn’t mean they are evil
- 30. Some valid concerns • How much money is it ethical to take from a single player, in a single month? • Are microtransactions appropriate for children? • Are there certain games that aren’t suited to free-to-play • I say no • There may be some players who aren’t suited to microtransactions • Free-to-play games that are just operant conditioning chambers (“Skinner boxes”) are likely to stop working
- 32. Whales versus true fans • True fans spend money because of what you do • Whales spend money because of who they are • This is not a perfect distinction • Make high-value content and consumables THAT YOU BELIEVE IN • Hold your head up high
- 34. Conclusion • Free-to-play doesn’t have to be exploitative • Sell things that players value – these don’t have to be expensive to make • Be generous • Seek out true fans, not whales • Make games you can be proud of
- 35. Thank you nicholas@gamesbrief.com Follow my blog www.gamesbrief.com Buy my books DEVELOP (until Friday 11 pm)