EA Jumps Into Free to Play Bandwagon
At the Digital, Life, Design Conference held in Munich, Electronic Arts announced that they are employing a new business model for some of their online games. Called “Play 4 Free,” EA will make revenue not by selling subscriptions or selling the games, but through in-game advertising and micro-transactions of premium items.
The first game that will incorporate this business model will be “Battlefield Heroes,” a game developed by Battlefield creators, DICE. Not much is known about the game at the moment, however we do know that it resembles the popular multiplayer-shooter Team Fortress 2. According to EA they plan to build the game in such a way so that it ”caters to players of all skill levels…gamers can spend hours building up their characters and conquering the world.”
DICE is aiming to attract both casual gamers and hardcore Battlefield players. A match-making system will be implemented to ensure that players of similar skill and experience will be able to compete against each other.
The people at both EA and DICE are naturally enthusiastic about the new business model. There are challenges however to such a model. According to Ben Cousins a senior producer at DICE: “With the new online model, we will continually add new content to keep the game fresh and keep players engaged, while integrating player feedback in real time.”
The game will be available for download at their official website this summer.
[Source: Gamespot]