If you deny the fact that the Free to Play market is here to stay, you’re clearly not familiar with just how big it has grown. Ten years ago, the idea that developers could release games for free and could later charge for smaller things such as extra lives, characters and bonuses seemed absolutely preposterous, and yet here we are, with the F2P market flourishing and bringing a substantial percentage of overall videogame profits. Some of the biggest videogame franchises, such as “Angry Birds” (which, as of right now, served as the source of the highest-rated videogame movie of all time… with a modest score of 43%) and “Clash of Clans”. Phenomena like “Fallout Shelter” and “Pokémon GO” keep popping up all the time, and chances are the industry will keep moving forward. Hell, even some games that used to be pay-to-play for the longest time, such as “The Old Republic” and “Eve Online”, have adopted the F2P model because it’s simply more profitable.

But not all free to play games are created equal. Some truly respect their player and are meant to provide a very fun experience, while others are designed to drain their consumers of every single penny. So let’s take a look at some do’s and don’ts of F2P games in order to give potential developers a little bit of advice on how they can better incorporate microtransactions into their games. Now, keep in mind that, as I said, not all games are created equal, and many use microtransactions differently. Sometimes players can purchase a premium currency that they can use to unlock new levels, characters and customization options, while other times they pay for stuff like extra lives and energy. In the case of currency, it’s very important that you’re able to earn that currency and unlock the game’s full potential simply through playing, without spending a cent – if I was so inclined. There’s NOTHING that can make me quit a game faster than it treating me like a second class citizen because I refused to pay for it just yet. A good (bad) example of this is “Realm of the Mad God”. Now, the game might have gotten a bit better recently, but when I played it a couple of years ago most of its features and equipment options were completely locked off to F2P users and had to be bought with real money, or else you couldn’t enjoy the game properly. On the other hand, “Town Of Salem” (which is amazing and highly addictive, by the way) gives you a small amount of its currency every time you finish a match, and for unlocking achievements. And even if it didn’t, the only things you can buy in the game are customization items (purely cosmetic) and scrolls (which increase the chance of you getting a certain role in a match, but are one-time use only).

Players don’t really want to feel forced to pay for something – they want to do it because, well, they want to. Their mentality shouldn’t be “If I don’t pay up I’m not going to be able to enjoy this game right, so I might as well do it”, it should be “I can buy this character if I play for 2 months, or I can spend two pounds and buy them right now”. Of course, you need to be very careful with what exactly you’re selling, especially in a multiplayer title. If the game is singleplayer, then you can absolutely get away with selling a highly overpowered character for some huge price (hey, the people who want the game to be easier and have the resources will buy them, the rest will not), but in a multiplayer game, especially a competitive one, you’re better off selling cosmetic items, because the last thing you want is the guy who paid a ton of money mowing down the F2Players. Last, but not least, you might consider creating some kind of subscription service. “Knights of the Old Republic” has a fantastic one which gives you bonus currency, XP, characters and other goodies if you pay a monthly fee. “Marvel Future Fight” also has a subscription which gives you PLENTY of crystals every day if you only pay a couple of pounds a month, which is an absolutely fantastic deal to the point where almost every single player is paying for it. But as I said earlier, those subscriptions, much like anything F2P, must not comprise the “ultimate” way to play your game – they must merely be a nice bonus, an optional extra, that’s all. For the last time, players must want to spend money on your F2P game, they must not be obligated to in order to get the first class citizen treatment.

Anyway, that’s all from me for the time being! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go play some F2P games!