Call it an experiment. Uncharted 3 is by
all means a title purchased primarily for its single player campaign,
but Naughty Dog wants to expand the game’s multiplayer horizons to
include those who don’t own the game. To do this they have created a
standalone free-to-play multiplayer client available for download in the
PS3 store. Unfortunately, unlike CCP’s recent console exclusive F2P FPS
Dust 514, this standalone is what you would call a freemium title. The
f2p multiplayer comes with a severe level cap restriction which only
allows players to level up to 15 without paying, although players
continue to have access to all the competitive multiplayer options
without having to remove the level cap.
Players who want to remove the level cap
can do so by either raising the level cap to 25 by paying $4.99 or by
removing the level cap altogether (increasing the max rank to 75) by
paying $19.99. At that price point you are essentially buying a bargain
bin multiplayer only game. As a small consolation prize if you purchased
a level increase after maxing out, Naughty Dog will retro-actively
award you levels you would have accumulated had you not been restricted
by the cap. Yay….
According to Joystiq,
when asked why Naughty Dog was pursuing this type of business model,
the response was that they were” just trying to see what people might
gravitate to” and that the "studio’s plan to go free-to-play is an
attempt to accomplish two goals: reinvigorate the pool of Uncharted 3
players and test the freemium waters.”
My thoughts? The freemium waters are a
stagnant pond waiting to dry up. Freemium is a tough business model to
sell when you have developers like Grinding Gear giving away a full game
with no restrictions for free. If console developers want to have any
chance at competing in the free-to-play market they need to start
thinking in terms of 2013′s F2P model and not 2007. Call
it an experiment. Uncharted 3 is by all means a title purchased
primarily for its single player campaign, but Naughty Dog wants to
expand the game’s multiplayer horizons to include those who don’t own
the game. To do this they have created a standalone free-to-play
multiplayer client available for download in the PS3 store.
Unfortunately, unlike CCP’s recent console exclusive F2P FPS
Dust 514, this standalone is what you would call a freemium title. The
f2p multiplayer comes with a severe level cap restriction which only
allows players to level up to 15 without paying, although players
continue to have access to all the competitive multiplayer options
without having to remove the level cap.
Players who want to remove the level cap
can do so by either raising the level cap to 25 by paying $4.99 or by
removing the level cap altogether (increasing the max rank to 75) by
paying $19.99. At that price point you are essentially buying a bargain
bin multiplayer only game. As a small consolation prize if you purchased
a level increase after maxing out, Naughty Dog will retro-actively
award you levels you would have accumulated had you not been restricted
by the cap. Yay….
According to Joystiq,
when asked why Naughty Dog was pursuing this type of business model,
the response was that they were” just trying to see what people might
gravitate to” and that the "studio’s plan to go free-to-play is an
attempt to accomplish two goals: reinvigorate the pool of Uncharted 3
players and test the freemium waters.”
My thoughts? The freemium waters are a
stagnant pond waiting to dry up. Freemium is a tough business model to
sell when you have developers like Grinding Gear giving away a full game
with no restrictions for free. If console developers want to have any
chance at competing in the free-to-play market they need to start
thinking in terms of 2013′s F2P model and not 2007. - See more at:
http://www.mmobomb.com/news/uncharted-territory-naughty-dog-releases-free-to-play-uncharted-3-multiplayer/#sthash.57RgRsSm.dpuf
Call
it an experiment. Uncharted 3 is by all means a title purchased
primarily for its single player campaign, but Naughty Dog wants to
expand the game’s multiplayer horizons to include those who don’t own
the game. To do this they have created a standalone free-to-play
multiplayer client available for download in the PS3 store.
Unfortunately, unlike CCP’s recent console exclusive F2P FPS
Dust 514, this standalone is what you would call a freemium title. The
f2p multiplayer comes with a severe level cap restriction which only
allows players to level up to 15 without paying, although players
continue to have access to all the competitive multiplayer options
without having to remove the level cap.
Players who want to remove the level cap
can do so by either raising the level cap to 25 by paying $4.99 or by
removing the level cap altogether (increasing the max rank to 75) by
paying $19.99. At that price point you are essentially buying a bargain
bin multiplayer only game. As a small consolation prize if you purchased
a level increase after maxing out, Naughty Dog will retro-actively
award you levels you would have accumulated had you not been restricted
by the cap. Yay….
According to Joystiq,
when asked why Naughty Dog was pursuing this type of business model,
the response was that they were” just trying to see what people might
gravitate to” and that the "studio’s plan to go free-to-play is an
attempt to accomplish two goals: reinvigorate the pool of Uncharted 3
players and test the freemium waters.”
My thoughts? The freemium waters are a
stagnant pond waiting to dry up. Freemium is a tough business model to
sell when you have developers like Grinding Gear giving away a full game
with no restrictions for free. If console developers want to have any
chance at competing in the free-to-play market they need to start
thinking in terms of 2013′s F2P model and not 2007. - See more at:
http://www.mmobomb.com/news/uncharted-territory-naughty-dog-releases-free-to-play-uncharted-3-multiplayer/#sthash.57RgRsSm.dpuf |