Free to play games give free access to few portions of the games for the players. Few games offer full version and ask the players to buy for later levels or extra premiums for the games. Installation is free for these games and once the player starts playing he might have to purchase the quests or access to subsequent levels or any add-ons or may be even extra lifelines to play the game.
Categories
Based on the services offered, free-to-play gaming has several categories. Shareware is the one which offers the players limited game functionality after playing which players will get convinced to buy the full version of the game. Freemium games offer the full version for free but later on players have to purchase few features. Another way of generating revenue is to add advertisements to games.
Free to play gaming model is advancement in the traditional gaming model in terms of offering purchases. The factors that influence success are the number of players the game can handle, number of units sold per game, purchases in game etc. People will try these games because it’s free of cost and revenue will be more as compared to traditional approach.
Few games available on PC need high system configurations for the game to be installed and another major problem is piracy. In order to overcome this, providing a free to play version which requires low level system configurations and adding advertisements will have its own advantages and also help in generating revenue.
Also, there are few games where in you can pay for winning, which gives you access to subsequent levels or quests if you are ready to pay. Among all, these free to play games are much better since the player can experience the game and later it’s up to the players whether they wish to continue or to purchase the full version depending on the interest that the game creates.