Nintendo CEO Nails The Nature Of Free-To-Play, But Misses The Point
Time magazine (Or is it the Time website now? Do they still make magazines?) recently sat with Nintendo CEO and President Satoru Iwata for a lengthy interview, and his comments regarding free-to-play -- which Nintendo appears to be ready to jump into -- have been making the rounds. Specifically, Iwata says:
"I do not like to use the term ‘Free-to-play,'" says Iwata. "I have come to realize that there is a degree of insincerity to consumers with this terminology, since so-called ‘Free-to-play’ should be referred to more accurately as ‘Free-to-start.'"
And he's right, for the most part. There are exceptions, but a lot of "free-to-play" games are little more than extended trails, which either put up a paywall that force you to continue or make the experience so onerous after a short while that you feel compelled to spend. "Free-to-start" would usually be a more accurate description.
But accuracy isn't the point of labeling something "free-to-play" -- marketing is. And as I've pointed out before, companies bend over backwards to label their games as free-to-play, or just plain "free," not because they're striving for 100% accuracy, but because they want to draw people in. Calling a game "free," with no qualifications, sounds a heck of a lot better to the average consumer than calling something "free-to-start," which carries the obvious additional implication that it's free to start, but will cost you money to continue.
Sure, you and I, being experienced gamers that we are, know that "free-to-play" games aren't really free, most of the time. But we make up a very small part of the potential market, especially once you go beyond games like MMORPGs and shooters and venture into the world of mobile and social games, which is probably where Iwata and Nintendo will be focusing their efforts. It's nice that Iwata realizes what's going on, but he should probably also realize that a little deception ("free-to-play") will serve his company better than full honestly ("free-to-start"). It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is.
Related Articles
About the Author
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
More Stories by Jason WinterDiscussion (15)
Read Next
Skyforge continues its journey to launch today by revealing details about the Lightbinder class.
You May Enjoy
More quests and rewards...but most importantly, surprises!
Most of the showcase was single-player, but there was a bit of something for multiplayer fans.
Today is your last chance before your shard might get deleted.
There's over 200 new penances to check out!
Plunderstorm by the numbers.
You’re all gonna have to play together.
the only thing they did is to make the game free for those cheapos who
dun wanna pay but prefer paying later when they are force to and then complain and then
they move on.
However, it is a very intelligent rebranding, since the term shareware doesn't translate directly to "a game that I can play for free with limitations" for the average person.
Its like a Trend right now Free - to start sounds weird and Wrong but there will be a time that terminology eats away what Free - to - play is is.
accept new things stop being in Rut is the only way Gaming evolves but Consumers fail to realize that!
Either some have ridiculous grinding for free users or insane crafting times. It takes the fun out of the game. That's why I've stopped playing F2P games since a couple years ago. I don't play games simply because they're free. I want to have fun. I used to be against B2P and P2P but the F2P gaming industry has changed my mind around.
both can go back to the pass.
following those concept, and the game will fail. want to argue? I'll give you a hint, search YouTube. Easier for people like you who hate to research
and realistically it's only 15$ a month. if you can afford to pay for your phone bill, internet, mortgage, hydro, etc. 15$ is like spoiling yourself in a month. unless you have kids then i think that 15$ is worth spending on your kids. otherwise free to play of any sort is a sad state. it's made the MMO market so saturated with games that either has too little content because the game was rushed, or you have to do micro shitty transactions to have things available to you i.e. star wars.
The worst case is that the game decides a P2W is the best option because people with money deserve to be on top bullshit.
---
It is not wrong or deceitful when publishers call their games F2P in most cases. Are those games not free to PLAY (even if they are pay to win, which is a different matter entirely)? It does not matter if some roads are closed to free players as long as all the destinations are accessible to them.