If the tail end of the current generation has been any indication, the business of selling video games doesn’t end when a consumer gets a game in their hands anymore. In fact, it’s proven that this is where the real selling begins for game publishers. In game purchases, micro-transactions, dlc, whatever you want to call it, it’s not going away, according to Epic Games VP Mark Rein.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, Rein says that “The next-gen consoles are going to be fully embracing the free-to-play and these IAP-type business models. So in case you don’t know that I’m putting that out there. Sony and Microsoft are both going heavily in that area. I’m telling you what they are telling developers.”
Shuhei Yoshida echoed these sentiments in the same featured article in this month’s issue. “We are developing a free-to-play type of game, but we haven’t announced it yet… We are open for any types of models,” the developer explained.
Free to play and Microtransactions were once a model that seemed to perform best on tablets, phones, and other mobile devices where games were delivered to the end-user for much cheaper prices. On consoles however, the introduction of microtransactions comes after a game is sold to the consumer for full price, which breeds contempt for publishers from their fans.
