With South Park now taking on freemium (FM) (the -mium is Latin for “not really”) and free-to-play (F2P) gaming, it’s safe to say that the concept has officially entered the cultural zeitgeist. Considering the number of people I know of that play FM/F2P games, a quick primer on these kinds of games seems like it’s in order.
Category 1: Pay-To-Progress
Pay-To-Progress are the worst kind of FM/F2P games. You’re playing along, and eventually you reach a hard stop where the only way to progress is to pay actual money. Fortunately these games tend not to last long, because players almost immediately recognize the hard stop point, go “This is stupid.” and stop playing.
Category 2: Pay-To-Win
Pay-To-Win isn’t as obvious as Pay-To-Progress, but it’s more insidious. Eventually the content becomes so hard that the only way to progress is to buy boosts or items to continue playing and advancing through content. Some players get suckered into paying for stuff to keep playing, but most just stop playing.
Category 3: Pay-For-Convenience
Pay-For-Convenience is the most common form of FM/F2P. It’s possible to progress and beat all the content in the game without spending anything, but if you want to do it in any reasonable amount of time or without a high degree of difficulty, you’re going to spend money. Candy Crush is a great example of a Category 3 FM/F2P game.
Category 4: Pay-For-Options
Pay-For-Options is most typically seen in MMOs and PC Gaming, rather than mobile gaming. Spending money is not required, but encouraged. Category 4 games encourage players to spend money on characters, additional inventory, resetting a character’s skill points, and things like that. Not strictly required, but desirable and generally worthwhile.
Category 5: Pay-For-Extras
Pay-For-Extras is arguably the best model, as it incentivizes without forcing players to spend money. All the content is free or can be earned with in-game currency without spending any money, and the only things available for purchase don’t affect gameplay. These are things like costumes, visual effects, and other items that allow players to differentiate their characters without directly affecting the gameplay experience. This is rarely seen in mobile gaming, but is becoming a popular model in PC gaming MMOs thanks to games like League of Legends and Marvel Heroes.
So there you have it. Next time you download a hot new game from the appstore and it asks you to spend money, now you’ll know what kind of game it is and whether or not you should reward the developers with your hard earned cash or tell them to take a hike.
