As we have been told numerous times in class, nothing is truly free. While it might seem free to us, say a new bike for your birthday or hand-me-down clothes from a friend, it cost somebody some amount of money earlier up the economic road. However, this policy is not exclusive to tangible items. In an ever-advancing age of technology, video games have seen a sharp increase in popularity. From Minecraft to Counter-Strike to Fortnite, the video game era has rapidly expanded, reaching a wide variety of ages and inspiring a virtual epidemic around the world.
Luckily, for the hundreds of millions of people who partake in gaming online, a surprising number of video games are tagged as "Free to Play". But what does this label really mean? Is the game actually 100% free? Obviously making and developing the game costs the company some amount of money, so if the game is free to download and play, how do they make any profit from their product?
We can take the example of Fortnite, the fastest growing and most played video game in the world. Grossing over $1 billion since its release date, it is shocking that it costs any user absolutely nothing to get their hands on this game. Since it is free to download on every single gaming platform (Xbox, PlayStation, PC, etc.), Fortnite has found its way into the homes of millions of kids, teens, and adults. With all of this exposure and popularity comes tons of free advertising. There is that word again: free. Epic Games, which is the developer company of Fortnite, earns its advertisement because of a large number of streamers and gamers who play this game almost every day of their lives. But advertisement alone is not enough to explain the huge profit.
In-game purchases have been a vital source of income for Epic Games. From character skins to dance emoticons to spray paint designs, Fortnite provides numerous ways to customize and personalize your in-game player. Yet, all of these customizations are purely cosmetic, meaning they provide no advantage in the game (other than looking cool, of course!). This way, Fortnite is able to rake in large amounts of money for those willing to spend the cash as well as keep the game fair and equal for those gamers who are less keen on buying cosmetics for a video game. Because of the heavy demand for new and exciting customizations, Epic Games is able to turn this initially free game into a gold mine.
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This is a super concise and thorough explanation of Fortnite's success as a free-to-play game. I would add that beyond just actually getting advertisement from streamers and players, Fortnite is extremely successful and profits off of remaining only in beta. They can bypass the gaming industry by releasing less thorough tests that cost money to run, and they can update the game on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. This drives up demand for the latest "nerfs" or "buffs" in the game, and that's what really keeps people like my brother involved in the game.
ReplyDeleteI also find your reference to popular online game, Fortnite, to be interesting. Although the game is free to play, some "gamers" may become addicted to the gratification earned from winning a game, also known as a "dub" or a "victory royale." This addiction will lead them to spend money on useless consumables, such as skins or emotes, including the extremely popular and cool "infinite dab" emote. Some less intelligent gamers will even pay for the PvE game mode which is a single player story mode, straying from Fortnite's main focus of Battle Royale. Epic Games managers clearly had a vision in mind when creating their game, and as seen through the $1 billion grossed, their vision has come to life.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Minecraft and Fortnite, another game craze was Pokemon Go in the summer of 2016. Even though Pokemon Go didn't have any advertisements and it was free to download, in-game purchases using "PokeCoins" generated revenue. In fact, in 2016 Pokemon Go in-app purchases generated 58.2 billion dollars!
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