Free-to-play (F2P) games are a dime-a-dozen on PC, but for consoles, it's in its very early infancy and for the most part, Sony has been the only one backing it; at least for now, anyway.
Sony embracing the F2P market could very well be what catapults it back to the top according to a few industry people. Cevat Yerli, boss of Crytek (Crysis), states that Sony "should be applauded" in their efforts in pushing F2P. Not only that, Yerli thinks that if Sony "embraces" F2P in a major way, this could make the PlayStation the "key console."
Sony making that game is a great step forward, and they should be applauded…If Sony embraces free-to-play as a major way for PlayStation, that could be the key console.
Yerli is a big supporter of F2P and his company — Crytek — has now entered the freemium market too with "Warface;" a free-to-play FPS shooter for PC.
It's not just Yerli who thinks Sony is on the right path. CCP marketing boss David Reid also agrees and thinks that with Sony losing out on its top spot on the console ladder, that has made the company take more risks.
It’s natural that the console challenger is going to be more ambitious and take more risks than the leader.
Last generation I was at Xbox and we were having our arses handed to us. And Xbox was the one that was trying to do crazy things with Xbox Live and so on…Five years later, things have changed and now Sony is being more aggressive. It is a cyclical business and it feels like we’re coming around to another big turn again.
CCP, the company behind the hugely-successful EVE Online, is developing Dust 514; a free-to-play shooter exclusively on the PS3 that's in open beta now.
Could the F2P market propel Sony to dominance once again — especially if they adapt it to the PS4?
Source: MCV
