Personally I think everyone should be more like Indiana Jones, but Daniel Kim, CEO of Nexon Online, creator of multiple Free-to-play online games, thinks that console developers in particular should be more like Indiana Jones. Man, I love Indiana Jones.
But first context — Daniel Kim was talking specifically about the success and growth of the Free-to-play industry, and the struggles of making that model work in a console environment.
“Console developers are starting to realise that as well, that unless they make accommodations or think about changing their own business model they’re going to quickly go the way of the dinosaurs,” said Kim, talking to Games Industry International.
“It’s really hard to beat free-to-play as an offering.”
Kim said that, while it’s difficult to sacrifice the rewards of a successful AAA release, console developers need to seriously think about embracing the Free-to-play model. And it’s an all or nothing leap.
“The console guys are starting to realise that, but they also have a challenge in that they have a vested interest in an existing business model of packages,” he explained. “I know it’s tough for them to just cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to say ‘OK, we’re going to go free-to-play and make our bed here’ because that’s going to piss off a lot of people who they already have an existing business relationship with.”
“I understand the challenge but unless they’re being aggressively proactive about making that leap – it’s kind of like the Indiana Jones, taking that leap of faith – unless you do it there’s no other way to continue to grow.”
Could Free-to-play work on consoles? I’d argue it’s next to impossible on this generation of consoles, with all the red tape of Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. These services simply aren’t agile enough to manage it.
Next generation, however? I’d be very surprised if those consoles didn’t apply Free-to-play models on a number of titles, and make the whole thing far more accessible and easy.
Watch this space.
Nexon warns consoles could “go the way of the dinosaurs” [Games Industry International]
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