Gaming EA: Free-To-Play Games Pose Threat To Console Business

[x3sphere]

The growing popularity of free-to-play type games pose a significant threat to the walled gardens of console platforms, according to EA's free-to-play head Ben Cousens.

Speaking at the London Games Conference per a GameSpot report, Cousens reckons that in the next two to five years, titles like Battlefield: Pay4Free will win consumers over to the point of second-guessing whether to invest in new console platforms.

He attributes that mindset to a wealth of integration possibilities that only an open platform - like the PC - can provide, referencing EA's goal to "grab the TV screen away from the console manufacturers."

Cousens further noted that consoles do have a chance at surviving the transition if platform holders embrace openness, especially in the case of online services such as PSN and Xbox Live, the latter of which has been under heavy fire from devs over restrictions in the past[...]

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[KezraPlanes]

Only time will tell if he is right, but what truly matters at this point is that Sony and Nintendo's consoles can survive due to the bug number of exclusive franchises they have under their belt. On Microsoft's case, and even if some of their main IP's like Fable do extend to the PC, I also believe they have enough console-only franchises to keep the boat afloat. So 2-5 years? I don't think so.

What I do completely agree on is that PSN/XBL/WiiWare should embrace openness. They are already "kinda" open but the PC is still a better indie solution aka FREE.

 

[Mentality]

I don't think so, I think there is oppurtunity for this to work really well on consoles.
Put it on the Marketplace or Playstation Store as a free download. People will buy the ingame content that free to play games offer.
It's that simple. Free to play games make they're revenue purley on the extra content that you buy to improve your charcter layout. People will buy the content to get ahead in the game. Why would this work on a PC and not on a console, it's the EXACT same principle.
Sony will prove this when they bring Free Realms to the PS3 (not a game I play personally, but a popular game all the same.)

 

[KezraPlanes]

I don't think so, I think there is oppurtunity for this to work really well on consoles.
Put it on the Marketplace or Playstation Store as a free download. People will buy the ingame content that free to play games offer.
It's that simple. Free to play games make they're revenue purley on the extra content that you buy to improve your charcter layout. People will buy the content to get ahead in the game. Why would this work on a PC and not on a console, it's the EXACT same principle.
Sony will prove this when they bring Free Realms to the PS3 (not a game I play personally, but a popular game all the same.)

There's one problem, you have to port the game over to the console, buy devkit hardware and pay all the fees needed for the game to be put on the Store/Marketplace. On the PC, you don't have all those restrictions. I think this is what he meant.