Free Realms Part of Bigger Microtransaction Push
Free Realms continues to rake in the users and, ostensibly, microtransaction revenues. The free-to-play, casual-focused, tween-oriented game has reached 5 million players, and it seems to have been part of a push to add microtransaction-based marketplaces to all of their games.
…user adoption has been strong. “We now have 34 percent of our EverQuest II users using microtransactions,” [SOE President John Smedley] said, with the original EverQuest at a slightly lower percentage.
I’m surprised to see subscription games like EQ1 and EQ2 this accepting of microtransactions. I would think the subscribers would expect to get everything the game has to offer at little additional cost. A recent interview with the developers of Dungeons and Dragons Online about how subscribers will beneft under the new free to play model sounded like the best way to go to me — subscribers get a monthly stipend of points to spend in the store. Free Realms doesn’t have this option for subscribers, I believe, and even double-stacks the fees by making some Station Cash shop items only be purchasable by subscribers. That doesn’t sit well with me — either let me buy the content a la carte or subscribe to it.
What model do you like more? All microtransactions like Runes of Magic, a mix of subscription and microtransactions like Free Realms, or all three options like Dungeons And Dragons Online is planning to do?
Seen on IGN’s Voodoo Extreme.
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