We all know MMOs, and most games in general, as Crytek demonstrates, are moving in the direction of free-to-play. MMOs are moving there especially quickly as publishers are finding that World of Warcraft‘s continued success has no correlation with the ability of other games to attract and maintain a sizable subscriber base. Star Wars: The Old Republic started out strongly and then pretty quickly saw a drop of 400,000 users (roughly 23 percent). And while we don’t know for sure where it currently sits, one BioWare staffer has suggested TOR going free-to-play is something being explored.
“The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well,” lead designer Emmanuel Lusinchi told GamesTM. “Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.”
