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Ridiculous Fishing dev thinks free-to-play is mostly evil
Ridiculous Fishing is a game that looks ripe for microtransaction exploitation, but developer Vlambeer has opted instead to charge a flat $2.99 and let the chips fall where they may. The studio's belief that free-to-play models are mostly evil provides a clue as to why this is the case. "We do believe that developers shouldn't be scared to charge $3 for a game," said the studio during a Reddit AMA. "The problem is that at $0.99, you’ll need to sell endless amounts of copies to be able to survive as an indie developer. Most games don’t even get close to that. "A direct result of the whole race-to-the-bottom in prices is the prevalence of free-to-play on iOS -- it seems to be a safer bet. But since its almost impossible to do free-to-play in a non-evil way and without sacrificing the elegance of your game design, we’ll prefer to charge $3." I'm not as staunchly against microtransactions as Vlambeer. Like any idea, the free-to-play model is a tool that can be used for good or bad depending on who's wielding it. Games like Tribes: Ascend and Blacklight: Retribution demonstrate the model works well, and isn't that hard to do benignly, provided you aren't a dick. That's the main problem, though -- there are far too many dicks in the kettle. Did you know? You can now get daily or weekly email notifications when humans reply to your comments.
4:00 PM on 05.17.2013 Why Insomniac decided against making Resistance 4Although Insomniac Games finished its work on the Resistance series with Resistance 3, that didn't stop Burning Skies from happening, unfortunately. It's possible (plausible, even) that another studio will take on the franchi...
3:00 PM on 05.17.2013 Team Fortress 2's Robotic Boogaloo update is full of hatsYou're into robots and Team Fortress 2, right? I knew there was a reason why I liked you. The latest major update to the game that will not end (and thank goodness for that!) is the Robotic Boogaloo Update, a one-hundred per...
6:00 PM on 05.16.2013 Press Play talks Microsoft's microstudio approachMax: The Curse of Brotherhood developer Press Play has once again talked about its fairly unique relationship with Microsoft, this time in an interview with OXM. The independent studio, it should be pointed out, was acquired ...
7:00 PM on 05.15.2013 Avalanche Studios has a steampunk-style game on holdWill there be another Just Cause? Probably. I mean, if there's any justice, yes. But those recent pictures Avalanche Studios founder Christofer Sundberg put out on Twitter aren't it. When Edge pressed him on the matter, he ca...
2:45 PM on 05.15.2013 Google Play game services announced for Android and moreThis week at Google I/O, the company announced Google Play game services, a collection of game-centric services for Android, iOS, and web platforms. Players running on the former platform in particular should be happy to hear...
2:15 PM on 05.15.2013 Ubi's production of 1666 halted after firing of DésiletsPatrice Désilets says he was fired. Ubisoft says that good faith discussions led to a mutual departure. It's unclear how Désilets and Ubisoft split paths, but it is clear that new chapters are being ad...
12:00 PM on 05.15.2013 EA is opening a new DICE studio in Los AngelesBattlefield developer DICE is expanding out of Sweden with a new studio formed in Los Angeles. According to a representative, DICE LA "will work on the Battlefield franchise" as expected, plus "unannounced projects, all buil...
8:00 PM on 05.14.2013 Sid Meier says core gamers should not be forgottenSid Meier is a legend to PC gamers for strategy games he lent his name to but the man himself admits that the Meier name doesn't mean much to mobile players. In an illuminating interview with GamesIndustry, Sid revealed his n...
7:30 PM on 05.14.2013 EA takes the Frostbite engine to mobile with Frostbite GoMention of Frostbite Go, "a mobile division empowering EA game developers with Frostbite's proven excellent workflows and features to bring true Frostbite experiences to all major mobile platforms," has been spotted on Elec...
8:00 PM on 05.13.2013 Mass Effect spin-offs? BioWare talks potential leadsContinuing its chat with various representatives of BioWare about Mass Effect, OXM has shifted the conversation to that of spin-offs. With Shepard's trilogy over with, who might the developers want to step up as the driving f...
| Free-to-play
Valve's free-to-play, high-skill-ceiling MOBA Dota 2 has set a new record for most concurrent players on Steam, with an impressive 329,977 players at once. The last game to set the record was something called "Dota 2," w...more
Dust 514 is one of the most ambitious games of all time. Not content with just offering a shooter within the EVE Online universe, CCP Games seeks to actually connect the game to EVE itself, allowing both titles to influence e...more
Star Trek Online is less than a week out from its latest big free content update, Legacy of Romulus, which, as may be expected, will introduce the playable Romulan Republic faction and a new line of Romulan Warbirds...more View all Free-to-play |


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