Happy Wars dev thinks AAA games will go free-to-play

Believes they can coexist with traditional ‘package titles’

Ahead of the October 12 Xbox Live Arcade launch for Toylogic’s free-to-play Happy Wars, the developer has shared its vision of how big-budget games will adapt to the growing business model in the coming years.

Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Toylogic president Yoichi Take said “I believe it is quite natural that people will gather to play games for free. I predict that, moving forward, even triple-A titles will be shifting toward Play-for-Free. However, there are game designs that can only be realized as package titles, so I feel that package games and the Play-for-Free model will coexist, and indeed I welcome their coexistence.”

Take believes this will be a years-long process, which sounds about right. With companies like Crytek looking to move entirely into the free-to-play realm, it really does feel like we are entering a transitional phase. Let’s hope it doesn’t get too messy as things progress.

AAA games shifting to free-to-play, says Happy Wars dev [GamesIndustry International]