A Battlefield Heroes “buyer”? What’s that? It’s someone who not only plays the free-to-play Battlefield Heroes, but also manages to spend real money on microtransactions for the game like a new outfit for their character or an XP widget. Are we clear now? Good!
EA analytics manager Rommy Ghaly has given IGN some very interesting data about how much players are spending on virtual items: of the people who buy something in Battlefield Heroes, the average amount spent is $20. Impressive, I think? I don’t know how to properly gauge success for a free-to-play game.
There’s more raw data available if you are interested, but this is exactly what I’ve been dying to hear more about since the game’s launch. Assuming that the $20 per buyer figure is a good one, and why would EA be talking about it if it wasn’t, I hope other developers become more open to this business model.
The one thing the free-to-play model needs are AAA games that come from established franchises, and even more single-player games in general. You know, give me a free Call of Duty with paid microtransactions, and then we’ll talk.
[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
