- An analyst states that the industry would never have achieved its $200 billion revenue figure without free-to-play titles.
- He also stated that around 80% of the industry’s revenue comes from microtransactions.
- Spending on the gaming industry is down overall due to the popularity of free-to-play options for mainstream audiences.
The gaming industry thrives on free-to-play titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Such releases attract millions of gamers each month, widening the scope of the gaming business.
In fact, a prominent analyst argues that gaming would be a fraction of its current size without the explosion of this genre over the last few years.
Why it matters: Gaming is still struggling to find a way to balance costs and revenue due to the growing expenses of AAA productions. This is a problem since these big and expensive titles aren’t necessarily making much more money than they used to.
Speaking to Gamesindustry, analyst Piers Harding-Rolls argued that free-to-play games have driven gaming to unprecedented success.
In particular, he pointed out that the industry would have stagnated long ago without this genre. The analyst argued that the $200 billion benchmark achieved by the industry would also be impossible without the likes of Fortnite, Call of Duty, and more.
If we didn’t have free content, what would the industry look like? It would look like a quarter of the size it is now.
This statement makes sense since games like Warzone were all the rage during the pandemic, a time when the industry was at its absolute best. In fact, the success of such titles encouraged nearly every publisher to chase after the live-service model.
Piers Harding-Rolls also pointed out that nearly 80% of the market’s revenue comes from in-game spending. Because players can so easily become hooked to the core gameplay loop of free-to-play titles, they end up spending plenty of money on microtransactions in the long term.
On the other hand, premium releases like GTA Online and Elden Ring stand out as examples of major success that deviate from the live-service model. However, these games are exceptions to the rule.
On average, game spending has stagnated worldwide due to the ease of access to free titles today.
What do you think about the analyst’s comment? Let’s discuss in the comments and on the Tech4Gamers Forums.
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[Senior News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than 5 years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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