There are some good F2P games, I admit. Into The Dead was excellent, but it was good because you almost never had to spend real cash on it. So actually, the developer didn't gain as much as they would have if they made it like Clash of Clans, or The Simpsons Tapped Out, or CSR Racing. So actually, to make a profitable freemium game, you have to constantly annoy the gamer to make him/her pay for some IAPs to enjoy the game for a bit. For the casual gamers, it's fine and it seems they're spending a lot on IAPs, but for gamers like us, it's turns the game into a complete poop. Firemonkeys probably spent millions of dollars on this game, so they're going to need A LOT of cash to reach overhead. Since it's going to be free, I assume they're gonna go the rout of CSR Racing IAPs to reach the cash needed. Anyway, I think we're all reacting to this news because we really wanted RR3 to be the next big thing in iOS gaming. I'll settle down for now to see what's going to happen.
iap bla bla bla freemium bla bla bla ea bla bla bla I will play anyway anytime anywhere in any condition...
Because so far any of the F2P games i've played have not been that good compared to a game that I had to actually pay for. FireMonkey is owned by EA. When a bigger company buys up your company they make adjustments. The little companies companies always say the company that bought them won't effect them and that they will remain the same. Unfortunately that will not always happen. I believe the guys at FireMonkey are great guys, but for the right price they were bought. Not bought by any company, but EA, a company known for being jerks and money grabbers. Now a great game they made, could potentially be in jeopardy. It surprises me that you aren't the least bothered by the fact that its F2P. Its fine if you don't feel this way, it just doesn't make sense to me that you're so defensive. Are you seriously not in the least bit concerned of how it might turn out because EA has the final say in the product?
Spot on. The people who immediately post "waiting on the sale" the day an app comes out costing £2.99 is pathetic. I buy all my apps, I happily paid £10.99 for Final Fantasy 4, £12.99 for TWENY HD for iPad, £4.99 for Modern Combat 4, £9.99 for DoDonPachi Resurrection HD and many more. I do not want to see iOS gaming turn into a freemium wasteland for those too ignorant to realise the value they are getting for the prices charged at present.
There's so much more than that. They could sell a lot more consumable IAP than just a game with a price tag on it. I know that's not good for consumers and i'm mostly against it but still from a EA's point of view it makes sense. Look at how much Clash of clans is making and compare that with the top grossing paid app... (Supercell is claiming that they are currently making about $1 Million per day, http://www.vnturo.us/the-secret-behind-clash-of-clans-success-a-complete-and-detailed-analysis-of-their-marketing-strategies/?goback=.gde_130119_member_208641366)
"EA has promised that no part of the game is locked out for players who don't choose to spend money. But players who want to ante up can receive cars and access to different racetracks faster. In addition, damage actually matters in this game, and players will have to wait a while to repair their cars before the next race. Or, they can take virtual money earned from the race or purchased with real money and speed up the repairs. "The monetization had to be unaggressive as opposed to overly harsh and tight," Earl said. "For those spending hours at the game, they will opt to spend a little money on the game. We think that's a fair exchange." " And my favorite - "We looked at it closely and the market was demanding games with this model," said Nick Earl http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57568777-94/real-racing-3-accelerates-eas-freemium-push/
@Eli: I will certainly reserve judgement on RR3 and wait for the feedback from TA and the community. That said, here's an interesting article on EA's take on the freemium model: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-01-10-ea-mobile-doubles-down-on-free-to-play This quote at the end of the article from EA's Nick Earl is telling: I get that this is a lucrative business, but I feel "nickel & dimed" in my everyday life; I really don't want to feel that in my gaming life as well. At the end of the day, I don't want to be treated by companies as a source of perpetual revenue. I want companies - especially gaming companies - to stop trying to find new ways to "monetize" me. Do I know anything about RR3's implementation? Not really. But I do understand that EA is going to try hard to find new, constant revenue streams. They're a public company. Part of their job is to find new ways to improve their P2E multiple and thus make more money for investors. Based on all of these things, I expect EA will have found "nice" ways to dip into our wallets on a regular basis in RR3, but at the end of the day, it's all about the Benjamins. --DotComCTO
"The other difference is the changes that enable the freemium aspect of the game. EA has promised that no part of the game is locked out for players who don't choose to spend money. But players who want to ante up can receive cars and access to different racetracks faster. In addition, damage actually matters in this game, and players will have to wait a while to repair their cars before the next race. Or, they can take virtual money earned from the race or purchased with real money and speed up the repairs." That's worrying but we'll see how much it really costs in game.
I guess there is a timer after all. That's a bit disappointing, but at least it can be sped up with non-IAP currency. Like you posted though, it all depends on wait times and cost.
So in other words it's like those F2P games with energy bars, but not quite as bad? (You can pay with the in-game currency to "refill" the energy bar) While things could be worse this still means that longer playing sessions mean that more money (in-game or in real life) will have to be spent. Being constantly reminded to pay money to have more fun in less time kind of takes away from the experience.
So instead of waiting for fuel in CSR Racing, here we have to wait for repairs. Oh dear god, this is just too sad.
