Shigeru Miyamoto Warns the Games Industry That the Free-To-Play Model is Too Greedy

cageymaru

cageymaru

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Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has called upon game industry companies to avoid the free-to-play model for monetizing video games due to greed. He believes that setting fixed prices creates a culture of paying for software and avoids the Recording Industry struggles with MP3 file sharing and monetizing free music services like Youtube. He admits that Nintendo's mobile games like Super Mario Run haven't met projections and seeks to promote subscription services to customers that find value in Nintendo's content.

"It's necessary for developers to learn to get along with" subscription-style services, Miyamoto said. "When seeking a partner for this, it's important to find someone who understands the value of your software. Then customers will feel the value in your apps and software and develop a habit of paying money for them."
 
He's not wrong the FtP model is purely greed based and is one of the reasons I do not play any mobile games and the crazy thing is the FtP games are actually better than most of the mobile games you actually have to pay for.
 
unfortunateson said:
Sure, once the model stops being profitable, companies will stop using it...

So never.
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Nah, at some point people will stop getting into Free To play games, cause they'll realize they're shit. For a Free To Play game to work it must introduce a grind like system that has players do repetitive tasks over and over while also being addictive. Eventually players will realize this and avoid these type of games.

Miyamoto's idea is equally as bad cause nobody likes paying monthly fees, especially for single player games which Nintendo specializes in. World of Warcraft does this and they've lost so many players it's a wonder how they can afford to charge a reoccurring fee.
 
I’m immediately turned off by P2W games aka “free to play” as they aren’t very gauging once you hit the pay wall area. First iteration of D3 I wasn’t going to touch.
 
The free to play model is a good model, its just that companies are greedy and ruin it. Warframe and Path of Exile are great examples of how it can work and not be greedy. Never played League of Legends but heard it had a good model as well.
 
Yes they are all about greed. All forms of mt are. I don't understand how people are so stupid to fall for it. There is no value in those games.
 
You want to talk greed... why was there a point where all games cost the same amount? Why does Nintendo get a cut of every video game sale? I mean depending upon where you look you could point the finger of greed really easily.


vegeta535 said:
Yes they are all about greed. All forms of mt are. I don't understand how people are so stupid to fall for it. There is no value in those games.
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Carrot on a stick, you give someone a little taste, and they chase the carrot, only a dollar for this... then that... oh hey here's some free pulls (Gacha system) wouldn't oh so sorry you got shit tier characters, for only $10 you can pull 50 more times! You might as well ask why people fall for commercials, or thinking $9.99 is so much cheaper than $10, it's been studied and the psychology is not lost on those who employ it.
 
YARDofSTUF said:
The free to play model is a good model, its just that companies are greedy and ruin it. Warframe and Path of Exile are great examples of how it can work and not be greedy. Never played League of Legends but heard it had a good model as well.
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Mech warrior online.comes to mind also.
 
i dont even play games anymore period because of this model.. its destroyed gaming period, for me at least. only few games left that dont do this is VR, but thats coming in due time.
 
value is in the eye of the beholder...if you enjoy a game whether or not its F2P/P2W or pay now or subscription based, then who cares what everybody else thinks, who cares how much $$ the devs are making, and who cares if its a scam or not? if your having fun and can do the grind then more power to ya.
I played warface for 3 years and NEVER missed even 1 day, had over 5000 hours on it. now i am playing warframe and loving it. is it a scam and a P2W? you bet, but i still enjoy the hell out of it. who is anybody else to tell me what i can or cant play and who i can give my cash to.
sounds like nintendo is just pissed off that they suck at doing it and want even more $$.
 
Mario Run missed projections because it was dumb.

There are in fact successful F2P models that aren't scummy.
 
Inu said:
Mario Run missed projections because it was dumb.
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For me, it looked okay for what it was and even the price tag wasn't so bad, especially when it went on sale for $5. At that price, it'd have gone for it if it weren't for the stupid always online drm.
 
I don't understand what he means, nor what he wants to do... Yes i read the article.
 
So to be clear, Shiggy feels that free to play, where you get some portion of the product at no charge, and can optionally pay for additional content, is greedy, but subscription where you pay a monthly fee for something you never own and should you stop paying for it you lose it and they can take it away whenever they want, is not greed

Uh huh.

nb: I personally hate both F2P & subscription, I don't begrudge you if you find them suitable
 
masquap said:
So to be clear, Shiggy feels that free to play, where you get some portion of the product at no charge, and can optionally pay for additional content, is greedy, but subscription where you pay a monthly fee for something you never own and should you stop paying for it you lose it and they can take it away whenever they want, is not greed

Uh huh.

nb: I personally hate both F2P & subscription, I don't begrudge you if you find them suitable
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Yeah... No. If he means subscription to a single game.. yeah Nintendo can keep it.. I ain't buying. If he means subscription to an extensive collection of games, sure why not, I am in.
Individual games as subscription means as a producer you can ship it out faster by virtue of it being incomplete and if it doesn't meet expectations you can cut your losses sooner by cancelling it before further investments are made.. but you as a gamer are screwed if you liked the game, crap like that...plus i guess the game is always 'incomplete' .. Hell no. HELL NO. Actually i am mostly gaming on Nintendo right now, either switch or 3ds... A very big reason i am with them is that i can count on Nintendo to sell me complete games, i buy the cartridge and that is that for the most part.. i am less exposed to loot boxes, or other shens.. if they want to change their stance that is fine... I ain't paying subscription for no single games... Specially since i am sure it won't be a buck a month, but probably 10 or some crap... Also, a 'subscription' game, almost necessarily is a different type of game, one that is basically endless(and always incomplete i suppose ).. I am not one bit interested in those.. i guess if paying monthly for a game that has a begining and an end you are basically renting it, i suppose i would actually save money since i play one game at a time anyway. Meh but no endless monthly games for me, i am out, and dont expect to ever be in with those.
 
Warframe is one of my favorite games and it is FtP. The have done a good idea of making upgrades balanced between you can grind for them or pay for them. I grind for most..but sometimes I just pay the small payment and get the pile of platinum do do other upgrades. The old model of a single payment and polaying forever is not sustainable...
 
I disagree with it being "greed based". Hell every product is "greed based" with someone wanting to get paid for it. Either way, thanks to Fortnite and Epic Games making hundreds of millions every month, I have a feeling FTP games are gonna be here a while.
 
hescominsoon said:
Warframe is one of my favorite games and it is FtP. The have done a good idea of making upgrades balanced between you can grind for them or pay for them. I grind for most..but sometimes I just pay the small payment and get the pile of platinum do do other upgrades. The old model of a single payment and polaying forever is not sustainable...
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Well Warframe and Path of Exile are the only F2P games I know of where the "free" is to attract you to play and not run their hands through your pockets. All of the rest of the games that I've encountered in the Free-to-Play genre have all been pay-fests where you need to pay for storage, locations, automatic looting, pvp, maps, loot boxes to get gear as grinding them literally takes years.

So you have a couple of true F2P games that aren't "greedy" and then you have literally thousands that want the shirt off your back.
 
I refuse to be extorted. I set a limit of about $15 total for a mobile game if it is fun to play. With that said I am conflicted at times with games that have a primary goal of getting as much money out of you as it can especially when they ask you to rate them.
 
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DukenukemX said:
Nah, at some point people will stop getting into Free To play games, cause they'll realize they're shit. For a Free To Play game to work it must introduce a grind like system that has players do repetitive tasks over and over while also being addictive. Eventually players will realize this and avoid these type of games.

Miyamoto's idea is equally as bad cause nobody likes paying monthly fees, especially for single player games which Nintendo specializes in. World of Warcraft does this and they've lost so many players it's a wonder how they can afford to charge a reoccurring fee.
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I played EQII for many years and it was a much better game when it wasn't F2P. I did use F2P later to get boxing accounts but overall, game quality suffered. However I do see why F2P is appealing as everyone can get in for free, however since without paying you get locked out of most things and cannot really compete, that model is misleading to new players. Companies get too greedy and it quickly becomes pay to win.
 
I’m a big fan of the SWTOR F2P model. You can play the entire game, see the story mode, do a few missions (or operations?) but you have to pay if you want to use the better gear, access to more money and a few other things like access to content as it’s released.
 
I've played HoTS for 3 years now and have maybe spent $30. I have gotten a lot more enjoyment out of that play time than I have in many $60 games I've bought.
 
viper1152012 said:
That started shortly after its release,so you're saying it's always sucked......please


Just a loot hater,
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The "Mann-Conomy" update happened 3 years after Team Fortress 2 was released. Initially it wasn't terrible because you could still unlock everything through achievements.
 
the Free-To-Play Model is Too Greedy

you have to admit.. if you didnt know the specifics, aka pay to win, you would look at that headline and go WTF??


:LOL:

 
All those battling mobile games are horrible for pay to win. It feeds into your desires to win and conquer and ups the price steadily over each purchase. Game of War and Mobile Strike being two of the worse offenders.

I have though as others pointed out seen a few good FTP tactics implemented but they are far and few between. If they are offering just cosmetic stuff and nice to haves. not requirements then it seems perfectly fine to me. Its when weapons, better characters or storage you have to buy because they dont give you enough for later progression that really bother me.
 
I'll tell you one free-to-play game that has a major greedy side: Star Trek Online. Free to play, and then release minor content enhancer packs for $130 is more than a little overpriced.
 
If I'm going to be nickel and dimed, I prefer the dreaded DLC and Season Pass methods. At least they're totally finite in what they do and don't provide.
 
Their fire emblem mobile game does fairly well with the greedy model judging by the rankings
 
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