Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli believes that his company will have transitioned to exclusively making free-to-play games within five years.
Crytek, maker of the PC-busting Crysis series, might seem like one of the least likely developers to endorse the switch but, as Yerli points out in a recent interview with VentureBeat, the free-to-play model has the potential to coax gamers a steady stream of income out of invested players, which could net them much more than a standard $60 retail package.
"We decided five or six years ago that we want to marry the quality of triple-A games with the business model of free-to-play," said Yerli. "And at that time, we decided some other games, in some of our other studios, would head in this direction... I think over the next two to three years, free-to-play is going to rival retail with quality games like Warface."
Yerli explained that, while North American consumers may be ready and willing to put down $60 for a game, much of the world cannot or will not to make such an investment. Cytek hopes that making higher-quality free-to-play gaming is their ticket to "growth" and "world-domination."
It's going to be interesting seeing if Yerli will be able to pull it off. Many North American gamers hold the free-to-play model in disdain, as it has historically been associated with poorly made "play-to-win" games. In recent years, however, some games, like League of Legends and Tribes: Ascend, have proven that, if a game is well-made and is truly free to play, then fans will embrace and support it.
Free-to-play may be the future, but it needs to be balanced in a way that every gamer is able to enjoy these games without compromise.
