Free-to-play on Xbox 360 "inevitable"

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 29 July, 2011

Discussions detailed, MS responds.

Free-to-play games supported by micro-transactions on Xbox 360 are "inevitable", according to one developer.

Hi-Rez Studios boss Todd Harris, who is making free-to-play game Tribes: Ascend for PC and Xbox 360, told Eurogamer Microsoft plans to relax its rules regarding Xbox Live because of industry trends.

Last month a Develop report revealed Microsoft was talking with developers to discuss free-to-play game deals.

The idea is that games can either be monetised by in-game items or premium upgrade costs. Xbox 360 will incorporate a micro-transactions service using Microsoft Points, the report claimed.

As of now, the Xbox 360 version of Tribes: Ascend is on the back burner until Microsoft sorts its free-to-play Xbox Live policy out.

Discussions revolve around how free-to-play games will be updated through Xbox Live and how gamers will be able to play without spending any money.

"It's really just the degree to which the free-to-play model and, even more specifically, constant updates are at - kind of what level of support there is for Xbox, or even PlayStation at this point," Harris explained.

"So the ability to patch frequently, the ability to have it be free-to-play so users can get a taste without any fee. At least from our conversations, both Sony and Microsoft are moving there strategically but there are still some things to be worked out on both the business side and the technical side and the certification side regarding frequency of patches.

"And those issues just need further advancement before we would be comfortable putting a release timeframe on a console version. It's not the case of 'never', but we know all those things we can handle on the PC, so that's why PC is first."

Xbox Live has so far been a closed system, preventing massively multiplayer games, for example, from finding a home on the service.

Final Fantasy XIV Online creator and director Hiromichi Tanaka told Eurogamer last year that a "closed" Xbox Live blocked the game from appearing on Xbox 360.

And PlayStation 3 exclusive MMO shooter Dust 514 is in a similar situation. Developer CCP told Eurogamer at E3 last month that it went with Sony because "at least they have policies that allow us to build the game the way we want".

"They're [Microsoft] seeing where the industry is going," Harris continued. "It's inevitable that Microsoft will move towards that because the industry is moving towards that, and once that groundwork has been laid we would be in a better position to consider Tribes: Ascend for Xbox."

Eurogamer put the free-to-play on Xbox 360 story to Xbox senior product manager David Dennis, who told us Microsoft is looking at "a lot of different models for distribution".

"We're always looking at different models and different ways we can work with partners to bring content out," Dennis said.

"If you look, for example, at the stuff Kudo [Tsunoda, Kinect creative director] showed onstage at E3 – Kinect Fun Labs – that's an ad-supported model. Those titles are sponsored. There are different ways you can deploy or distribute games using different types of business models and we're always open to talking to partners.

"The strength we have in the business right now and the momentum we have allows us to experiment and try different things like that and see what consumers like and what they don't like," Dennis continued.

"If there are experiences that they like and want to download because it's ad-supported versus what are they willing to pay for it… you'll see us continue in the future to look for a lot of different models for distribution like that."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Skooch #1 10 months ago

    That video is pretty mental, looks interesting. Halo on amphetamines!

  • MiniAmin #2 10 months ago

    Forget free-to-play. Can we get iPlayer first please?

  • menschenfracht #3 10 months ago

    'both Sony and Microsoft are moving there strategically'
    But Sony had a japanese F2P MMO RPG since time immemorial. Angel Love Online, if I'm not mistaken.
    PS Home is another example of F2P experience.
    Free Realms by Sony is also F2P and is planned for release on PS3.

    meanwhile Team Fortress 2 on Xbox still misses some crucial updates.
    Edited by menschenfracht at 29/07/11 @ 11:29

  • wizlon #4 10 months ago

    Reminds me of UT3

  • L0cky #5 10 months ago

    It looks more like Tribes than Halo.

    Shazbot!

  • HL706 #6 10 months ago

    "Go find the general for your next assignment".

    *runs 800m to waypoint*

    "Press A to begin mission (800 MSP/£6.99)".

    I'm alright thanks, you can keep 'free' to play.

  • linksdad #7 10 months ago

    This has the potential to break gold membership. You cant have free to play, yet pay to play for free.

    Most of the ftp games out there are multiplayer and there aint no multiplayer on xbox without gold.

  • agparrot #8 10 months ago

    Looks astonishingly like Section 8 (and :prejudice)

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #9 10 months ago

    @HL706

    That's just bad game design! ;)

    The models that seem to work best in iOS land (the only platform I've experience 'freemium' models) are the ones that allows players to accelerate their progress (i.e. buying more in-game currency so they can build things quicker), 'cheat' modes that provide a solution to a level players are stuck on or personalisation items.

    Walled off content or unbalanced upgrades (giving players an advantage if they pay) doesn't seem to work too well - it just pisses off the one person the developer most wants to keep playing; the gamer.

    Hopefully developers working on free-to-play on games on XBLA will take note and learn the lessons.
    Edited by Pac-man-ate-my-wife at 29/07/11 @ 12:21

  • mrblonde #10 10 months ago

    Just because low budget "free to play" is all thats left of pc gaming , does not mean the the xbox needs or wants these titles.

  • Collymilad #11 10 months ago

    I'll pass thanks. Also, don't shove it in everyones face like kinect, if you would be so kind.

    There's a reason devs are trying to move to F2P, and here's a hint: It's not to do gamers a favour.

    All F2P will do is make gamers pay more for the same content, it's just you end up paying less money more times, so it's harder to notice it creeping above the £35-40 mark.
    Edited by Collymilad at 29/07/11 @ 12:37

  • dsmx #12 10 months ago

    Free stuff on xbox live? Have I travelled into a weird parallel world?

  • arcam #13 10 months ago

    No, just discussions about free stuff on Xbox Live ;)

  • Code_R #14 10 months ago

    Anyone else thing this was about payign for Live Gold seeing the headline? There's enough of this on Facebook already.

  • metallicorphan #15 10 months ago

    'Final Fantasy XIV Online creator and director Hiromichi Tanaka told Eurogamer last year that a "closed" Xbox Live blocked the game from appearing on Xbox 360. '

    if FF14 is up to it(i heard there were some problems),i would still like to see it appear on XBL,as i was a big fan of FF11....so if MS are really relaxing their rules,this is great news

  • Mister-Wario #16 10 months ago

    MiniAmin: I agree it'd be a nice addition, but interestingly it barely works for me on PS3. If I do use it, it's always on Wii and even that runs out of bandwidth occassionally. The key seems to put it in a dedicated channel rather than merely launching it from a browser.

  • TelexStar #17 10 months ago

    @asparrot - I think you mean Section 8 looks a lot like tribes…
    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsiege:_Tribes
    ]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starsiege:_...[/link]

    Time to brush up on your gaming history and influences. :)

  • PlugMonkey #18 10 months ago

    @HL706

    That's a fairly ignorant concept of what a "free to play" game is like. Go and play World of Tanks. It's absolutely brilliant value for money.

    I think a lot of the problem comes from the wording used. Christ alone knows why the industry has decided to adopt 'free 2 play' and 'freemium'. You set your customers expectation at free, then you when ask for some money, and it seems like gouging.

    Meanwhile, absolutely everyone in the world has had a 'pay as you go' service on their mobile phone at some time or other. They mostly come with a load of free minutes up front, just like a 'free 2 play' game, and then after that you pay for as much as you use.

    That's what they really mean.

    Then, you can either stay on pay-as-you-go, or you can get a phone on a contract (which in game terms is just the subscription model) if you think you'll use it enough for it to work out cheaper that way.

    The model already exists, has already been accepted by pretty much every single member of their target audience, and so the games industry decides instead to call it something it's not and set false expectations. It's idiotic.

    It's pay-as-you-go. Call it pay-as-you-go, and most of the complaints like HL706's disappear instantly.

    "Only paying for as much of the game as I actually play? Hey! That sounds like a great idea! That certainly sounds better than paying for something that's free!"

  • Alivada #19 10 months ago

    Good, it brings in more developers and hopefully MMOs.

    It also brings the Xbox in with the times.

  • arcam #20 10 months ago

    @PlugMonkey

    Call it PAYG and you've just eradicated the main appeal of the product.

    Anyway it's not pay as you go - you can easily play Word of Tanks or any number of other games without paying a penny. Free to Play is a surely a more accurate description. Freemium is just a silly made up word, but even that describes the concept better than PAYG, which suggests you need an account topped up with credits to play.

  • GamesConnoisseur #21 10 months ago

    Likewise more interested in iPlayer than free to play, but whatever MS will be very late to arrive in the free to play party, and so will be doing a lot of catching up whereas others will lead and be ahead on the curve.

  • geeza2020 #22 10 months ago

    As someone who plays all the games I buy to completion, any kind of monetized free to play game just makes me think that in order to get the full game I will end up paying more than just the good old £34.99. And that makes this whole thing seem like nothing more than gouging.

  • ronuds #23 10 months ago

    I don't see what the problem is with playing a game for free? If I enjoy the game, I won't mind spending money to get more out of it. If I don't like the game, I don't have to spend anything.

  • Ror1984 #24 10 months ago

    Can someone explain something to me? I often see people saying MMOs aren't possible on 360, but FFXI has been on there for years... Now, I've never played an MMO, so only know the bare minimum about them. Is there something different about how FFXI works on 360 vs other platforms..?

    This is a genuine question by the way, I am somewhat ignorant of the whole subscription gaming and free-to-play models. Someone enlighten me!

  • actionfitz #25 10 months ago

    @Ror1984
    Microsoft broke a whole load of their own rules to get FF11 on the 360.
    Or rather made it an exception to the rules in order to get an MMO on the system.
    Or thats what ive been lead to believe.

  • altitude2k #26 10 months ago

    People who complain about the F2P model must be the sort of people who just can't keep their cash in their pockets.

    You play the free bit and then you decide of it's worth paying more for the extra content. If you don't like it or the stuff isn't worth the cash THEN DON'T PAY FOR IT.

  • romelpotter #27 10 months ago

    I am happy to go into a store and pay by card for a box. I am not happy to enter my details into fucking every man and his dogs digital payment system so they can store/ loose/ sell them.

    F2P can kiss my arse, its just another lead into digital distribution. I'm getting to old for gaming anyway!
    Edited by romelpotter at 29/07/11 @ 16:09

  • addugg #28 10 months ago

    I'm sure Champions Online, Age of Conan, APB and others are jumping for joy....

  • Ror1984 #29 10 months ago

    @actionfitz - If that's the case, it can't have been all that successful, otherwise you'd expect to see XIV on the 360 too.

  • metallicorphan #30 10 months ago

    @Ror1984-probably not,i was on FF11 for 3 years on the 360 and it was great,but in my linkshell we had 360,PC and PS2 players and usually 3-4000 players on our server each night,but couldn't say how many of those were Xbox Players


    there is also Phantasy Star Universe MMO on the 360....in fact PC and PS2 servers have been shut down for this game now,but the 360 servers are still up,again i have heard that you only need a silver account for this game

  • todoso #31 10 months ago

    'Free to play' must refer to the entire game, A-Z. Otherwise it's called 'demo'.

    This being the case I think this is a non-starter.

    Or they could make the game easy for the first 50 percent, then, 'Jeez, I can't beat this new enemy. I hafta buy a new sword/gun/spell for $3.50.' At which point I'd be pissed.

  • CamberGreber #32 10 months ago

    It seems Shareware is makeing a return.

    YES

  • jamesi #33 10 months ago

    @romelpotter if your getting to old for gaming why are you reading/ commenting on a Game site?games are for all ages.anyway the free to play model doesnt seem to have done apple any harm thats the way it should be implemented.if you want to upgrade/personalize play online etc then you pay if you want.

  • ubergine #34 10 months ago

    In a sense there's been free-to-play with microtransactions on 360 from the start. If you've ever played Oblivion with a second hand copy and bought any of the expansion content (wizards towers etc) then the devs are making money on a free-to-play model! Same with any other disc game with DLC.

  • slickster #35 10 months ago

    Everyone keeps saying free this free that on xboxlive but its not free you still need gold sub to do anything on xboxlive.