Free to Play: Part 1

Implementing Pay to Play

"Pay to Play" is a model that free to play video games use to generate income. The model makes players pay money to access features of the video game.

I recently started playing Pokemon Trading Card Game Online, a free to play game which implements pay to play. Trading card games, such as Pokemon, Magic, and Yu-Gi-Oh! have been using the pay to play model since they were created. In order to have a fantastic deck, the player needs to buy booster packs or the correct cards so they can implement their strategy. Naturally, Pokemon TCGO uses free to play, requiring the player to buy the physical cards which contain a code to unlock cards for the online game. This unlock comes in the form on booster packs and booster decks.

When Pokemon TCGO was in beta, this was the only way to get extra cards. This is the usual implementation I see in pay to play games. However, when the game released the developers added a system that allowed players who didn't want to pay for the game to get booster packs too. Every five days of logging in, the player would be rewarded with a booster pack credit. This way, players who want to pay to play still have the opportunity, but players who don't want to play don't feel completely cheated. Yes, free players don't get cards as quickly which means they are hindered, but the gap between the two types of players isn't as large.

League of Legends uses this form of pay to play perfectly. The two currencies used in the game, Riot Points and Influence Points, have different sources yet both can be used to purchase champions for the game. Riot Points are bought with money and can buy special skins for champions. Influence points are earned by playing games, but cannot be used to purchase skins. Every day, the player gets an Influence Points boost for winning a game. Once again, by paying a player gains access to champions more quickly by paying for them, but free players can still earn those champions through playing.

These two video games have pay to play implementations which nicely allow two different types of players to play together. One of the most difficult challenges for a game developer is catering to multiple types of gamers, may they be hardcore or noobs or otherwise. These systems close the gap between pay to play and free players by allowing free players a daily/weekly opportunity to unlock features of the game. By catering to both types of gamers, the free to play game can collect a larger play base.