Is 38 Studios going Free to Play?

Posted on by Nimgimli

I thought for sure someone was going to run with this but I haven’t seen anything yet so wanted to throw this out there.

Note: I’m using the common phrase “Free to Play” but we all know these games aren’t really free. Non-subscription based is more accurate but less catchy.

At PAX last weekend we went to MMORPG.com’s “The Future of Online Gaming” panel. Great session, by the way.

One of the questions asked was about the trend towards Free to Play. Turbine’s Craig Alexander was the obvious person to answer the question and he spoke positively about how well DDO Online and LOTRO have been doing since going Free to Play. 38 Studios’ Curt Schilling was also on the panel, sitting right next to Alexander, and he was nodding along and enthusiastically supporting Alexander in sharing the benefits of a Free to Play model.

I wasn’t there as a blogger, just a gamer, so I wasn’t taking notes or anything, and so I can’t provide quotes, but coming out of the show Jeremy (@_JWGoodson) speculated that Schilling’s comments were telling and that they may have tipped us off to 38 Studios’ plans to forgo the subscription model and going straight to a Free to Play model when Copernicus finally launches.

Sheer speculation at this point, but I thought it was interesting enough to share, but too long for tweeting. 🙂

4 thoughts on “Is 38 Studios going Free to Play?”

  1. I video’d that panel (and I think Jeremy has audio), so I’ll have to go back listen with a more critical ear.

    I was really impressed with Schilling’s position on a great many things in the gaming industry. He really seemed to know what he was talking about. I was also impressed that he NEVER mentioned his baseball career. He only called it his “PREVIOUS career”, I believe. I was glad he did that.

  2. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Maybe I’m just coloring my memories of the event with my desire for another (presumably) AAA subscription-free game. 🙂

  3. I’ve been talking about this with a number of people over the past few days, and anyone who has listened to the Audio, or was actually at the panel, noticed the exact same thing. I really do hope that Copernicus goes F2P. It would really solidify the F2P option in the AAA sector of the genre. Honestly, I’ve felt that way for a while, but the naysayers need more proof. =p

  4. I’d love it if they went this route. I’ve been keeping a wary eye on Copernicus. I really want it to work, but I just don’t trust big AAA devs these days.

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