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EA launches free-to-play 'Lord of Ultima' browser-based game
Electronic Arts is again setting its sights on conquering the lucrative lands of free-to-play gaming with Lord of Ultima, launching today on a browser near you. The online strategy game certainly has more of a "core" audience in mind -- as if the Ultima license didn't already give that away -- with players constructing kingdoms through war, trade and diplomacy. We haven't had a chance to play yet, so we're not exactly sure where the microtransactions in this game fit in. The press release and main Lord of Ultima site are very sketchy on the details. A quick scan of the site mentioned that the game is free to play, but "there is the option to purchase additional features etc." If you've taken LoU for a spin, feel free to drop the microtransaction details in the comments below. %Gallery-91226%
Battlefield Heroes gets jetpacks, new map and new game mode
DICE's freemium FPS, Battlefield Heroes, has had its finger on the pulse of what's hip for quite some time now. It offered content for sad MJ fans when the King of Pop passed away and even implemented some supernatural content when that New Moon flick came out. Then there was the latest stuff celebrating the release of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. DICE clearly hasn't forgotten about its baby and now, for its three million and growing userbase, it's offering a trio of new goodies, headlined by the new in vogue multiplayer item: jetpacks. Players will use the jetpacks on a map called Midnight Mayhem, which sports a brand-new game mode called V2 Vengeance -- players must battle to capture and control a giant rocket. The content is available right now, so head on over to the Battlefield Heroes site if you want to throw down.
360iDev: Hands-on with Freeverse's Warpgate HD and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
We got to play two of Freeverse's current and future offerings this past week at 360iDev. Warpgate HD was the first -- it's out now on the App Store, and is due out for the iPhone and iPod touch. It was originally designed for the iPhone, but it ended up being a good fit for the larger device, so they readied it for a launch release. It's a fun title, although it doesn't quite take full advantage of the bigger hardware yet; as you play the space trading simulation, you get the feeling that there could probably be a little more to it on the iPad. It's still a fun title, though. We also got to play their upcoming Pride and Prejudice and Zombies iPhone game adaptation, and being that we've been buddies with Freeverse ever since they were developing games for the Mac, we talked a little bit with them about their heritage and how their recent merger with Ngmoco has affected their outlook. Read on for more.
DFC: 88 percent of gamers have bought virtual goods
According to a recent study, 88 percent of gamers have purchased digital content over the last several years. The study was conducted by market research firm DFC Intelligence using a survey of 5000 gamers from the US and Europe during the first two months of 2010. The study also looked at data from several different countries -- including South Korea, the U.S., Japan, Germany, Vietnam and the Philippines -- gathered over the last seven years. The worldwide data was provided by Live Gamer, a company that helps developers and publishers monetize their products. It's worth noting that the content described by the survey includes music and movies as well as in-game content. Still, 60 percent of those surveyed have purchased in-game items, most of which were offered as part of free-to-play games. DFC analyst David Cole notes that the free-to-play model gives games distinct advantages over traditional single releases, saying that "a single product can have a lifespan of years online as opposed to a few months on the retail shelf." According to DFC, free-to-play games like Farmville and Combat Arms, which the firm refers to as "MMOG Lite," are expected to grow substantially over the next few years. DFC sees what it calls "MMOG Lite" products growing substantially in the next few years. Specifically, DFC predicts that the MMOG Lite market in Europe and North America will grow from $800 million in 2009 to over $3 billion by 2015. But don't feel left out, core gamers, these finding apply to all kinds of games. Live Gamer's Andrew Schneider points out that core gamers are "increasingly engaging in the purchase of virtual goods" and adds that the study illustrates "the market potential as traditional Western game publishers migrate towards microtransactions as the central monetization method." Frankly, the study's findings seem just a little far-fetched. Now, if you'll excuse us, the crops need tending. [Via Gamasutra]
We Rule hits a million sessions in 24 hours
Ngmoco CEO Neil Young tweeted on the official account that We Rule has reached a million app sessions in a 24 hour period, which means we can probably call their big freemium experiment an early success. We've seen quite a few people talking about We Rule and their accounts in our comments and on Twitter, so it's definitely out there and being played. But of course we have no idea yet just how well it's doing in terms of turning over in-app purchases and making money. Still, if his talk at GDC is any indication, Young doesn't really care: their main goal is to get lots and lots of people using the app, and a million sessions in a day sounds like they've either got that or they're well on their way. Which means you will probably see lots more of this on the store in the near future -- Godfinger is due out soon from Ngmoco (it's currently in their Canadian App Store "beta"), and of course we've heard that they've got no less than six iPad titles planned, undoubtedly some due soon after the April 3rd launch. Ngmoco's freemium model had its naysayers when the company first revealed their plans, but it looks like they've all quieted down -- they're off playing We Rule.
Freeverse working on a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies game for iPhone
I haven't gotten a chance to read the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies book, in which Seth Grahame-Smith takes the old Jane Austen novel and adds a little undead action to it, but apparently the brand is doing very well. Freeverse has announced that they've been hired to create an iPhone game based on the book. They tell us that they'll be putting "the perfect blend of zombie slaying action and touching romance narrative" into a 2.5D graphic game on the iPhone Sounds interesting. The game is due out on the App Store by April, and while we were told previously that all of Freeverse's titles would end up going with Ngmoco's freemium policy, the recent Flick Bowling 2 didn't follow that model, so who knows? It looks like Freeverse does have at least a little leeway in what they release, and it's interesting to see that they're working on some licensed content as well (a game based on a novel, of all things, that's based on another novel). We'll keep an eye out for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and let you know when we hear the undead moaning through the Victorian walls.
Ngmoco's We Rule is live, but buggy
Ngmoco's We Rule is now available for download worldwide in the App Store -- it's the first ground-up game developed for their big freemium experiment, in which they give away a game and then support it with periodic updates, bringing in revenue with in-app purchases driven by social interaction and game design. I got to play the game at GDC a few weeks ago, and if you've ever played Facebook's Farmville, you'll find most of it very familiar -- you can plant crops, build a town, and earn money both by waiting in real time for investments to pay off, and trading/giving items among friends. Early App Store ratings are pretty good, and while the app doesn't seem to be charting yet, Ngmoco's Neil Young made it clear at GDC that this is a slow burn model -- they're not worried so much about charts as building up average daily users. Unfortunately, it seems the app suffered from some early bugs -- the game requires a 'net connection to run (like Farmville, it's very server oriented), and many users were having trouble connecting. Young wrote a blog post himself about the issues the other day; he says that it's primarily a server problem, and that the teams are working as quickly as they can to fix issues. Not unexpected -- Ngmoco's model calls for an "MVP" ("Minimum Viable Product") to be released on the App Store, so again, they're more interested in how the app does long term, not in the first few days. Other than the hiccups (which did result in a few bad App Store reviews and ratings), We Rule appears to be taking off carefully. We'll have to wait and see if the Farmville-style click-and-wait gameplay is enough to bring in those average daily users that Ngmoco is craving from the App Store.
Six Ngmoco iPad titles revealed
In his panel at GDC last week, Ngmoco's Neil Young dropped the news that his company was going all out with their freemium business model -- not only are they releasing twenty iPhone titles by the end of this year, but they're planning on having six iPad titles ready to go right away at launch. Touch Arcade has done a little digging, and they've come up with what they think the six iPad titles will be. Here we go: GodFinger We Rule (both of these were previewed last week) Flick Fishing (probably re-created as a freemium app) NBA Hotshot (also likely remade into Ngmoco's model) CastleCraft (an MMO strategy/wargame) WarpGate As you may have noticed, two of those are Ngmoco originals, and four of those are Freeverse titles that were either planned for the iPad or are being remade for the new platform; again, presumably free-to-play, along with microtransactions and freemium resources in the Ngmoco mold. That's definitely a sizeable library going into the new platform, and if Ngmoco really does have these ready to go on April 3rd (and I don't see any reason why they wouldn't -- even if they haven't gotten one of those test iPads from Apple, their model is designed to release early and make updates quickly if needed), then they'll be positioned to grab iPad app space very early on.
GDC 2010: Ngmoco's Neil Young on how freemium will change the App Store world
On the third day of GDC 2010, Ngmoco's Neil Young took the stage in one of the largest rooms at the conference to talk about what his company had "unlearned" in its time in the App Store. Ngmoco has become a large and polarizing figure in the world of App Store development -- after starting out with a big investment from the iFund, it's moved quickly to become one of the biggest iPhone-only developers, and after starting out with a few premium titles like the very successful Rolando, have recently made waves with its "freemium" business model. Young talked about the company's history so far, and went in-depth on Ngmoco's plan for ruling the App Store and why he believes it's the "most significant shift and opportunity for [game developers] since the birth of this business." We've summarized Young's long address in this post. It was pretty incredible -- not only did Young lay out his idea of a clear plan for building and developing a large portfolio of very profitable App Store titles "at scale" (the company plans to release twenty new freemium products on the iPhone in the near future, as well as six titles on the iPad), but he made it very clear that he fervently believes that freemium and the model he's structured is the future of the video game business.
Study: America spent $3.8 billion on MMOs in 2009
Massively multiplayer online game players in the States allegedly spent $3.8 billion last year, according to the Today's Gamers MMO Focus Report by Gamesindustry.com and TNS. The report claims that the MMO market in the US has reached 46 million users, with 21 million paying for online games. The rest play without spending a dime (think "freemium"). In a shocking upset victory dripping in sarcasm, World of Warcraft was the most popular MMO with the US, besting NeoPets, Club Penguin, Disney ToonTown and Runescape. Ah freemium, where even the traditional MMO companies can make money. [Via Massively, Gamasutra]
GDC 2010: Ngmoco justifies the freemium model
We have a lot of questions for the company, and we'll be asking even more of them coming later this week. But first things first: we cornered Ngmoco producer Allen Ma here in their suite at GDC 2010 and asked him to try and tell us why Ngmoco is so insistent on "freemium," and how they feel about some of the adverse customer reactions to their model. Read on to hear why free-to-play, pay-to-play-more is the model that they're betting their business on.
Free for All: How free is freemium?
Welcome to Free for All, a weekly column highlighting the world of Free to Play/Freemium games! The new generation of free-to-play games are not only of the same quality as many "standard" MMOs, but they give players a chance to try them out before they ever spend a dime (if they choose to). I am going to try to make sense out of the masses with this column, so wish me luck and thanks for reading! Freemium is one of those rare hybrid terms that is used to describe some games in the MMO market. Yet, what does it mean? I prefer to use the term "velvet rope", because it places a good picture in your head as to how the game might work. I decided to examine what the term means, and what it might say to a potential player. The best way for me to do this is to look at some "freemium" games that not only do it well, but are some of the most successful games out there, regardless of subscription model.
Ngmoco acquires iPhone game dev Freeverse
Despite a still-wavering economy (and industry-wide layoffs), Neil Young's ngmoco has just bought up large Brooklyn-based iPhone game developer Freeverse. Gamasutra talked to both ngmoco and Freeverse, who (expectedly) had nothing but sugary kisses to throw at each other. "We've been thinking about how to accelerate our strategic growth though acquisitions of companies and intellectual property, and Freeverse was really at the top of our list," said Neil Young. Meanwhile, vice president of Freeverse Colin Lynch Smith described the relationship between his company and Young's as "like the perfect dating situation." Now things are really steaming up! The ngmoco head further describes his company's goal in the purchase as, "to acquire the companies we think have the right blend of talent and DNA and intellectual property we think will work well in the freemium space," echoing comments he made recently on why Rolando 3 never got to roll around on our iPhones. With plans to reach out to developers with the Plus+ SDK (the company's social networking service) in the coming weeks and an outwardly aggressive strategy to pursue the free-to-play market, ngmoco certainly has plenty on its plate in 2010.
Tune Runner rises to the top on a wave of free
There's been some interesting discussion in our comments section lately about Ngmoco's freemium model -- first they made headlines by endorsing it even to the detriment of one of their most popular games, and then they bought Freeverse and the conversation started up again. But while customers don't seem to like the freemium model very much, there's a growing number of examples that go the other way, and here's another: Appy Entertainment is a company that's been doing fairly well with a game called FaceFighter, but last weekend, they decided to drop the price of that game to free, and use the giveaway to promote their newest game, Tune Runner. And the plan worked extremely well -- after just a week, their original music game is rivaling Rock Band and Tap Tap Revenge for downloads. FaceFighter hadn't been doing badly, but offering it up for free not only increased its downloads to several hundred thousand (which sounds like a lot for Appy), but put the new game in front of a whole bunch of people who otherwise might not have heard about it. And Tune Runner is a "freemium" app -- you get the first hit for free, and can buy more premium content inside the app. With an example like this, why would a developer not go with a freemium model? As Freeverse's CEO told us, customers may complain about the model, but assuming your game has the quality to support it, it's the best way to monetize the App Store's huge audience. That's not to say that the paid model should be abandoned for good -- even Appy says they plan to release a paid version of their app with the in-app purchase content already unlocked. But for all of the murmuring about the freemium model, it certainly seems that customers' actions are different than words on the App Store.
TUAW Interview: Freeverse CEO Ian Lynch Smith on the Ngmoco purchase
We were all pretty gobsmacked last night with the news that iPhone gaming developer Ngmoco had purchased longtime Mac game developer Freeverse, so we went hunting for answers. Fortunately, Freeverse CEO and founder Ian Lynch Smith was nice enough to sit down and take our questions this morning, and he provided a little more background and insight on the deal. The first thing we wanted to do was what would happen to Freeverse's extensive Mac catalog, and we were told conclusively that "it's not going anywhere at all." While Freeverse will still "sell and maintain" their Mac titles, Smith did tell us that they've "been pretty much exclusively focused on the iPhone for the last 18 months anyway," so while they have a legacy in the Mac, the company believes that OS X is "on a collision course with the iPad," and that the main opportunities and user bases for Mac software are now using the iPhone and, soon, Apple's tablet. "It's very hard," we were told, "to get the volume that the iTunes App Store has" for purely Mac software. The other big question we had was what Freeverse thinks of Ngmoco's insistent support on the "freemium" model (where games are free-to-play, with extra content or add-ons to purchase later), something that has a lot of customers up in arms. Hit the "read more" link below to see what he said both about that and what he thinks about the iPad and the future of computing.
Ngmoco cancels Rolando 3, says it can't fit into a free-to-play model
Here's some unfortunate news out of Ngmoco: The company tells IGN that while there was a Rolando 3 (the second sequel to the very popular and excellent rolling iPhone platformer) in progress, the game has been essentially canceled, and will never see release in its current form. Why? The second game wasn't exactly a sales success (though Ngmoco's Neil Young admits "it's done fine"), and it was that lack of a big splash that made Ngmoco turn the corner into "freemium," or the model of releasing free games that offer in-app purchases for premium content. They've had a lot of success with their Eliminate Pro shooter, and they want to adapt that model for all games: get a few hits for free, spend some real money on in-app purchases for the rest. And apparently when they couldn't bring that model over to Rolando 3, they scrapped the title. That's a real shame -- not every game on the App Store has to be a runaway hit, and Rolando 3 seems like a perfect candidate for the "slow burn"; release it at a price of $5 or $6, and just let it sit there as an example of great gaming on the iPhone (and the upcoming iPad). But Ngmoco has made their decision, and Rolando 3 is no more. They say the series isn't gone for good -- if they can figure out a way to do "freemium" with Rolando, we could see the roly poly guys on the iPhone again. You'd think that paying for a level or two at a time would work just fine, but who knows what Ngmoco's reasoning is on this. If I get a chance to talk with them at next month's GDC, I'll ask. [via Joystiq] Update: Reader Zyber sent us a petition he's started to try and get the game released. Online petitions aren't exactly proven to be effective, but we'll throw our support behind it just the same.
AGDC 2009: Wizard101 hits 5 million accounts, mounts coming, and more
If you're a fan of Wizard101, then you're in for a serious treat. Brent from VirginWorlds posted a video of Darren from Common Sense Gamer sitting down with a "gaggle" of people from KingsIsle Entertainment during AGDC. It seems that Darren had a nice long talk about the past, present, and future of Wizard101, and they were all too happy to give him lots of choice tidbits of information. While this video clocks in at almost a whopping 30 minutes, it covers a large amount of territory fans and curious onlookers alike will be interested in. The various topics touched on during the course of this interview include the news that Wizard101 has also crossed the 5 million account mark; the account structure and parental controls available in-game; some interesting tidbits about just who is playing; and even a look at the upcoming mounts that will be available for players in October. Also, be sure to check Common Sense Gamer for screenshots of those upcoming Wizard101 mounts. Looks like an exciting time to be a Wizard between all this information and the first birthday celebration going on now!
One Shots: Rain on the docks
As we saw this morning in our Daily Grind topic, many eyes are turning back to Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online. We're hoping that with the influx of new people headed there we'll see bunches of great One Shots from there like today's image. This one was sent in to us by Tsyris, who sent in a quick note about this image: [Here's a picture of] my fighter looking at a beautiful rainy evening at The Harbor in Dungeons and Dragons Online.Are you wandering in a world we don't often see? We want to see images from you, if so! Just email us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit!%Gallery-9798%
The Daily Grind: Are you checking out DDO?
Yesterday saw the open launch of Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited, and from what we hear the stampede of players headed for Turbine's servers to check it out caused a bit of a hiccup. As it's tied to the monstrous name in Pen & Paper gaming, there is definitely a bunch of interest in seeing just what has changed in the game since its early days. That said, we wanted to ask you if you'd gotten a chance to check out Turbine's re-imagined take on the tabletop favorite of so many? Did you give the new Dungeons & Dragons Online a whirl? Now that it has a F2P option, will you be spending time doing some dungeon crawling in DDO?
Redefining MMOs: The rise of F2P
These days it seems like you can't move three feet in the MMO space without bumping into a Free-to-Play (or F2P) game. As the person who writes First Impressions from time to time, I play quite a lot of them. As such, I'm always looking at new F2P games that pop up, from tiny indie titles to mega-corporate offerings. Just about any subset you can imagine is represented out there: flash games, isometric, side-scrollers, mini-games, embeddable web-only, local client. Curious about what genres you might find? How about fantasy, steampunk, post-apocalyptic, casual, cartoon, pirate, anthropomorphic, space, and so much more. If it hasn't been made yet, wait six months - someone will probably do it, considering. Quality, too, runs the gamut. Some games are incredibly addictive, while others make you want to take a run at the dev team with a sock full of quarters.
