According to the latest earnings from companies like Perfect World, and to a much larger extent, Facebook, free-to-play games are the industry’s latest greatest attempt at creating a valid business model beyond paying $60 on day one. There’s just one problem: most users see free-to-play games as a scam.
Regardless of whether they are right or not, it’s healthy to have a conversation about the trend. After all, even the Xbox 360, which has been pretty slow to adopt the trend, has Happy Wars.
Brandon Sheffield’s interview entitled The Shame Game: An Interview With Jesse Schell, adequately delivers both sides of the argument. Are free to play games a scam? Do they finally address the increasing cost of games, while delivering a fun experience for those who are interested in getting in on a game without handing over six-times the average hourly wage in the United States?
