Games That Had To Go Free-To-Play

Now, more than ever, studios and publishers have a lot of pressure on them to make sure the releases of their big games go smoothly. A poor launch can kill a game before it can build a loyal following and there's often precious little a developer can do to save a struggling game. One of the riskiest things they can do is make the game free-to-play and hope the low cost of entry will tempt new players.

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By  Fatima Naeem

It's a risky move because gamers are a pretty jaded bunch, and the phrase "free-to-play" tends to set off alarm bells in people's heads. Despite the fact PC has lots of great free-to-play games, it's rarely a good sign when a previously paid game goes free-to-play. It's happened quite a few times over the years, and if the developers pull the tactic off, it can save a seemingly doomed game.

1 The Lord Of The Rings Online

Even A Massive IP Couldn't Save It

A sad fact of the gaming industry is that sometimes good games fail. That's what happened with The Lord of the Rings Online. It received positive reviews and players seemed to love it, but from early on it struggled to attract a strong player base and quickly lost those it did have. Its subscription model turned off a lot of players and by 2010, the game was circling the drain.

To save their game, the developers abandoned the subscription model and went free-to-play. According to the publishers, this move worked and within six months the game's revenue had tripled. While not as big as other MMOs, the game is still going strong and is one of the best free-to-play MMOs around. The vast majority of its content is free, with late-game content gated behind LOTRO points, which can be purchased with money or earned in-game by grinding. Players wanting to support the developers can pay for a VIP subscription if they wish.

2 Fall Guys

Couldn't Stay On Top

Fall Guys was one of the shock hits of 2020. A graphically cute "battle royale obstacle course game," it was released just as the battle royale genre was beginning to feel saturated and played like a combination of Total Wipeout, Takeshi's Castle, and a Mr. Beast challenge. Gamers loved it, and it soon became a go-to game for streamers, beating out big hitters like Fortnite and Among U s. For a time.

People soon realized its gameplay was a little simple and repetitive, and as new games were released, its popularity quickly began to fall. This was a problem because the game needed large lobbies to be played properly, leading to a snowball effect as its player base began to flag. In 2022, Mediatonic made the tough decision to make Fall Guys free-to-play. The move revitalized the game, and it soon went from 10 million monthly players to over 17 million. Live service elements like season and battle passes have kept players coming back, and Fall Guys is still one of the best battle royales on the PS5 and other platforms.

3 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

More Money In Microtransactions

Ever since the first Counter-Strike released in 2020, the franchise has been one of the biggest names in the world of competitive first-person shooters. It sounds odd then to say Valve "had" to make Counter-Strike: Global Offensive free-to-play, especially since the game was massively successful. Why would Valve make one of the most-played games on Steam and one of their highest-rated games free?

The answer is to make sure it stays that way. The competitive FPS market is dog-eat-dog tough and Valve didn't want to risk Counter-Strike slipping. No one stays on top forever without innovating. Going free-to-play helped grow the game's esports community, increased player numbers, and enhanced the game's profile with streamers. Valve arguably makes far more money through microtransactions and esports than it would if it still charged for Counter-Strike. If the game hadn't been made free-to-play, there's a good chance its success would have dwindled as newer free-to-play games drained its player count.

4 The Sims 4

Keeping The Cash Cow Alive

EA has made a grotesque amount of money from The Sims 4. Since it was released ten years ago, the game has made billions of dollars for the company and is still going strong today. In the life-simulation genre, it doesn't really have a lot of strong competition, and EA knows that as long as it keeps grinding out DLCs and add-ons for the game, it's pretty much printing money. EA isn't exactly known for treating gamers well, so it was a bit of a surprise when it made The Sims 4 free-to-play in 2022.

The truth is, EA knew it was at risk of milking one of its biggest cash cows dry. Each new bit of content released for The Sims 4 was attracting negative press, and it turned out there was a limit to how much casual gamers were willing to spend on their favorite game. Going free-to-play allowed The Sims 4 to hook millions more casual players drawn in by the price tag. Once these players are hooked, EA could start selling them DLC. If Sims 4 fans want to experience everything the game has to offer, it'll set them back a cool $1000. EA's biggest cash cow might be free-to-play, but it's still alive and well.

5 Rocket League

Live-Service That Works

Psyonix found themselves in an unusual predicament thanks to Rocket League's massive success. Initially, the game sold well following its 2015 release and rapidly built up a loyal following that was crying out for more content. The problem was that creating new content costs money, and there was a limit to how much Rocket League's current player base was willing to pay. By 2020, the game's player base was starting to shrink, and Psyonix made the difficult decision to make their baby a free-to-play live-service game.

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Fans were initially skeptical, but the developer was true to its word. The new model allowed the team to crank out new content, which gave long-time players something to aim for and kept newly acquired players coming back for more. Much like Valve with Counter-Strike, Rocket League is much more profitable now than it was as a paid game and is proof the live-service model can work if developers and publishers don't get too greedy. Rocket League's bubble was in danger of popping, but it's just as popular now as it was before 2020.

6 Star Wars: The Old Republic

Getting Star Wars Fans Hooked

Star Wars: The Old Republic was released in December 2011 and made free-to-play by the end of November 2012. Considering the game had cost over $200 million to make and was attached to one of entertainment's biggest IPs, that sounds pretty disastrous. It wasn't even a bad game. It had one of the best stories in a Star Wars game, excellent gameplay, awesome cutscenes, and enjoyed a strong launch. Yet, within a year, the game was perilously close to dying.

The game, which used a subscription model, was released at a time when the MMO landscape was changing. There was stiff competition, and a lot of quality free-to-play contenders were being released, while established MMOs were also making the switch. As much as players were enjoying the game, they were being tempted away by the cheaper options. BioWare had little option but to follow suit and go free-to-play too. Doing so revitalized the player base and allowed the developers to make money through premium service and microtransactions. At the time, the game's free-to-play model felt very generous compared to some of the competition. Even today, it's possible to put hundreds of hours into the game without feeling the urge to spend a penny. Star Wars fans are a loyal bunch, however, and BioWare knows once they're hooked on Star Wars: The Old Republic they're likely to splash out money on it.

7 Fortnite

No One Remembers Save The World

Fortnite is one of the most successful video games ever made. It continues to dominate the battle royale genre as well as streaming and has made Epic at least $30 billion (although the figure is likely much higher). What many fans don't realize, though, is that this success is largely a happy accident. Epic had something very different in mind.

It's all a bit complicated, but essentially, in July 2017, Epic released a paid trial of Fortnite: Save the World. The game was a mixture of a third-person looter shooter, tower defense, and sandbox survival game. It was an ambitious undertaking, and the developer needed money to pay for it, especially since the trial wasn't doing well financially. The company quickly pivoted and, seeing the success of PUBG, released a free-to-play battle royale mode in September 2017. The plan was to use the money from Fortnite: Battle Royale to fund the main game. Then Fortnite: Battle Royale blew up, and Save the World was put on the back burner. It was then announced in 2018 that the game was going to be free-to-play, but it launched in 2020 as a pay-to-play game. Save the World technically still exists, but barely. Basically, Epic planned on making a paid game but ended up releasing a free-to-play spinoff that killed the original and became a gaming behemoth.

8 PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Clinging On To Relevancy

PUBG: Battlegrounds started life as an ARMA 2 mod called DayZ: Battle Royale in 2013. The mod quickly built a cult following and was turned into its own standalone game in 2017. That game, PUBG: Battlegrounds, went on to be a massive success and arguably created the entire battle royale video game genre. In no time at all, it spawned countless copycats and was being played by every major streamer. The times were good.

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By 2022, the game was struggling, a victim of its own success. While many of its early copycats, like Sony's H1Z1, quickly failed, others, like Fortnite, were outperforming PUBG. Made by large studios, those games were polished experiences, while PUBG was still riddled with bugs and jank. It was being left behind. To compete with the increasing number of quality free battle royale games, PUBG went free-to-play. The hope was to take back some players, revitalize its base, and make money through battle passes and cosmetics. It worked for a time, but PUBG's glory days are long behind it. Outside of players who want the hardest battle royale experience, PUBG isn't the big dog it used to be.

9 Destiny 2

Making Money Through Expansions

There was a lot of excitement surrounding Destiny 2's release in 2017. The original, developed by Bungie of Halo fame, had been a hit, and fans were eager to see what the sequel would bring. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. At launch, Destiny 2 wasn't a bad game, it had everything that made the original so popular, but it also just felt like more of the same. Even the franchise's biggest fans had to admit the sequel failed to live up to the original.

Sales dropped, as did player numbers. Bungie didn't give up on the game though and continued with plans to release the planned expansions. What they noticed was that despite player numbers dropping, they still had a loyal base. That base was willing to pay top dollar for expansions. With this in mind, Bungie made Destiny 2 free-to-play in 2019. The main game was free, but players had to pay for the expansions. Going free-to-play drew in new players, many of whom, once hooked, decided to splash out for the game's many expansions. Bungie has stuck with this model, releasing expansions on an almost yearly basis. While it doesn't have the player numbers of other big live-service games, its free-to-play model has brought in a community of loyal followers willing to pay AAA prices for more content.

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