19 replies to this topic

[OnLashoc]

DC Universe Online: “700% increase in daily revenue” since going free to play




The superhero MMO has been super-punching above its weight since its shift to free to play with news of a massive bounce in player numbers and profits since the shift. Massively spotted Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley tweeting some quite interesting stats. The superhero MMO has seen a “700% increase in daily revenue” since it relaunched earlier this month.

Smedley also says that “DCUO’s playerbase is growing at 6% a day,” adding that 47% of the boosted profits are coming from the PC version. The rest are from the PS3 version. Smedley also says “we are over 1000% of our pre-F2P concurrent numbers” and “more than 85% of daily log-ins are returning players.”

Lag and long log in queues are proving to be a problem for many players at the moment. “We’re very aware of the long queues and other issues. We’re on it,” says Smedley, adding “very bluntly this has been a wee bit more successful than we planned on.” The DC Universe Online client is available to download for free on Steam.


-PCGamer

[OnLashoc]

I play that game and so far me personally do not see anything that makes it P2W.

It can be done.

[Adridos]

Well, "you found hot water" as it is said in my country. Lots of us know a good F2P game, or at least heard of one. But still, nice to have you on board. Let's hope people will believe us now.

[Karyudo ds]

My only worry is that by F2P there's no out of context reason to give these guys money. If the game's good they deserve it I think but it I wonder what it is they'll be selling. I don't want to miss out on the game if I'm not always buying but if I buy I want something. Total catch 22? Either way I think being F2P this can still be loads of fun to play. Though I wonder how long DCUO will enjoy that 700%.

[Korbyn McColl]

Karyudo-ds, on 22 November 2011 - 10:59 AM, said:

My only worry is that by F2P there's no out of context reason to give these guys money. If the game's good they deserve it I think but it I wonder what it is they'll be selling. I don't want to miss out on the game if I'm not always buying but if I buy I want something. Total catch 22? Either way I think being F2P this can still be loads of fun to play. Though I wonder how long DCUO will enjoy that 700%.

I play a number of MMOs, both sub based and F2P alike. More than likely they'll offer mech chassis, color patterns, designs for inside the cockpit and outside alike, new maps, etc...all through their cash shop. There may be no way to give them money "out of context", but you can still support them by buying every mech chassis/upgrade they offer for sale even if you don't intend to use it.

[VEDRFOLNIR]

Yep, it's a good example of how F2P can actually work.

Help support Piranha's efforts to improve MWO by buying cool 'fluff' items? By golly, I'm all over that.

[gregsolidus]

Reasonable posts are reasonable.Yay.

[Alistair Steiner]

VEDRFOLNIR, on 22 November 2011 - 11:44 AM, said:

Yep, it's a good example of how F2P can actually work.

Help support Piranha's efforts to improve MWO by buying cool 'fluff' items? By golly, I'm all over that.

Darn right! I'm seriously gonna grab some fuzzy dice (I hope we'll have choice for colors) and a hula girl, if not just to honor both the latest Q&A and everyone's favorite giant robot: Megas. I'd rather the paid-for items be completely useless, just so everyone can have the 'Mechs and whatnot. But hey, I trust PGI to give us what will be best for the game.

[Rogal Dorn]

I'd definitely pay for logos/custom paint and interior gewgaws.

[eXecute]

OnLashoc, on 22 November 2011 - 10:06 AM, said:

I play that game and so far me personally do not see anything that makes it P2W.

It can be done.

What, did you seriously just copy and paste what i did on the DG site ****

[VEDRFOLNIR]

Alistair Steiner, on 22 November 2011 - 12:01 PM, said:

Darn right! I'm seriously gonna grab some fuzzy dice (I hope we'll have choice for colors) and a hula girl, if not just to honor both the latest Q&A and everyone's favorite giant robot: Megas. I'd rather the paid-for items be completely useless, just so everyone can have the 'Mechs and whatnot. But hey, I trust PGI to give us what will be best for the game.

Oooh... fuzzy Red-with-white-dot fuzzy dice FTW! Would be nostalgic to have the two big 6-sided dice in my cockpit, since I had to use SO MANY OF THEM when I played MechWarrior and Shadowrun P&P games... 'Okay, roll for your skill check.' *Throws two handfuls of 6-sided dice, knocking over the miniatures* 'Crap!'

Good times. And yes, a hula girl is a must.

[OnLashoc]

eXecute, on 22 November 2011 - 12:07 PM, said:

What, did you seriously just copy and paste what i did on the DG site ****

emo moment please excuse, totally different topic.

Carry on.

[Agent 0 Fortune]

OnLashoc, on 22 November 2011 - 10:05 AM, said:

DC Universe Online: “700% increase in daily revenue” since going free to play

I would love to see actual figures. Accountants do funny things with numbers. I find it difficult to believe that the the average DCUO is paying $105 a month ($15 sub fee x 700%) or that they have picked up 700% more players (sited at 6% growth) and each is paying at least $15 a month.

I don't mean to be a hater, more power to them if it is working, and I think it could be a viable model, I'm just not convinced.

Edited by Agent.0.Fortune, 22 November 2011 - 06:24 PM.

[OnLashoc]

I know I paid for the subscription after playing it for about a week. Im just sayin..

[Karyudo ds]

devil man, on 22 November 2011 - 11:17 AM, said:

There may be no way to give them money "out of context", but you can still support them by buying every mech chassis/upgrade they offer for sale even if you don't intend to use it.

Well obviously we could, though I do hope that whatever they offer are things I would use over things I wouldn't. I think I'm just becoming more curious to see what's buy-able, they did say you wouldn't have to buy anything to compete so we'll see.

I do hope the game does well though, just being fun isn't enough to keep it around (well officially!).

[rollermint]

The earlier F2P models (particularly korean/chinese ones) sucked coz they were selling power and doing everything possible to squeeze money out of the customer, including forcing them to buy in order to be competitive.

But more and more developers are finding out that the real tricks to making a good F2P model is to sell convenience instead of power. Many don't wish to spend half their day at a second job so they rather buy something that minimises the grinding.
And of course, vanity items. Online players are particularly vain and while they balked at buying power, they happily pay real money if they can make their avatar nicer than the others.

Anyway, its more than an established fact that F2P models are much more successful than sub method (even while I personally prefer the sub method). Lotro and DDO also reported huge increases in revenue since going F2P and lets not even mention League of Legends (11.5 mill active players). These are just western ones.

We are already seeing the last sub method mmos being made, thats for sure. (SWTOR and possibly The Secret World).

I'm not surprised if WoW itself will eventually go F2P couple years down the road (they already started selling items anyway).

[Zakatak]

I don't dislike the F2P model because it costs alot in the long run, because honestly, it doesn't.

I dislike it because the title itself is a lie in most cases.

Edited by Zakatak, 22 November 2011 - 09:11 PM.

[Dsi1]

Should be 'F2P' (because we all know that doesn't mean free at all) with the choice of a monthly subscription for everything.

[Traejun DiSanctis]

Dislike the f2P model for the most part. Most of those games include significant limitations - forcing players to pay in order to experience all the game has to offer.

In the case of MWO, it seems likely that certain chasis will be locked out for free players. Similarly, there will be a limit to visual customization for free players - a la APB:Reloaded. Of course, if the cash shop is limited to fluff only, then no harm, no foul. I just fear that MWO will walk the path of many F2P shooter - forcing you to spend real money in order to compete at the highest level.

[EDMW CSN]

Traejun DiSanctis, on 22 November 2011 - 09:25 PM, said:

Dislike the f2P model for the most part. Most of those games include significant limitations - forcing players to pay in order to experience all the game has to offer.

In the case of MWO, it seems likely that certain chasis will be locked out for free players. Similarly, there will be a limit to visual customization for free players - a la APB:Reloaded. Of course, if the cash shop is limited to fluff only, then no harm, no foul. I just fear that MWO will walk the path of many F2P shooter - forcing you to spend real money in order to compete at the highest level.

I doubt so if mech customization is in place. That is the beauty and yeah, bad part of BT / MW. If they use the TT customization system, mechs are just strictly looks only and a small of differences between em.

Just that you need to spend a lot of ingame C-bills on a Rental mech. Even more so if you pimp fitted the design or if it got thrashed badly you need to repair it as well using C-bills. That would mean near constant grinding ingame to earn C-bills and maintain the mech in your inventory, unless you strip it off and let it expire of course.

While the paying dude will simply buy his favourite mech with cash for permanent so he does not need to worry about it disappearing. That is how it worked for Combat Arms before they started putting in weapons that had uber stats in. :/

Edited by [EDMW]CSN, 22 November 2011 - 11:38 PM.