The German sandbox MMORPG Albion Online is saying goodbye to the Free2Play model.
In a forum post on Wednesday, Stefan Wiezorek, the founder of Albion Online, announced to the gathered fan community:
- We will not be a Free2Play title
- We will remain in closed beta until at least August 1st
They decided against a Free2Play model because they would then have to focus on the payment model to steer the game in that direction. The time that would be required for this would be better used to make Albion Online a better game. Additionally, there would be risks with a Free2Play model: bots, spammers, the world would be too small – they do not want to deal with all of that if they can avoid it.
When Albion Online goes live, they will offer starter packs instead of the current founder packs. These will provide slightly fewer benefits “per Euro” than the current packs. This is to reward the founders, who will naturally get full access to the game.
The entire forum post and a long list of planned changes and improvements for the sandbox title from Berlin can be read here on the Albion Online forum.
Understandable Decision
Mein MMO thinks: The Free2Play model has been losing attractiveness lately, also because the market is saturated and offers many alternatives, from off-the-shelf Free2Play MMOs from Asia to aging MMORPG classics or even new high-quality games from the top tier.
What is certainly understandable for anyone who has ever played a Free2Play MMO is the high developer effort required to make the game viable in that direction. It requires resources to be optimized so that the shift to the cash shop is worthwhile – then you need a few status symbols for real money, have to expand the world as a Free2Play title expects many more players and needs to accommodate them. Maybe put up a paygate here and there …
Indeed, all energy that does not really improve the core elements of a game, but only makes it broader. If another way can be found, it is a nice and sensible decision. With its unique graphics and concepts, Albion Online surely would not have become a “mass title” even with Free2Play.
With Albion Online, we at Mein-MMO.de have dealt with the following articles:
