There’s a discussion on The Elder Scrolls Online forum regarding the forthcoming game’s pricing model. Before we go further, I should point out that the game is known as TESO, which is way too close to Tesco for my liking, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll call it TESO. Anyway, the discussion is largely supportive of the pricing model and on the face of it, the pricing model looks historically like other MMO’s, with an upfront price for the digital edition of USD$59.99 or GBP£49.99 and after the first 30 days a recurring monthly cost of USD$14.99 or GBP£8.99.
However here’s the thing, that pricing model is largely out of date. Games launch this way and then within a year or two, they go to free play. That’s often how it works these days. I went through this with Star Wars : The Old Republic, it was a very similar model and it didn’t end well in terms of being a subscription model, however going free to play saved the galaxy, as reported in Massively at the end of March last year : GDC 2013: James Ohlen on how F2P saved SWTOR:
According to Ohlen, SWTOR was designed to be a subscription-based game, so any F2P option needed to still effectively support the service the way a sub game would. The most successful compensation came in the form of Cartel Packs. In the style of trading card games, these packs would give players random items that they could use in game. And just as in any good TCG, the items in the Cartel Packs could be traded with other players — this time on in-game auction house, the galactic trade network.
There’s part of the key to changing your model and it’s one Linden Lab should pay heed to but I’m not going to talk much about Second Life or Linden Lab in this post, I’ll save that for another post. There will be a little bit more about SL and LL but this post is mostly about TESO.
So with all the evidence staring TESO in the face about the lack of longevity of subscription based MMO’s, why are they going ahead with it? Well if anything, SWTOR leads the way. Initially there will be a big buzz and a lot of people engaging with the game, the cash will flow in and that’s a business model that is hard to ignore.
However, even before launch they should be looking at the SWTOR shift to free to play (F2P). They should have a plan to make this switch in case they don’t buck recent trends, in case they don’t keep a captive audience. However if they do buck trends, those plans can stay in deep freeze.
However game makers need to think where they are heading with their pricing models, they should be looking at multi product subscription services, rather than single game subscription services. There have been some moves towards this.
Blizzard waived the game fee for Diablo III for people on a yearly subscription package to World Of Warcraft. Sony Online recently announced:
We will be upgrading all existing individual game memberships to the new All Access plan, which will include the top-tier membership level in all eligible SOE games (EverQuest, EverQuest II, DC Universe Online PC, PlanetSide 2 PC, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and the upcoming EverQuest Next and EQN Landmark) for one, low monthly rate of $14.99 (with extra savings for 3, 6, and 12 month plans). We’re also finalizing membership benefits to other games such as Dragon’s Prophet and will share these new updates as available.
The Sony model is probably the future. This is what we do with television packages, we don’t subscribe to one channel at a time in the main, we get a bundle of channels, although we can often rent a movie, we will also be able to subscribe to a movie channel.
Linden Lab could take a leaf out of this book and create a Linden Lab membership package which includes premium membership to Second Life and their other titles. Many of their other titles are of course free, but by including them in the membership package, they draw attention to those other titles and this can work in the other direction, qualifying accounts from their other titles can buy the Linden Lab membership and get into Second Life, it’s a marketing trick in many ways.
The future for subscription models is highly unlikely to be in single title ventures, even the initial income rush is likely to get old soon, but for now it works and I can fully understand why TESO is looking to generate income via this method.
Personally, I won’t be playing TESO. This isn’t because I think it will be a bad game, nor because I think the subscription model is outdated, it’s more that I’m jaded by subscription models and can’t be bothered to sign up to another one at this point in time. On another day, I may have a different view but I’ve seen it all before and I’d rather hold my fire for now.