Topic: What do you make of the free to play mobile games coming to switch becoming paid games?

Just noticed on the eshop that a couple of iOS games coming to switch.
One is radiation island which is actually a great game and another is galaxy on fire manticore which is a f2p game with iap but on switch it’s going to be £18.
Personally I’d buy these games as I know they are good ONLY if extra content was available, if they are straight unoptimised ports I will not be purchasing.
Do you guys/gals like the idea of mobile games bombarding the switch?

Only if if doesn't involve microtransactions, balances the controls and give out extra content. If a free-to-play game is being priced on the switch and the microtransactions paywall hasn't changed than get outta here.

@Captain_Toad yeah same, I would support. My only worry is some of the mobile first games now on switch have been poorly optimised so far, I just hope it doesn’t become a trend where this happens.
There are some brilliant mobile only games, radiation island is good, but it really needs more content to come to switch although there is a lot worse on the eshop.

It's awesome. Free to play needs to die.

@rallydefault lol f2p defo needs to be less intrusive, I’m just not into the whole pay to win Mechanics. So you at least like that we’re get more ports from mobile, I am too but only from the better games and not match 3 games, auto runners etc

I think it's great that F2P games get a chance to shine and prove their worth as paid retail titles, or demonstrate how shallow and insignificant they really are.

F2P can be a great model to entice people to play a game and still pay for it in reverse. But most of the time it's a shallow cover for a shallow, unfun game, for which the only actual fun is from the gambling/shopaholism itself. Remove the monetary barricades and the engaging game play is all that remains, showing that the game was never fun: Paying for it was.

But for the few games such as Voez for which they are great stand-alone games they can free themselves from the limitations of F2P that the mobile market made essential and stand on their own as a quality product. Meanwhile gamers get a MUCH better value from the game.

F2P depends on the "whale model", a phrase that comes from the real "gaming industry" (gambling) where a few habitual gamblers/players continuously pump much larger amounts of money into the game than they can make back, which pays for the bottom feeders to play. Typically 10% or less of the player base pay 80%+ of the revenues. So for a frequent player, playing the game a lot is VERY expensive, and for the infrequent player it's "free" or $.99. The retail model distributes those costs evenly to all players, reducing the size of the overall player base, but increasing revenues from the middle tier.

@rallydefault I rather have a free to pay game, than a $60 game riddled with loot boxes and micro-transactions.

As long as their pricing is right, I think its fine. Just removing microtransactions etc shouldn't make a mobile game automatically worth the same as a traditional full-priced experience. I feel bad for people duped by such games like Gear.Club Unlimited. If the price is right and indicative of the resources and time spent producing the game, then I don't see the problem. However, as we have seen with indies and their "generous" retail releases, this isn't the case at the moment.

Edit: My other issue is that free to play are often set up with grindy mechanics and short gameplay loops to encourage spending real-world cash. Sometimes, this can hangover into the full price release.

1. NO Pay 2 Play
2. NO Micro Transactions
3. NO Virtual Buttons
4. Upgraded Graphics, Affordable Price, Physical Release & Exclusive Contents for Switch version, so Mobile gamers will have to Moving On from Mobile to Switch version. Then, Mobile gaming trend slowly killed by Switch domination. Hehehe...

Btw, In Indonesia, peoples are So Hyped with Mobile Legends. I'm really sick to see that "lame" game being played. But, we knew if AOV will be on Switch. I just wonder what if those peoples realized AOV Also on Nintendo Switch, not just only on IOS / Android ?

You want every game to be free?

@Octane Think he meant fee to play or whatever the new term is for paying a premium price to play a game with a freemium model.

@NEStalgia there is defo some good f2p models on mobile, I’ve been gaming on my iPad since 2012 and there have been some awesome games released that I would like to see.
If you guys have not played it I think you will enjoy radiation island a lot, also galaxy on fire is Fantastic but I have not played manticore which is coming to switch as I was pretty much a premium gamer only as in I only played games that cost money and had no additional content apart from aesthetics like skins etc
But there were examples where no money was needed but only on very few games.
The Zenonia RPG series was great but you would hit a wall where you had to spend money to progress.
I just hope no f2p shenanigans come to switch, personally can’t see it happening?

@Deathwalka F2P does have some precedent on Nintendo, and even FROM Nintendo (eg Pokemon Shuffle.) For now, hopefully, they've confined their F2P efforts to their mobile business and have structured Switch for premium offerings only. The trend of "F2P games have a pay-once premium version available only on Switch" is kind of cool to me, for those few legit games. And certainly is revealing of the not so great ones!

I think you guys don't realise that there's literally dozens of different free-2-play models for mobile games, and only a small number of those involve lootboxes and pay-2-win microtransactions.

@spizzamarozzi not that many gamers here might not play mobile games to know.
That said there are tons that do use loot boxes and pay 2 win unfortunately, I personally like the free download demo or first chapter of a game then pay for the rest model. Also things like additional content is also welcome, and extra skins etc but I’m not a fan of timers, or overpowered weapons and consumables being used. Free 2 play is fine as long as they don’t treat customers like cash cows, granted there will always be those people that will pay through the nose for top spot in a game but overall there are some good models for f2p out there.

@NEStalgia well said, the pay once after a sample is a great way do it. Unfortunately for mobile mainly aggressive f2p is dominant because sadly it seems to work.

@Octane
Ha! You're holding yourself to a really low standard, man. I refuse to buy either type of game, and you should, too! Didn't buy Destiny 2, that new Lord of the Rings game, the newest CoD (and I LOVE CoD games), or Battlefront 2 (and I LOVE Star Wars) because of loot boxes. I'm sure I missed a couple games there, but you get the gist.

And I won't support free to play games, either. I absolutely hate both formats, and I think one or both will do some serious harm to the hobby over the long term. So no way am I supporting them either with money or a download.

People will argue against my opinion, of course, and that's fine. They'll cite like the whole half-dozen games out there that get it right (out of literally thousands). And hey, if that's how statistics work in your mind, more power to ya and get me some ribs while you're at it. But back here in reality, free to play and loot box crud hobble developers. They force them to alter gameplay, rush deadlines, and sacrifice content to the money gods. Unfortunately, the box (ha) has already been opened and investors have had a taste of the forbidden fruit, so I don't see it going away. But dang... at least I had the 80s and 90s as a gamer.

Eh ?!
Woopsie...
Typo !

2. NO Free to Play. Every games must has their prices.

Eh if I want it I’ll buy it. If not I won’t.

@rallydefault The forbidden fruit it may be, and they will continue to push, but I think the loot box thing will have a half life. It's new and people are willing to overlook it for now. But as EA already tried it will eventaully be a victim of its own success. Even in the US people won't forever overlook a new angle from the gambling industry, which is what it is. Particularly since the gambling industry "is harmful and dangerous to the young people it targets"......or, translated....is subject to very hefty taxation.............

The US federal government isn't known for overlooking a tax dollar it can pry from a helpless infant by force.

F2P however is here to stay on mobile at least. At least for a while until people wise up. Retail has always been cyclical.