Electronic Arts: “The future is about freemium”

Electronic Arts is just one more studio which seems firmly convinced that the current retail model is long past its due and that free-to-play, or freemium, is the future.

EA interactive senior VP Nick Earl told MCV that “the future is not about one-time payments, the future is about freemium. A decent number of people convert to paying and they may not pay a lot but most of them actually pay more than you’d think.”

He also stated the obvious: “I don’t know if freemium gets to console but I do know that humans like free stuff. I also know humans who will pay for something if they’ve tried it out and they like it.” We do like free stuff, who doesn’t? This comment was made regarding the still mysterious way in that freemium games will work on console, something that may be easier with the advent of streaming services such as Gaikai and OnLive.

With studios such as Electronic Arts, Crytek, THQ and Epic Games interested in a free-to-play future, this seems more and more likely to happen in a couple of years. One final question remains? When is Star Wars: The Old Republic going free-to-play?