Free-to-play games are becoming more and more common in the industry, and while a number of companies -- like EA and Ubisoft -- are giving the model a try, don't expect Nintendo to join in anytime soon. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has emphatically stated that Nintendo wants to preserve the value of software and is therefore not keen on releasing free-to-play titles.
"If we were simply going to say OK, the only the way we could sell more products is by decreasing the price, then there wouldn't be a bright future and the entire industry will fold," Iwata told All Things Digital. "When we look at the entire system of freemium, it's not always that everyone is happy with the offers. Actually, there's only a limited number of people who are willing to pay and many others are not paying for game titles at all.
"Nintendo is not interested," he said simply.
Free-to-play games are, as the name suggests, given to users for free. The developer then makes money by offering premium microtransactions -- XP bonuses, clothing, new weapons; whatever is appropriate for the game in question. In most cases, the large majority never pay a dime, leaving those who do pay to support the game.
When asked to address the success that some companies are seeing with F2P games, Iwata said it's not all about the money you end up with right now. "It's a little different. It's not just the end result," he said. "We can't simply compare the total revenue generated at the consequence of developing one thing. My point is about how we can keep the public's perception of the software. If we are going to destroy the value of the game software -- once we have done so, it's a difficult job to recover from that situation."
So while a company like Zynga (no specific companies were mentioned by Iwata) is doing well now, the Nintendo boss is unsure if it's something that's sustainable long-term.
"Yes, it is true. There are great examples of advertising and doing the microtransactions, and several companies who have come up with that kind of system. But on the other hand, if you ask me, is this the system that can be sustained for the long time? I don't know the answer. And, my point is that I'm not willing to go that direction, as well."
In light of the comments he made at this year's Game Developers Conference, this policy doesn't come as much of a surprise.
Ubisoft shooter Ghost Recon Online is coming to Wii U and, while the PC version will be free-to-play, it's unclear what form the Wii U game will take. Will there be a F2P game on Nintendo's next console? It'll be interesting to see what happens, particularly if it turns out to be microtransaction-based and does well.
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