‘Free-to-play’ is a term that refers to games that do not have box or download fees associated with them and do not incur a mandatory subscription. Some have optional subscriptions and are more properly referred to as hybrid F2P. Most have cash shops and microtransactions.
free to play
The Soapbox: Evaluating gaming monetization through the lens of Nintendo’s mobile history
Bloggers and journalists throughout the online gaming industry have been talking about monetization a lot lately. It's not just lockbox/gachapon scandals, or their relationship...
Massively Overthinking: Taking risks in MMORPGs
Last weekend, Brendan wrote a great column on how to stay safe from gankers in EVE Online, noting that the newbies are commonly given...
Trion ‘still in active discussions’ with Bluehole over Devilian
With the explosive success of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds in 2017, Bluehole Studio is rolling in media coverage, money, and popularity. But some of the studio's...
The Daily Grind: Did Marvel Heroes just get the worst-managed MMORPG sunset of all time?
If you happened to catch the Massively OP Podcast this week, you heard my positively livid rant about the whole Marvel Heroes situation. Now,...
The Stream Team: Staying toasty warm in Secret World Legends’ Scorched Desert
Are you dreading the chill of winter? Well join Massively OP's MJ in the hot Egyptian sands of Secret World Legends! There no snow...
Aion EU kicks off Christmas festivities
It's beginning to play a lot like Christmas around these here parts. Aion's European version is getting a jump on the holiday season with...
Pocket Legends Adventures brings the Spacetime magic back to mobile
Once upon a time, Spacetime Studios was well-known as one of the few heavyweights in the mobile MMO space, putting out a stream of...
TERA deals out free Gunner gear, character slots, and weekend boom boxes
Is it too early to open your presents? TERA says it's OK, so if Santa gets upset, we're totally pointing fingers.
The action MMO pushed...
EverQuesting: First impressions of EverQuest II’s Planes of Prophecy
November: A month of colorful, falling leaves, Thanksgiving... and an EverQuest II expansion! That's right, the 11th month isn't allowed to finish up until...
Bluehole’s CEO on how Ascent: Infinite Realm (A:IR) will breathe life into a stagnating MMORPG genre
Ready for some harsh truths, MMO players? Bluehole CEO Hyo-Seob Kim recently told GIbiz that he wasn't expecting PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds to do so well globally,...
Choose My Adventure: Secret World Legends and the mystery of the level-based curse
Would you believe that I sort of forgot about levels altogether in Secret World Legends? It's true! I remembered that they were a thing...
Superdata’s October 2017 revenue report: Destiny 2’s and PUBG’s dominance
Destiny 2 may be fudging up left and right, but it still sold a truckton of copies.
That's according to Superdata, whose most recent revenue...
Battle Bards Episode 110: Acoustic guitar
The Battle Bards are quite familiar with the power of the strummed guitar and lute, knowing that such simple instruments can bring down walls,...
Hyperspace Beacon: First impressions of SWTOR’s Chiss flashpoint
Yesterday, Star Wars: The Old Republic launched update 5.6, which gave us many new quality-of-life changes to the game as well as our first...
The Stream Team: The final KOTFE chapter in SWTOR
It has been quite the journey through SWTOR's Knights of the Fallen Empire for Massively OP's MJ and Larry, and they couldn't have done...
Slay-to-win: Massively OP’s hands-on with the Dauntless closed beta
The end of September marked a major milestone for Dauntless, the upcoming monster-slaying action-MMORPG from indie developer Phoenix Labs, as it officially concluded its...
Perfect Ten: The biggest MMO stories of 2017
One thing you can say for the MMO industry: It never ceases to surprise all of us. No matter what predictions we may make...
Global Chat: Saying goodbye to Marvel Heroes
Few people are happy to see an MMO go down, especially in the manner that Marvel Heroes is going from a popular and well-liked...
The Stream Team: A first peek at EverQuest II’s Planes of Prophecy
Norrath has expanded! EverQuest II's Planes of Prophecy expansion launched today, and Massively OP's MJ just has to explore it. Can she find her way...
Mobile MMO roundup: PUBG’s mobile version, Pokemon Go’s Ho-Oh, Mu Legends’ PvP, and Tera M’s launch
Welcome back to another mobile MMO roundup!
First up: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which has yet to actually formally launch on PC, is already getting a mobile...