The free-to-play scheme is one type of monetization that is very popular in the world of video games. By providing content for free, developers can reach a large number of players quickly. Players also benefit because they can get entertainment without having to pay up front, and even have the opportunity to enjoy games that might not be known when sold premium. Even though it has many advantages, free-to-play can also have a bad impact when it's not executed properly. What are some things that need to be considered to produce a satisfying free-to-play experience? Basically, capturing customers online is by offering something they can’t refuse. As a comparison, https://writemyessayonline.com/  offers something that is difficult to resist; quality essay services by professional writers and at very affordable prices.

Understand the types of player behavior

Free-to-play game players have different behaviors with premium game players. Therefore, the monetization scheme must be decided at the outset. Determine whether the game you are making will be sold in Freemium or premium, and then arrange the game design according to the monetization scheme.

The biggest difference between the two types of games lies in what is called the hook, aka the success of "fishing" the interests of players. When a game is sold at a premium, the player who buys is certain to be interested in the game. This applies the opposite to free-to-play games.

In order for users to immediately feel that the game they are downloading is worth playing, free-to-play developers must be able to make the player reach a progress in a short time. The progress in question can vary, such as the success of completing battles, obtaining rewards, and so on.

The time period needed for players to reach progress is referred to as a session time, and is the most important thing when designing a free-to-play game. The ideal session time for free-to-play games is around three minutes.

Maintain interest in various ways

After successfully attracting the interest of players, it does not mean that the work of the developer is complete. It is precisely the next work that is more awaiting, which is to retain existing users.

Since the game is available for free, if a player is bored he can easily delete the game from his device and then move to another game. This competition is even tighter in mobile, where the user's attention will also be shared with other applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and so on.

The soccer game is an example of a genre with metagame that is quite deep.

Even so, the quality of the gameplay remains the number one priority. If in terms of gameplay itself is not fun, of course the player will not feel at home playing for long. Furthermore, depending on the type of game created, developers can use at least three strategies below to make the players want to continue playing, and in the end also want to pay. The three strategies are:

1. Sell primary content

We can see examples in games such as Layton Brothers: Mystery Room and Super Mario Run. Users can try the game early for free, but have to buy some kind of DLC if they want to play the next stage or story. Nintendo calls this practice a free-to-start scheme.

2. Incorporate metagame elements in the game

Metagame is a variety of strategies and features that players can learn to add strength to the main gameplay. The existence of metagame will make players curious, so they are encouraged to continue playing and strengthening themselves.

3. Grow the desire to show off

The third strategy is to sell additional content that fosters the desire to show off (bragging rights). The simplest form is selling cosmetics. This sale of cosmetics can be combined with other sales strategies.

Just like the premium game sales scheme, free-to-play is just a tool. Games that use the free-to-play system are not necessarily worse than premium games, and vice versa. Whether the product produced is good or bad, it depends on how this tool is used by developers. Through free-to-play, quality games can be enjoyed by more people, can even embrace non-gamers to switch to gamers. An increasing number of gamers will contribute to the growth of the gaming industry, and this certainly brings benefits, both for industry players and gamers themselves.