Wargaming ditching 'pay to win' model

Developer Wargaming is scrapping its current "pay to win" system in favor of a new model they are calling "free to win." The new monetization scheme is already started in its popular free-to-play World of Tanks, and is expected to carry through to the upcoming World of Warplanes and World of Warships.

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Developer Wargaming is scrapping its current "pay to win" system in favor of a new model they are calling "free to win." The new monetization scheme is already started in its popular free-to-play World of Tanks, and is expected to carry through to the upcoming World of Warplanes and World of Warships.

So what had been previously considered premium consumables, such as golden ammo that did more damage or tank repair and personnel medical kits, will now be purchasable for in-game credits earned through experience instead of gold.

"Free-to-play games have the challenge of being sometimes viewed as low quality, and we want World of Tanks to serve as proof that a quality and balanced free-to-play game is possible," Andrei Yarantsau, VP of publishing, told Gamasutra about the change. "However, breaking down deeply-rooted stereotypes is no easy task.

Yarantsau said the change has been in the works since 2011 and that this is part of a push by the company to be a more attractive to eSports. "Professional sport--and gaming is no exception--is about fair competition," he said. "The introduction of our new free-to-win system will really help facilitate the development of World of Tanks as a true eSports discipline."

Revenue is now expected to come from such items as premium vehicles and personalization, and Yarantsau said he does not expect the company;s revenue to be affected. "Deep gameplay and great replay value provide comfortable and fair conditions for everyone," he said. "The game has no overpowered weaponry and microtransactions don't give users any sort of advantage in combat. Premium items are priced so that players rarely end up having to spend a lot. We don't want World of Tanks players to feel like it's an experience that only a select few can afford. Quite contrary, we want the game to embody accessibility and fairness to all players, paying or not."

Contributing Editor
From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 3, 2013 4:15 PM

    John Keefer posted a new article, Wargaming ditching 'pay to win' model.

    Developer Wargaming is scrapping its current "pay to win" system in favor of a new model they are calling "free to win." The new monetization scheme is already started in its popular free-to-play World of Tanks, and is expected to carry through to the upcoming World of Warplanes and World of Warships.

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      June 3, 2013 5:09 PM

      I haven't played this in forever... is there still that tier 6-7 wall that is impossible to get past without paying for the extra xp and credits that premium gives you?

      The credits especially... I was pretty terrible, so I always wound up losing money every battle up there. :P

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        June 3, 2013 5:14 PM

        that's a great, great name. :D

        and.. honestly, kind of? you can do fine at t7/t8 if you're a good player with consistently good games. t9 gets borderline, and t10 is lol. I think the intent is you fund your progress with t5/t6 money grinding or just a t8 premium tank that rains credits

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          June 3, 2013 6:10 PM

          Yeah, that sounds about how it was last I played.

          I didn't really play enough to make it feel putting money into it was worth it, and I didn't like the idea of having to fight with lower tier tanks to support the big ones (also because I didn't really play enough :P).

          I thought perhaps with this article seeming like their priorities are shifting towards their money all being in the pretty tanks and cosmetics, they might have made it a little easier on that front.

          Still probably wind up checking it out again though. Because tanks.

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            June 3, 2013 7:17 PM

            a lot of the most fun tanks are in the 5-7 range anyway :D i just kind of play whatever, and let the xp/tanks take care of themselves.

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              June 3, 2013 7:19 PM

              and actually, you probably missed the whole premium ammo for silver thing - turned stuff like the t5 sherman w/ 105 into a death machine and made armor kind of useless. they're doing something about that this coming patch.. upping the silver cost and reducing the angled-armor pen ability of HEAT/APCR

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        June 3, 2013 5:30 PM

        Yea I haven't played in a long time either, mostly because getting tanks past tier 5 was so boring I kind of got sidetracked. I guess I'll check it out again here and see if I like this new system better.

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        June 4, 2013 6:32 AM

        Not really I'm on tier 9 and of course it's a grind to get the next vehicle, but i certainly don't feel forced to buy anything.

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          June 4, 2013 6:34 AM

          Typically i log in once a day and play for 5 wins on 5 different vehicles, giving me round 10k experience with the double xp for the first win bonus. This will get me the xp to unlock my tier 10 vehicle in ~ 20 days or so.

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      June 3, 2013 9:45 PM

      I wonder about the reason for this change. I would guess having ability to pay for competitive difference (instead of visually pleasing but non-gameplay-changing elements) alienates more people/profits than it brings in, is that it?

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        June 3, 2013 9:50 PM

        i think it's that people will still pay for things that make the available-to-everybody competitive advantages, i.e. premium to allow extra income to shoot HEAT all the time, making us more willing to spend little bits here and there.

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          June 3, 2013 10:36 PM

          agreed. it's a nickle&dime thing. They make more money w/ smaller transactions at a larger quantity of purchasers.

          It's kind of a win-win. We get a good free game that we can stay competitive in. and people with not much time/patience can still keep up.

      • reply
        June 4, 2013 6:08 AM

        pay to win = large, short term profits with quickly diminishing returns

        free to win = modest, steady, longer-term profits with positive growth indicators

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